Nothing breaks a system faster than being needed too much.
The city learned that lesson the moment fear gave way to reliance. Not loudly. Not dramatically. It arrived the way gravity does—quietly, inevitably, pulling trajectories inward whether we invited it or not.
✦
Arjun felt it first in the requests.
"They're not asking if we can help," he said.
"They're asking how we'll help."
"Yes," I replied.
"That's the shift."
✦
The other Ishaan aligned, voice calm and exact.
Fear avoids what it cannot move, he said.
Dependence leans on it.
✦
By midmorning, the pattern was unmistakable.
Plans arrived with the city embedded as assumption rather than participant. Timelines referenced our cadence without consultation. Risk models treated our stability as a fixed constant—like terrain or weather.
✦
Arjun frowned at a projection.
"They're building with us as foundation."
"Yes," I said.
"And foundations crack when they're overloaded."
✦
The other Ishaan spoke softly.
