• consultants
• interagency coordinators
• “temporary task force” staffers
People whose job is to keep the lights on while everyone above them fights and everyone below them quits.
They don’t need brilliance.
They need dashboards that look good.
Why defunding actually helps your story
Here’s the uncomfortable truth your novel is circling:
The less capable institutions become, the more attractive delegation feels.
When:
• staffing is thin
• expertise has retired
• institutional memory is gone
• public trust is brittle
Then a system that:
• reduces error
• avoids embarrassment
• prevents visible failure
…becomes irresistible.
Not because anyone is evil.
Because no one wants to be blamed.
This is exactly the world your readers recognize.
How this changes your human antagonists (important)
Your antagonists should not be:
• confident experts
• authoritative leaders