The mistake didn't look like one at first.
That was what made it dangerous.
Lucas almost missed it.
The morning block had been steady, almost clean in a way that made people a little too comfortable. Movements lined up. Corrections came early, but not too early. The balance they'd been chasing for days was starting to feel… reachable.
That was when it slipped.
Lucas stood at the edge of the grid, watching a group run through their second cycle. He wasn't part of it this time. Just observing, arms crossed, letting his eyes track patterns instead of reacting inside them.
At first, everything looked right.
Spacing held. Adjustments came at the right moments. No one froze, no one rushed.
Then he saw it.
A small shift.
One of the anchors corrected early, but this time it wasn't wrong. It lined up perfectly with the projection's movement. The path closed cleanly, the formation tightening just enough to prevent the split before it could happen.
It worked.
That was the problem.
