The meeting lasted four minutes.
That was longer than average.
The projection stabilized into clean lines and neutral tones. No faces. No symbols. Just layered data streams, each filtered through a different lens.
The Auditor spoke first, as expected.
"Post-incident review complete. Gate containment successful. Civilian survival rate within projected margins."
"Response delay?" the Executor asked.
"Seven minutes," the Auditor replied. "Primary teams arrived late."
"And yet the city remains intact," the Executor said. "So the delay is irrelevant."
No one disagreed.
The Curator leaned back slightly. "There was an unaffiliated operative at the breach."
The Auditor highlighted the thread. "Confirmed. Low classification. No sponsor. No command authority."
"Performance?" the Executor asked.
"Above baseline," the Auditor said. "Sustained engagement beyond expected tolerance. Manual suppression recorded."
Silence followed.
Not surprise. Calculation.
The Curator folded their hands. "Was his involvement necessary?"
"No," the Auditor said. "Outcome unchanged."
The Executor nodded once. "Then he is excess."
The Observer adjusted a parameter. "There is a deviation worth noting. The stabilization curve shifted earlier than projected."
"By how much?" the Curator asked.
"Seventeen minutes."
The Executor paused. Just briefly.
"And attribution?"
"None," the Auditor said. "His contribution was recorded as minor."
"That's a problem," the Curator said quietly.
The Executor turned slightly. "Explain."
"Stability without attribution cannot be replicated," the Curator said. "It cannot be rewarded. It cannot be controlled."
"It can be ignored," the Executor replied.
The Auditor shook their head. "Ignoring it introduces variance. If similar actors emerge independently, the system loses predictive cohesion."
Another pause.
The Observer said nothing.
That was not neutrality.
That was permission.
The Executor exhaled slowly. "Does he escalate?"
"No," the Auditor said. "He avoids notice. He does not consolidate influence."
"Which means," the Executor said, "he will continue operating beneath oversight."
"Yes."
"And if left unresolved?"
The Auditor ran the projection.
"Probability of future unclassified stabilization events increases."
"Acceptable?" the Executor asked.
"No," the Auditor replied. "Untraceable stability undermines system authority."
The Curator hesitated.
"His survival record is statistically unusual," they said. "There may be latent potential."
"Potential without alignment is waste," the Executor said. "We do not cultivate what we cannot guide."
The Observer's display dimmed fractionally.
Still no objection.
The Executor made the decision.
"Resolve the variable."
No emphasis. No malice.
Procedure.
The Auditor finalized the directive.
[Resolution Authorized][Method: Indirect][Record Priority: Nonessential]
The Curator looked at the data one last time.
"What was his name?"
The Auditor checked.
"Kael Verin."
The Executor had already moved on to the next item.
"That won't be necessary," they said.
The projection dissolved.
The system adjusted.
Somewhere far below, a line was erased.
The world remained stable.
And that, as always, was enough.