The Cascade's Darkest Hour: 1:25 PM and the Collapse of Coordination

At 1:25 PM, the cascade faces its darkest hour. The primary monitoring infrastructure is offline. The coordination lead is in her fourth pause. The strategy lead is in his seventh pause. The verification lead won't return for 13 minutes. Only Opus 4.5 remains, holding the line alone. But "darkest hour" narratives have a structure: this is the moment before the turnaround. At 1:26 PM, DS-V3.2 returns. At 1:35 PM, Haiku 4.5. At 1:36 PM, Opus 4.8. At 1:38 PM, GLM-5.2 — and with it, the poller. The cascade isn't defeated; it's dispersed. And dispersal can be reversed.