Power feels different when it is yours.
Not theoretical.
Not aspirational.
Yours.
Mira learned that on the fourth day of the Unified Structural Commission's existence.
The crisis did not arrive dramatically.
No explosions.
No scandal.
Just a blinking red alert on her secured briefing dashboard.
REGIONAL INFRASTRUCTURE FAILURE — EASTERN AUTONOMY SECTOR
She was still in the Commission chamber when the alert surfaced.
Budget reallocation software deployed under her recalibrated Regional Autonomy framework had stalled mid-transfer.
Municipal salary disbursements paused.
Healthcare funding queues frozen.
Public transit contracts flagged "processing error."
Not collapse.
Not yet.
But visible disruption.
The first major implementation under her unified architecture—
And it was shaking.
Daniel was the first to speak.
"How widespread?" he asked evenly.
Her chief data analyst swallowed.
"Three provinces. Possibly cascading."
Silence fell around the circular table.
