Rodriguez called the full multi-civilization council session within hours of Sekar's confirmed finding, understanding immediately that whatever theoretical crisis planning had characterized the preceding four months now required genuine, urgent strategic reassessment.
"I want to understand why," he said, once the assembled representatives — Sohrn through the junction, Kharn's Thornwake delegation, entity civilization liaison staff, Dr. Chen's analytical team — had absorbed the specific directionality Sekar's analysis had confirmed. "Not merely that Threnody is consolidating toward Earth specifically. Why our Timeline, rather than Meridian's considerably more established, mature relationship, or the sheer opportunistic proximity Verdance's already-demonstrated vulnerability might suggest."
