Gold Hall tried to buy a hallway.
The request looked cleaner than an invasion.
That was the trick.
No soldiers at a gate. No shouted claim. No blade drawn across a servant's throat. Just beautiful wording around temporary authority, orderly evacuation, and verification logs. Gold Hall knew violence became more acceptable when it arrived carrying a clipboard.
The hallway did not care who wrote the form.
People did.
Especially the ones who would become suspicious for walking where they had always worked.
That was not the official wording.
Officially, Marcell Rovain submitted an emergency logistical stabilization proposal after the chapel-door replay exposed the trapped civilians. The proposal offered Gold Hall personnel, rank-trained escorts, and verification clerks to "secure" three service-route intersections for the remainder of the exercise.
Translation: he wanted control over the gray veins before the next crisis moved through them.
