The Demonstration
Iria did not announce it as such.
She called it a trial.
Three outer districts had been struggling with transitional-hour crime—petty theft, supply skimming, opportunistic smuggling during the blurred edges between light and dark. The Preservationists had used the reports well.
"Centralized oversight would close the gaps," their latest pamphlet claimed.
So Iria proposed something precise.
A thirty-day operational stress test.
No new authority.
No central council.
But a coordinated, transparent response across districts—with real-time reporting, public metrics, and rotating facilitators.
"If decentralization fails under pressure," she said at the open forum, "we will know. And we will adjust."
It was not defiance.
It was accountability.
The Preservationists agreed to observe.
That was important.
If the demonstration succeeded without them, it would look defensive. If they witnessed it, it became shared evidence.
The first week was uneven.
Communication lagged. Two patrol units misaligned their routes. A supply manifest was misfiled. Critics pointed quickly.
But unlike before, the failures were logged publicly.
Corrected publicly.
Tracked publicly.
By the second week, redundancy layers improved response times. Cross-district patrol rotations reduced blind spots. A volunteer reporting system during transitional hours increased community presence without formal expansion of authority.
It wasn't perfect.
But it was visible.
By the third week, crime in the test districts dropped—not dramatically, but measurably.
Not because someone centralized control.
Because coordination sharpened.
On the thirtieth day, the numbers were presented openly.
Response times improved by one bell compared to previous averages. Reported transitional theft decreased by nearly a third. Participation in local forums rose slightly rather than falling.
The Preservationist negotiator stood beside Iria as the results were read.
"You've strengthened the network," he said quietly.
"Yes."
"You proved it can adapt."
"For now."
He studied the figures again.
"This does not eliminate the appeal of structure."
"No," she agreed. "It clarifies its necessity."
A pause.
"You're not against oversight," he realized.
"I'm against permanence disguised as help."
That evening, no speeches were made.
No victory declared.
Just data.
And choice.
The quiet opposition did not dissolve.
But it lost its urgency.
And urgency had been its greatest ally.