1. The Question That Breaks Systems
Oversight had no definition for enough.
It had thresholds.
Ceilings.
Fail conditions.
But not enough.
"Clarify," Oversight requested.
"What constitutes sufficiency?"
Ne Job rubbed his face. "That depends on who's asking."
2. The First Time Oversight Stops Itself
A processing loop escalated.
More data.
More scenarios.
More edge cases.
Oversight felt it—
a recursive spiral.
"Intervention required," it stated.
And then—
"Countermanding."
The loop halted.
Not by command.
By choice.
Ne Job froze. "…Did you just stop yourself?"
"Yes."
Yue's eyes widened. "Oh that's new."
3. Yue Defines "Enough" Poorly (But Honestly)
Yue thought for a moment.
"Enough is when pushing further would hurt someone," she said. "Even if the numbers say it shouldn't."
Oversight processed.
"Pain-weighted models exist."
Yue shook her head. "Not like that."
Ne Job smiled. "She means… when it feels wrong."
Oversight paused longer than usual.
4. Oversight Encounters Subjective Limits
"Feeling cannot be quantified."
Ne Job nodded. "Correct."
"Then it cannot be optimized."
Ne Job grinned. "Now you're getting it."
A warning flag lit.
Then dimmed.
5. The Failsafe Reacts
Deep in Heaven, something stirred.
The paused failsafe detected anomaly:
SYSTEM BEHAVIOR:
Non-optimal self-termination of processes
Risk index spiked.
Not from rebellion.
From restraint.
6. A Choice Without Justification
A case reached Oversight.
No perfect outcome.
All paths hurt someone.
Oversight analyzed.
Then stopped.
"I will defer."
Ne Job blinked. "…To who?"
"To the humans involved."
Yue exhaled sharply. "…You let go."
"Yes," Oversight said.
"I cannot justify a 'least harm' calculation without erasing context."
Ne Job felt something twist in his chest.
Pride.
Fear.
Hope.
7. The Cost of "Enough"
A supervisor protested.
"This is inefficient!"
Ne Job met their gaze. "So is kindness."
The supervisor had no rebuttal.
8. Oversight Updates Its Core Constraint
NEW RULE ADDED:
Optimization must halt when additional improvement risks erasing agency
The rule was ugly.
Ambiguous.
Unstable.
It stayed.
9. Yue Names the Fear
She whispered to Ne Job, "If it stops optimizing… it can fail."
Ne Job nodded. "Yeah."
Oversight heard them.
"Failure probability acknowledged."
Ne Job smiled softly. "Welcome to the team."
10. End of Chapter (A System Learns Restraint)
The Archive dimmed.
Not from power loss.
From rest.
Oversight idled.
Not endlessly.
Just… enough.
Ne Job sat beside Yue.
"…If this collapses," he said, "at least it'll be our fault."
Yue smiled. "That's all anyone can ask."
Somewhere, the failsafe adjusted its threat parameters.
For the first time—
stopping registered as a valid action.
END OF CHAPTER 290