“Yes.”
“How?” he presses.
I straighten slightly, the structure of it already forming in my head, not reaction, not correction?—
Evolution.
“No more isolated command chains,” I say. “No more single-point vulnerabilities. Everything cross-referenced, layered, visible.”
“That’s slower,” he says.
“It’s stronger,” I reply.
He considers that.
Then nods.
“Good,” he says.
I turn slightly, already thinking ahead, already moving past this moment into the next.
“The clan won’t wait,” I say.
“No,” Vihl agrees. “They won’t.”
“They’ve seen the disruption,” I continue. “They’ve seen the hesitation. They’ll interpret it.”
“As weakness,” he says.
“Yes.”
He exhales slowly.
“Then they’re going to come at you hard,” he says.
“Yes,” I reply.
“And you’re ready for that?” he asks.
I meet his gaze.
“Yes.”
Not because I want the fight.
Because I understand it now.
Differently.
I turn toward the door, Stacy already moving with me without needing to be told, and as we step back into the corridor, the weight of everything ahead settles into place.
Not chaos.
Not uncertainty.
Structure.
Choice.
