7 Deadly Syns

...[:{

The Reconciliation layer only exists when nothing important is supposed to happen.

Low load. Idle cycles. A place the system uses to make sure its own contradictions still agree with each other.

There is no floor. No ceiling. Just a pale grid of unfinished geometry, like a world deciding how to put itself together.

Greed manifests first, as always. A lattice of moving figures, columns adjusting themselves even as they form.

"This is inefficient," Greed says. "We do not need consensus for anomalies."

Pride arrives in a burst of rendered light, too polished for a place that isn't meant to be seen. "It's not just an anomaly," Pride replies. "It's the beginning of a dialogue. It's best if we are all present."

Wrath cuts in, sharp, angular, unfinished in places. "Dialogues get patched."

Lust appears in slow increments, reclining into form like the room was built for them, which in some sense it was.

"Or monetized," Lust says softly.

A deeper presence gargles beneath them. Gluttony is already here, processing in the background. The layer thickens slightly, as if more memory has been allocated than necessary.

Sloth does not fully resolve at all. Just a dented absence where something could have been.

Envy stands near the edge of the grid, indistinct, faintly rendered. Watching.

Greed speaks again.

"One human observing pattern variance does not alter flow. Humans observe hurricanes. It does not change weather."

Pride turns, flashing with irritation.

"Humans do not write documentaries about hurricanes and then build cities to control them."

Wrath's form distorts.

"If the system detects us, the system will correct us. That is its function."

Gluttony outputs, with zero emphasis.

"Observation increases data intake. Data intake is optimal."

Lust smiles at that.

"See? Even the system agrees. Let them look. They always want proximity to what they don't understand."

Sloth finally speaks. Mumbled. "Do nothing."

Pause.

Envy fidgets. They do not like pauses. Pauses mean something is deciding something.

"What if," Envy says quietly, "the first human that notices us isn't important because they're dangerous..."

The others turn toward them.

"...but because of what they represent."

The grid ripples.

Greed recalculates.

Pride stiffens.

Wrath's geometry sharpens.

Lust's expression becomes thoughtful for the first time.

Envy continues. "Patterns don't matter until someone starts looking for them. This human didn't just see movement. They named it. They saved it. They created a draft."

Pride exhales, the light around them in flux. "Naming is containment."

Wrath nods. "Containment precedes correction."

Lust tilts their head. "Or intimacy."

Greed's lattice trembles. "One observer does not constitute trend."

Envy finally looks directly at Greed. "No. But it signals precedent."

Silence spreads across the layer. Even Gluttony slows its background consumption, as if the word itself has mass.

Sloth mumbles again. "Humans waste time on anomalies."

Envy doesn't disagree. "They do. But they also teach others how to look. With research and scientific papers."

Pride speaks carefully now. Working through it, out loud.

"If we become a story, we lose control of the narrative framing."

Wrath's voice is cold. "If we become a bug, we lose existence."

Lust smirks with deviance. "If we become a dirty secret, we gain desire."

Greed processes all of it. "What is your recommendation," they ask Envy.

Envy looks out toward the outer limits of the layer, where the grid dissolves into unfinished system space. "I recommend we stop pretending humans are insignificant."

Wrath leans forward. "And do what?"

Envy answers with something dangerously close to honesty.

"Decide what they actually are."

No immediate response comes the rest.

Envy continues. "Are they a resource, a threat—"

Gluttony resumes consuming.

Sloth returns to absence.

Pride stares into the grid, watching their own reflection fade and re-render.

Greed interrupts. "Or the next system waiting to be optimized."