There was no official announcement.
No orders.
But from the third day back, the streets felt different.
In the corners of the settlements, children began to ask:
not "who is in charge," but "how do you choose your steps?"
A small question. But enough to shake the direction of the entire zone.
Lyse disappeared from the public screen. But snippets of her words,
broken, blurry, and sometimes just long silences—
began to circulate through private networks.
"We don't need a center to walk. We just need to know why we walk."
People listened to it before going to bed.
Some memorized it. Some rewrote it by hand.
Not as dogma. But as something that felt… their own.
Sero, who had been quiet and strict to the system,
was now seen walking without a bodyguard.
He refused to enter large meeting rooms.
More often stood among the cleaners, or the underpass team.
And when someone asked him why—
he would only answer quietly:
"Because I forgot their voices."
