I don’t deny it.
“Yes.”
Vihl exhales slowly.
“Alright,” he says. “Then I need to adjust expectations.”
“Do it,” I reply.
The comm channel shifts as he sharply relays orders.
“All units maintain defensive posture,” he says. “No aggressive engagement without direct authorization.”
There’s hesitation in the responses.
“…Confirm holding pattern?”
“Confirmed,” Vihl snaps. “We don’t fire first.”
The channel fills with acknowledgments, some immediate, some slower, but all of them aligning eventually.
I watch it happen.
Not the movement.
The decision.
They follow.
Even when it goes against instinct.
Even when it feels wrong.
“They trust you,” Stacy says quietly.
I glance at her.
“They trust the structure,” I reply.
“And you are the structure,” she says.
That lands.
Differently.
I don’t respond to it directly, but I don’t dismiss it either.
The display shifts again as new data comes in, more channels opening, more transmissions overlapping, and now the fractures are impossible to ignore.
Command disputes.
Authorization conflicts.
Units holding position instead of advancing.
“They’re arguing,” I say.
“Yes,” Stacy replies.
