The pump's shutdown counter showed twelve minutes. June Ilyan had eighteen minutes of life remaining.Elias used his rescue knife to pry open the inspection hatch without touching the live cabinet. Behind it, a narrow maintenance channel led to the upstream switchroom. The channel was half-filled with black water, and its overhead fixtures were mounted too low for anyone wearing bulky hunter armor."One person goes in," Rafi said."Two," June corrected. "One holds the insulated cable off the water. The other opens the isolator."June was the only person who understood the older switchgear. Elias refused to send her alone. He attached a rescue line to his waist, checked that the electrical feed had been isolated from the channel by a separate physical barrier, and followed her through the hatch.Rafi remained at the entrance with the line and a manual release pin. "If you stop answering, I'm pulling," he promised.June passed him her badge before entering. "My father thinks I work in a

Elias had gained Level Three less than two minutes before the System accused him of tampering with the evidence he had been allowed to inspect.The glass booth's door locked from the outside. Through it, he could see Dax Merrow talking to two officers beside the permit board. June was trying to explain her restoration record, but a clerk kept pointing at her nonpriority status. Rafi stood between them, refusing to move."Merrow has supervisor credentials," Tessa said through the earpiece. "They let him edit the very scores he's competing against. If he closes the session, your screenshot won't carry a trusted signature."Elias studied his Level Three menu. The new review permission included an export function for time-stamped public evidence. It did not allow him to rewrite records. He exported the screen, the certification result, and the inspection seal from the pump. He also included the rejected complaint timestamp, the one showing Mara had supposedly signed before she appeared. E

The System had suspended Mara's execution, then issued Elias a bill he could not pay.The second deposit pulsed red on his interface. Two hours, due when the twenty-minute clinical hold expired. His balance was nowhere close. A failure would not merely release the chair beneath Gate Seven; it would mark him as a debtor eligible for immediate collection."There's no dependent liability in the public contract," Tessa said. "Someone attached it through an administrative privilege. We need the original liability schedule before the stay ends."The older enforcement officer demanded Elias surrender his terminal. Elias showed him the unsigned surcharge instead. "This was added after I accepted. Under which published rule?"The man had no answer. He called Merrow again and turned away while the line rang.Below, Mara asked the suspended doctor to record a bedside examination on paper. Elias listened to the scratch of a pen through the call panel. Dr. Orin described Mara's pulse, alertness, a

The archive accused Tessa Rook of removing the key that had authorized Mara's execution.Elias stood with the door's cold metal against his back and read the receipt twice. Custodian: Tessa Rook. The withdrawal date was eighteen months old, during the compliance audit that ended her career. Her signature looked authentic down to the slight break in the last letter."Tessa," he said into the channel, "your name is on the physical withdrawal record."Silence, then a measured breath. "Read me the control number."He did. Somewhere in the booth, she typed quickly. "That was my audit. I requested a sealed sample of retired credentials to test whether legacy ports could be abused. I never took possession. The receiving clerk signed the handover.""Who was the clerk?""The name was removed from the final report. I objected. My objection is part of why they fired me.""And you never told me?""I told you I approved a policy I regret. I didn't know your credential was in the sample. I didn't k

June's voluntary time transfer became a criminal allegation before Anika finished speaking.The warrant charged June with financing an unauthorized identity disclosure. Every hunter at the qualification board received the same offer: detain her for ninety minutes of Life Balance and a priority extraction permit. Several contestants turned toward her. They had spent the morning watching people die in queues; desperation made the offer look less like a crime than a door opening.Rafi stepped between June and the nearest hunter. "She's the one who got the water running. You'd still be downstairs without her.""The System doesn't pay for gratitude," the man said. He was broad-shouldered, with a cracked visor and a clock showing only eighteen minutes. He looked more frightened than cruel.Elias displayed the signed transfer consent. "She gave time from her own balance. Nothing was stolen. The accusation is about what Anika said afterward, not the transfer itself.""Then prove it before my