Rodriguez received Sohrn's warning the following morning, delivered by Rama with the same careful directness the news deserved, and absorbed it with the particular gravity that genuinely consequential strategic information required.
"So we're facing a choice," he said, working through the implication methodically. "Continue building the framework, knowing success might accelerate attention we're not yet prepared to handle safely. Or slow deliberately, sacrificing the coordination we genuinely need, in hopes of remaining less visible."
"Neither option is clean," Sekar said. "But I don't think slowing actually protects us. If Timeline's already sensing something reaching toward it, the process has already begun. Retreating from the framework doesn't undo that. It just leaves us less prepared for whatever comes next."
