Emotion burns fast.
Systems last longer.
“Tom?” I ask.
“He’s begun softening the council.”
I nod.
“He’s crude,” I say. “But effective.”
“And Marco Rossi?” she asks carefully.
I pause for a moment.
“An anomaly,” I say.
“But not a problem.”
Not yet.
I don’t care who his mother is.
I don’t care who the girl is.
People are variables.
Systems are outcomes.
“Begin Phase Two,” I say.
“Medical and utilities.”
She glances at me.
“That will create noise.”
“Yes,” I reply.
“But only the right kind.”
I zoom the map.
Closer.
Toward the road leading intothe mountains.
Toward the narrow access line near the cabin.
Toward the small choke points most people would never notice.
Unless they understand systems.
“They will think this is chaos,” I say.
“It isn’t.”
“It’s alignment.”
