The System Hunter

Chapter 25: Nine Minutes Under Gate Seven

The execution order carried Elias Venn's signature, and somewhere below his feet a machine was preparing to kill his sister.

Nine minutes. The number hung across his vision while the officers entered the certification booth. One reached for the evidence pages in his hand. Elias folded them against his chest instead.

"That authorization is counterfeit," he said. "I'm requesting immediate suspension of a contested custody disposal."

"You are the contested party," the officer replied. "You cannot audit yourself."

He was right about that much. Elias turned the printed certificate around. The signature field showed his retired rescue credential. Beside it was a revocation date two years old. Somebody had reused a valid-looking key after its owner had lost access, and the System was treating the resulting order as law.

Tessa's voice crackled through his earpiece. "Don't challenge the signer. Challenge the device receiving the instruction. Every lethal implant command requires a current clinical authorization and a live patient check. A contractor certificate can't substitute for both."

"How do you know?"

"I helped write the exception procedure. I never thought I'd have to use it."

Elias opened the Level Three review menu. There was no rescue button. He found a line marked VERIFY RECEIVING STATION. The action required a registered clinical witness physically present beneath Gate Seven. He had no such witness.

"Mara," he said into the maintenance line, "what's beside you?"

"A locked treatment cubicle and an automated chair. There are three other detainees here. One's got a medical badge, but they've taken her access."

"Can she confirm you're conscious and objecting?"

A pause. Footsteps. Then a woman's strained voice. "Dr. Sela Orin. Credential suspended pending review. I can assess her, but the console won't accept me."

The countdown reached 07:41. The officers stepped closer. Elias submitted an emergency request using the doctor's badge number and the location of the receiving chair. The System displayed an error: WITNESS NOT IN GOOD STANDING.

"Her standing is the issue," Elias told the officers. "Not her ability to recognize a living patient."

One officer read the printed revocation date. The younger one lowered his hand from his restraint baton. The older officer called Merrow, requesting instructions. Elias knew what Merrow would say. The forged authorizations all pointed toward his office.

Across the control room, Rafi had stopped the fire alarm and was holding back angry contestants who wanted the permit board reopened. June stood near the pump's inspection rail. Elias signaled to her through the glass. She understood the word he mouthed: witness.

She seized the public safety microphone. "Gate Seven has a live detainee marked for disposal with a revoked signature. I witnessed the certification dispute. I want it on the station record."

Others turned. The board that had ranked them as competitors now displayed the announcement as a public safety incident. Elias uploaded his three printed receipts and the station inspection record. A verification prompt appeared.

PUBLIC SAFETY INCIDENT: ACTIVE.

INDEPENDENT OBSERVERS REQUIRED: 2.

TIME REMAINING: 05:18.

Rafi scanned his identity. June scanned hers. The older officer ordered them to stop, but the younger officer had already countersigned the physical hazard report, identifying the execution mechanism as an unverified clinical device. A warning tone sounded below the floor.

Mara's breathing came through the maintenance speaker, too fast. "They're pulling the chair out of its recess. Elias, I can't get the band loose."

"Don't fight the chair. Tell the doctor to keep talking to you."

"You always tell me to stay calm when you're frightened."

"I'm frightened," he admitted. "Stay with me anyway."

Tessa found the last procedural opening. "The observer report can trigger a safety hold, but only if somebody accepts the liability contract. It'll debit the applicant for every minute of suspension, whether the order was wrong or not."

The proposal appeared before Elias: EMERGENCY CLINICAL STAY. DEPOSIT: 00:30:00. REVIEW PERIOD: 00:20:00. He had enough balance to accept, but the deduction would leave him vulnerable if another contract failed. He approved it without looking away from Mara's countdown.

At 00:03:12, the red display froze. The chair's mechanical motor stopped. A green line appeared beneath the order: CLINICAL STAY ACTIVE.

"You stopped it," Mara whispered.

"For twenty minutes. We're not safe yet."

Then the System billed him a second time.

UNDECLARED DEPENDENT LIABILITY DETECTED.

ADDITIONAL DEPOSIT REQUIRED: 02:00:00.

COLLECTION BEGINS AT STAY EXPIRATION.

The hidden charge was larger than the time Elias had left.