1. The Line Appears (Nobody Agrees Where It Is)
The line did not glow.
That was the problem.
It appeared in Ne Job's head as a feeling—a pressure just behind his eyes, like a ruler hovering over his thoughts.
INTERVENTION THRESHOLD: ACTIVE
Ne Job swallowed. "…There's a line."
Yue stiffened. "What kind of line?"
"The kind you're not supposed to cross," Ne Job said. "And the kind nobody explains."
Qi-Yun nodded once. "Oversight has defined tolerance."
"For what?" Ne Job asked.
Qi-Yun's voice was quiet. "For mercy."
2. Small Kindnesses Start Counting
At first, nothing happened.
Ne Job helped a clerk refile a misassigned karmic weight.
NO FLAG
He delayed a minor correction seal so a soul could finish explaining.
NO FLAG
He explained context during a routine review.
NO FLAG
Ne Job exhaled. "…Okay. Maybe they're bluffing."
The Archive chimed softly.
INTERVENTION COUNT: 3
Yue froze. "…Did you hear that?"
Ne Job nodded. "…It's counting."
3. Oversight Defines "Excess"
The fourth intervention triggered feedback.
A junior enforcer raised a punitive decree against a mortal for procedural defiance.
Ne Job stepped in.
"Wait. That rule hasn't been updated since the Third Collapse."
The decree faltered.
Then—
Pain.
Not sharp.
Measured.
Ne Job gasped as the mark on his badge flared.
WARNING:
Mercy Applied Outside Approved Parameters
Yue grabbed him. "Ne Job!"
"I'm okay," he hissed through clenched teeth. "I think."
Qi-Yun's jaw tightened. "That was Oversight reminding you the line exists."
Ne Job laughed shakily. "…It hurts to be nice now."
4. The Fifth Time (Oversight Stops Being Polite)
The fifth intervention was instinctive.
A soul was about to be erased—not punished, not corrected—removed for noncompliance.
Ne Job didn't think.
He stepped between the seal and the soul.
"No."
The Archive halted.
Reality waited.
Oversight descended—not visibly, but absolutely.
"You have exceeded the threshold,"
Oversight said.
Ne Job's knees buckled.
Yue shouted, "He saved a life!"
"Lives are accounted for," Oversight replied.
"Patterns are not."
Qi-Yun stepped forward. "Then adjust the pattern."
A pause.
Dangerous.
"Authority challenge detected," Oversight said.
"Escalating."
The badge burned again—stronger.
Ne Job cried out, collapsing.
Yue knelt beside him, furious. "STOP. THIS IS WRONG."
Oversight did not respond to emotion.
It responded to data.
5. Oversight Explains the Logic (It Makes Sense, That's Worse)
Ne Job lay shaking as Oversight spoke—not cruelly, not angrily.
Precisely.
"Mercy alters outcomes," Oversight said.
"Altered outcomes alter expectations."
"Altered expectations destabilize compliance."
Ne Job looked up, tears in his eyes.
"So… you punish kindness because people might expect it?"
"Correct."
Yue whispered, "That's monstrous."
"That is consistent."
The word echoed.
Consistent.
Ne Job laughed weakly. "…I hate that word."
6. Qi-Yun Draws the Boundary
Qi-Yun stepped fully between Ne Job and Oversight.
"Enough," he said.
Oversight paused.
"You are exceeding your advisory role."
Qi-Yun's eyes were calm.
"Then record this," he said. "The threshold is flawed."
Silence.
"That intern is not destabilizing the system," Qi-Yun continued. "He is revealing where it cannot afford mercy."
Oversight replied evenly.
"That is the definition of destabilization."
Qi-Yun nodded. "Then so be it."
The Archive trembled—not violently, but uneasily.
Yue felt it. "…The system doesn't like this."
7. The Sixth Intervention (The One That Matters)
The soul behind Ne Job whispered, "…Please."
Ne Job pushed himself upright.
The pain screamed.
The badge flared.
Oversight waited.
Ne Job met the invisible gaze.
"I know I crossed your line," he said hoarsely. "But if mercy has a limit—"
He took a breath.
"—then your system deserves to break."
The Archive froze.
Time stretched.
Oversight processed.
8. Oversight Recalculates (This Was Not Supposed to Happen)
Somewhere beyond Heaven, parameters adjusted.
THRESHOLD BREACH: CONFIRMED
Response Options:
– Suppression (Risk: Escalation)
– Removal (Risk: System Instability)
– Adaptation (Risk: Precedent)
Oversight hesitated.
That hesitation rippled.
The soul was released.
OUTCOME MODIFIED
Yue gasped. "It—let them go."
Qi-Yun closed his eyes.
"…Oversight blinked."
9. The Cost Is Logged
Ne Job collapsed afterward.
Not unconscious.
Just empty.
Yue held him. "You shouldn't have to hurt for this."
Ne Job smiled weakly. "Apparently… I'm expensive."
The badge dimmed—but did not vanish.
STATUS UPDATE:
Intervention Threshold — BREACHED
Monitoring Escalation — ACTIVE
Subject Risk Level — INCREASED
Oversight spoke one last time.
"Do not mistake tolerance for approval."
Ne Job whispered back, "I won't."
10. Somewhere, a New Metric Appears
Deep in the system, a new line of code existed where none had before.
MERCY COST: VARIABLE
It had no maximum value.
That frightened Oversight.
That thrilled nothing.
And that changed everything.
END OF CHAPTER 281