The system did not open a market.
It opened space.
Conversations no longer triggered warnings. Distance mattered again. Groups formed naturally—quietly—like cracks choosing where to spread.
Ethan stayed where he was.
Watching.
Listening.
Learning who moved closer to whom.
Subject 07 stood apart, shoulders tight. The red outline around him pulsed slower now, but it hadn't disappeared.
Mara approached Ethan.
"You shouldn't have done that," she said.
"I know," Ethan replied.
She glanced around before continuing. "People are talking."
"That was inevitable."
"No," she said. "This is different. They're trading outcomes now."
The first incident happened without announcement.
A man near the far wall suddenly froze, eyes unfocused.
Above his head, a panel flared.
[Violation Detected]
Category: Prompted Action
Prompted.
Not chosen.
Not accidental.
The system clarified.
[External Incentive Identified]
Source: Participant Interaction
Someone had nudged him into a mistake.
The penalty came instantly.
Cost: 1 year, 8 months
He collapsed, shaking.
No one helped.
Because help could be logged.
A quiet voice drifted through the room.
"I'll give you a credit," someone said, "if you access that panel for me."
Ethan turned slowly.
Two participants stood close together.
One held a Time Credit.
The other hesitated.
Accessing unassigned panels.
Unauthorized curiosity.
A violation waiting to happen.
The system watched.
Did not intervene.
Because the choice was still technically free.
"This is what they want," Mara whispered. "Errors induced, not enforced."
Ethan nodded.
The system was evolving.
Or rather—it was letting them evolve.
And measuring who adapted fastest.
Liam stepped into the open space.
"You're all thinking too small," he said. "Credits aren't currency."
He raised his hand slightly, letting the glow of a Time Credit show.
"They're control."
A few people shifted uneasily.
"Give someone delay," Liam continued, "and they'll owe you. Deny it, and they'll rush. Rushed people make mistakes."
The system didn't correct him.
That was confirmation enough.
A private notice pulsed in Ethan's vision.
[Behavioral Threshold Approaching]
Recommendation: Avoid Further Interventions
Recommendation.
Not order.
The system was still curious.
Still letting him choose.
Ethan clenched his jaw.
Avoiding intervention was the safe path.
Which meant the dangerous one—for everyone else.
Another violation flared.
Another induced error.
Another chunk of life stripped away.
The room grew quieter with each one.
Not from fear.
From calculation.
Subject 07 finally broke.
"I'll do it," he said to no one in particular. "Just… tell me what you want."
Ethan felt his stomach tighten.
This was the line.
Not violence.
Not coercion.
Just incentives arranged so that refusal cost more than compliance.
The system observed.
And learned.