The clarification was not dramatic.
It arrived as a margin note on Phase Two.
CORRECTIVE ROUTING EXTENSION
During review cycles, checkpoint authority may reassign households to Temporary Holding for up to seventy-two hours pending alignment verification.
Seventy-two hours.
Three days.
No arrest.
No charge.
Just holding.
Kael read it and did not look up immediately.
"Who added this?" he asked.
The senior clerk closed the ledger.
"Clarification from Council."
"Requested by whom?"
She did not answer.
Across the square, the Temporary Holding lane was repainted.
The word Temporary remained.
The paint looked permanent.
Lyria saw the first seventy-two-hour routing before noon.
A man from Transitional approached with a faded seal.
"Renewal pending," he said quickly.
The clerk examined it.
"Alignment dip last cycle," she said.
"I filed disclosure."
"Yes."
"And volunteered."
"Yes."
"Then why?"
"Cumulative variance."
The enforcer stepped forward.
"Corrective routing," he said.
The man stiffened.
"For how long?"
"Up to seventy-two hours."
"I work night shift."
"Your employer will be notified."
Lyria moved between them.
"That's unnecessary," she said sharply.
"His seal is active."
"Provisional," the clerk corrected.
"He has complied."
"Pattern incomplete."
The phrase again.
Pattern incomplete.
Lyria's hand hovered near her hilt.
Not to draw.
To anchor herself.
"This will escalate," she warned.
"It prevents escalation," the enforcer replied.
The line behind them did not move.
No one shouted.
No one stepped forward.
The man looked at Lyria.
For a second, he expected interruption.
She held his gaze.
Then lowered her hand.
The enforcer guided him into Temporary Holding.
No restraints.
Just a different lane.
His wife followed two steps behind.
Derren stood at the lantern and did not look away.
He repeated the new phrase calmly to the next household.
"Structure prevents collapse."
The words felt heavier this time.
Kael watched the holding lane fill to three households by afternoon.
Processing speed unchanged.
Disruption rate stable.
Civic Alignment Index ticked up to 97%.
He felt the number like a bruise.
Above, Soryn reviewed the Clarified Authority report.
Seventy-two-hour holding reduces review backlog.
Compliance stability maintained.
Public reaction minimal.
She set the paper down slowly.
"Care scales faster than conscience," she said again, almost inaudibly.
This time it sounded less like observation.
More like warning.