The System Hunter

Chapter 20: Deliver Mara Venn

The escort band tightened whenever Elias stepped more than three meters from Mara.

It was a simple mechanical tether with an authenticated radio lock, but the System displayed it as a perfect green line between two names. To the security cameras, Elias was no longer an accused hunter trying to protect his sister. He was a contractor transporting an evidence subject.

"You could have told me," Mara said as they left the annex through a delivery entrance.

"I know."

"You could have trusted me to decide whether to accept custody."

"I know that too."

She did not forgive him merely because he admitted it. She unfolded the paper receipt Tessa had passed her and began counting the security checkpoints along the transport route. When she spoke again, it was about their plan, not their argument.

"Trial District's gate has a certified biomedical station. If I can prove the owner certificate is counterfeit there, they have to release this band."

"And if you can't?" Rafi asked.

"Then we'll be inside a place designed to make people compete for survival permissions. We should prepare for that instead of pretending it's a normal courthouse."

Their transport was a converted municipal maintenance van. Valeen drove. Tessa sat with an offline camera and a folder of paper receipts; Rafi watched the rear doors. Captain Arcos called once to report that the children had received another valid medical hold. Hollen had volunteered as a documented caregiver, giving the nurse an additional witness for every renewal.

"You need to live long enough to come back for them," Arcos said.

Elias watched the minutes drain from his counter. "We're working on it."

Midnight's all-hunter reset still occupied a red bar along the top of his interface. Every hour spent chasing the wrong signature brought him closer to a citywide order whose consequences nobody had yet disproved.

At the river checkpoint, a guard asked for Mara's transport authorization. Elias presented the contract. The scanner flashed yellow.

ESCORT VALID.

SUBJECT BIOMETRICS: DUPLICATE ENTRY.

SECOND RECORD CURRENTLY INSIDE TRIAL DISTRICT.

Mara leaned toward the reader. "There is another me inside already?"

"The duplicate may be an account," Tessa said. "Or a person carrying the projection film we recovered."

Elias remembered the impostor restrained in the hospital supply chair. They had delivered her into Arcos's custody after escaping the tram. If that woman had been moved to Trial District, someone might be using her again as a recognized Mara.

The guard reached for his radio. Valeen lowered her window and displayed her rank seal. "Medical escort with an active custody conflict. Send a discrepancy ticket. Don't resolve identities at roadside."

He hesitated, then waved the van through. Rafi waited until the bridge was behind them before speaking.

"We can still turn around."

Mara lifted her bound wrist. "That would authorize immediate collection."

"Maybe we could cut the band."

"The lock is only the visible part," she said. "My implant knows the custody status. Cut the strap and it will report an escape whether I actually leave or not."

They entered Trial District beneath a concrete arch engraved with an old municipal motto about fairness. The streets beyond it were full of barricades, empty market stalls, and people wearing numbered gray vests. A message appeared on every window in the van.

TRIAL DISTRICT QUALIFICATION EVENT.

ACTIVE CONTESTANTS: 120.

CERTIFIED EXTRACTION PERMITS: 12.

NONQUALIFIED PERSONS REMAIN UNDER CONTROLLED ACCESS.

"We have ninety minutes to deliver her," Elias said. "This competition might last all night."

Tessa examined the gate map. "The certification desk sits beyond the qualification course. But the escort terminal may accept a delivery at the entrance."

It did. Elias stepped out with Mara and scanned his contract, hoping the green line would vanish. Instead, a loudspeaker thanked him for successful delivery and added an hour to his clock.

TRANSPORT COMPLETE.

CUSTODY TRANSFERRED TO TRIAL DISTRICT.

ESCORT AUTHORITY TERMINATED.

The band unlocked from his wrist but stayed on Mara's. Two automated shutters dropped between them. A red arrow pointed Mara toward the evidence-subject holding lane, while the other sent Elias toward the contestants' queue.

Mara looked back through the gap. "You promised you wouldn't let them keep me."

"I promised I'd get you out," Elias said.

The shutter sealed. The System displayed his new assignment.

MANDATORY OBJECTIVE: QUALIFY FOR WITNESS ACCESS.

EXTRACTION PERMITS AVAILABLE: 12.

APPLICANTS PRESENT: 120.

Outside the gate, someone started screaming as the first qualification clock reached zero.