Victory did not echo.
It settled.
In the days after the vote, Metro City did not erupt in celebration. There were no parades in The Cuts, no banners in Chinatown. There was only a slow shift in posture.
People stood straighter.
They asked more questions.
They read contracts before signing them.
That alone changed the air.
Mark noticed it in small ways. A shop owner who once accepted any “security recommendation” now demanded written terms. A group of mechanics formed a neighborhood grid committee. College students hosted open forums about data rights.
Choice was spreading.
And with it, responsibility.
Devon leaned against the kitchen counter in the safehouse, flipping through a printed proposal from one of the new community councils.
“They’re asking for technical guidance,” he s
