The offer came three days later.
Lily was reviewing infrastructure reports when the message appeared on her terminal. It wasn't marked urgent. Promotions never were. Urgency implied choice, and choice complicated compliance.
She finished the report first. A processing line in District Four had failed again. Output losses were acceptable for now. She filed the note and then opened the message.
The promotion was to Regional Optimization. Oversight beyond a single district. More authority, fewer routine reviews. The position came with expanded discretion and permanent status.
There was a condition.
District Three had been underperforming compared to projections. Not in raw output, but in efficiency. Too many units remained operational for too long without meaningful surplus. Losses were steady but shallow. From a systems perspective, that indicated waste.
The promotion required Lily to correct that.
Specifically, she was required to meet a quota adjustment trial. A one-month increase across multiple categories in District Three. Agriculture, sanitation, processing, and labor hours all raised simultaneously. No additional resources would be provided.
The projected result was clear. District Three would not meet the adjustment. It would fracture. Households would fail in clusters. Correction rates would spike. The district would stabilize eventually, but only after significant loss.
Lily read the projections carefully. She did not skim. She did not react.
She accepted the meeting request.
The Regional supervisor arrived the next morning. He was older than Lily, thinner, with a face shaped by years of controlled disappointment. He did not waste time.
"You understand what this requires," he said.
"Yes," Lily said.
"It will destroy the district as it currently exists."
"Yes."
"Output will drop before it rises."
"Yes."
"Correction numbers will be higher than average."
"Yes."
He watched her for a moment. "Do you have objections?"
"No."
"Concerns?"
"No."
"Explain your understanding," he said.
Lily didn't hesitate.
"District Three is inefficient because loss has been gradual," she said. "Households adapt just enough to survive. That produces stagnation. A sudden increase will overwhelm margins. Most households will fail simultaneously. Correction will remove excess units quickly. Survivors will reorganize around the new baseline."
"And the sanity loss involved?" the supervisor asked.
"It's unavoidable," Lily said. "But it's also temporary."
He nodded once. "Detail it. The plan in your head."
Lily did.
"The first week will result in widespread sleep deprivation," she said. "Households will extend labor hours to compensate. Physical exhaustion will reduce precision. Injuries will increase, though most won't be reported because exemptions reduce output."
"Second week?"
"Food shortages within households," Lily said. "Rations will be redistributed unevenly. Stronger units will consume more to maintain output. Weaker members will decline. Sanitation quotas will be neglected to prioritize agriculture and processing."
The supervisor didn't interrupt.
"Disease will spread," Lily continued. "Nothing dramatic. Skin infections. Respiratory issues. Digestive problems. Productivity will fall further."
"And correction?"
"By the third week, failure clusters will form," Lily said. "Households with multiple units will decrease rapidly Fire, Electric shocks removing limbs without anaesthesia will become common. Noise complaints will increase briefly. Then stop."
"Why stop?"
"Because there will be fewer people left to complain."
The supervisor exhaled slowly. "Continue."
"Psychological degradation will be significant," Lily said. "Hopelessness will replace panic. That reduces resistance. Output among remaining units will improve because expectations narrow. Survival instincts sharpen when choice disappears."
"You're comfortable with this," he said. It wasn't a question.
"Yes."
"Why?"
Lily paused. Not because she struggled to answer, but because precision mattered.
"Because the system already causes this level of harm," she said. "It's just spread out. Concentrating it shortens the duration."
He studied her. "You don't believe you're responsible."
"I believe responsibility belongs to structure," Lily said. "I'm an instrument."
"That answer satisfies policy," he said. "But I'm asking you."
Lily met his gaze. "I don't think suffering has moral weight beyond its effect on output. Pain that produces efficiency is preferable to pain that produces nothing."
The supervisor leaned back. "District Three will hate you."
"They already do," Lily said. "They just haven't realized it yet."
He smiled slightly. "Promotion is provisional. Begin adjustment tomorrow."
Lily returned to work.
She didn't announce the changes personally. Announcements encouraged reaction. Instead, quotas updated automatically at shift start.
The effect was immediate.
By midday, households were already behind. People skipped meals. Breaks disappeared. Sanitation crews were reassigned to sorting. Water processing slowed. Waste piled up.
By evening, arguments broke out between units competing for shared resources. Guards intervened twice. Lily approved both corrections without comment.
On the third day, the first clustered failures occurred. Three households failed across multiple categories simultaneously. the correction requests came in. Lily approved them in batches.
Smoke was visible across most of the district by the end of the week.
The second week was quieter. Fewer arguments. Fewer complaints. People moved more slowly. Some didn't move at all.
Lily walked through the district daily. She observed, took notes, adjusted thresholds where necessary. She did not flinch when people stared at her. Hatred was inefficient but predictable.
By the end of the month, District Three met the new baseline.
It had fewer households. Fewer units. Higher output per remaining worker.
The system logged the trial as successful.
Lily received confirmation of her promotion that evening.
She accepted it.
District Three no longer needed her.