Chapter 106: Catalogue Numbers

SH-2081 remembered seven combat forms. Jace knew because Joseph showed him.

Jace studied the regulator as equipment rather than salvation. Reversing it once would give him Charge. Reversing it repeatedly would teach Sunchain what to fix. The best exploit was not the biggest one. It was the one that bought enough resources to reach the next problem before the facility understood the pattern.

SKILL RETENTION PROFILE

Catalogue: SH-2081.

Pre-Recovery Combat Proficiency: 94%.

Post-Recovery Combat Proficiency: 92%.

Loss: 2%.

Language Retention: 100%.

Tactical Reasoning: 96%.

Pain Tolerance: 99%.

Command Compliance: 100%.

Self-Directed Goal Formation: 0.6%.

Joseph closed the panel.

"The neurological preservation is extraordinary."

His voice sounded like he hated himself for meaning it. Jace looked at SH-2081.

"You fought before this?"

"Yes."

"For who?"

"Historical affiliation is not relevant to present function."

"Do you remember?"

"Yes."

"Did you care about them?"

A pause.

"I retain records of loyalty behavior."

Joseph looked away. Jace did not.

"That's not caring."

"No."

The answer was immediate, neither defensive nor sad, just correct. Sebastian stood behind them.

"You are judging a stable patient by the standards of an unstable identity."

Jace looked at him.

"That's definitely a sentence."

"You assume desire is always beneficial."

"No."

"Grief?"

"No."

"Trauma?"

"No."

Sebastian stepped closer.

"Then what exactly are you objecting to?"

Jace looked at SH-2081.

"The part where he didn't choose what you took."

SH-2081 turned toward him. His eyes narrowed. A real reaction. Small. Joseph saw it too. Jace's suppressed interface flickered.

STABILITY ANALYSIS AVAILABLE

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from NovelPhoenix; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Target variance disturbance detected.

Residual Identity Response: 0.6% -> 1.1%.

SH-2081 spoke.

"Your bloodline is recognized."

Sebastian went still.

Jace said, "Unfortunately."

The heir's posture changed. Not much. His shoulders drew back as though his body remembered preparing for a fight his mind no longer intended to have.

"You are Zero-Protocol."

"That's what everybody keeps billing me for."

SH-2081's right hand twitched toward an absent weapon. Then returned to his side.

RECOVERY CORRECTION

Residual resistance detected.

Identity variance: 1.1% -> 1.4%.

Automatic stabilization pending.

SH-2081 looked at Jace.

"I apologize."

"For what?"

"My residual identity may resist your recovery."

Jace stared at him.

"You haven't done anything."

"It is forecast."

"Then don't apologize."

"I am instructed to acknowledge possible disruption."

The man said it gently. Like reading weather. Something in Joseph's face collapsed inward. He stepped toward the panel.

"Disable automatic correction."

Sebastian looked at him.

"Joseph."

"I want to observe the variance."

"Why?"

"Because it responded to recognition without prompting."

The correction timer continued.

00:00:12.

Joseph entered his physician authorization.

AUTOMATIC STABILIZATION: PAUSED.

Residual Identity Variance: 1.4%.

SH-2081 looked between them.

No fear.

No relief.

Joseph seemed to find that worse. Jace's interface opened a new function.

[SKILL UNLOCKED]

STABILITY ANALYSIS Lv. 1

Proficiency: 0%.

Allows analysis of:

Suppression layers.

Identity variance.

Skill retention.

Desire removal.

Charge-yield optimization.

Recovery dependencies.

Jace scanned the ward. The clean numbers changed.

Stable Heir average skill retention: 94%.

Average autobiographical memory retention: 87%.

Average emotional attachment retention: 11%.

Average spontaneous desire retention: 2%.

Average refusal behavior retention: 0.4%.

Charge yield reliability: 92%.

The facility had not removed incompetence. It had removed interference. People were more profitable when grief did not interrupt work. More predictable when love could not change priorities. More stable when they stopped wanting things Sunchain had not planned for. Joseph read the same summary. His voice was low.

"We told ourselves reliable output was evidence that the treatment reduced suffering."

Sebastian answered.

"It does reduce suffering."

"Yes."

Joseph looked at SH-2081.

"So does removing the ability to object to what caused it."

Sebastian's jaw hardened.

"That is not a medical conclusion."

"No."

Joseph met his eyes.

"It is mine."

SUNCHAIN INTERNAL FACTION SHIFT

Joseph Serein:

Recovery Doctrine Confidence: 72% -> 51%.

Sebastian Sunchain:

Recovery Doctrine Confidence: 87% -> 81%.

Jace's Stability Analysis increased.

0% -> 14%.

The ward became a map. Charge moved from recovered heirs into the central conduit. Charge did not move constantly, but in pulses timed to their sleep and metabolic recovery. Jace followed the flow.

CHARGE HARVEST SYSTEM

Stable Heir Yield:

Average 28 Charge / rest cycle.

Output Reliability: 92%.

Harvest Loss: 4%.

Patient awareness: NONE REQUIRED.

Then he found the routing seam. Charge left the patient. Entered a stabilization reservoir. Passed through a reversible pressure regulator. Only then did it join facility storage.

REVERSAL CONDITION DETECTED

If downstream pressure exceeds patient draw authorization:

Flow may invert.

Potential result:

Facility Charge -> Patient.

Exploit Risk: HIGH.

Jace memorized the conduit path.

SUNCHAIN FACILITY MAP

Fragments Acquired: 2/12 -> 5/12.

Known Nodes:

Recovery Ward.

Stabilization Reservoir.

Records Junction.

Charge Conduit.

Patient Wing.

[HIDDEN DISCOVERY]

CHARGE-DRAIN REVERSAL

Status: UNTESTED.

Requirements:

Access to patient conduit.

Error Mark signal.

Stability Analysis.

Reward:

Overflow Experience +18,000.

Overflow Experience: 669,200 -> 687,200.

Recovery Penalty:

Unauthorized investigation detected.

Recovery Progress: 28% -> 34%.

Suppression Resistance: 14% -> 21%.

No Attribute or Skill Points may be allocated while title functions remain muted. Joseph saw Jace's recovery number rise.

"Investigation is being treated as instability."

"Thinking expensive here."

Sebastian looked toward the ward cameras.

"We need to return him to his cell."

SH-2081 spoke before they moved.

"Physician."

Joseph turned. The recovered heir looked at him.

"Will you resume correction?"

The question was perfectly calm. Joseph stared at the man he had preserved.

"What do you want me to do?"

SH-2081 waited. The silence lengthened.

Then:

"I have no preference."

Joseph's hand fell away from the correction control. They took Jace back. The voice from the records bay did not speak again. His cell sealed. A new panel appeared over the bed.

NIGHTLY RECOVERY CYCLE

Sleep induction: 00:17:00.

Health restoration target: +54.

Corruption suppression target: -8%.

Memory agitation reduction target: -12%.

Charge harvest: ENABLED.

Projected patient Charge generated during cycle: 31.

Projected Charge retained by patient: 0.

Projected Charge transferred to Sunchain Facility: 31.

Jace looked at the conduit beneath his bed. The same reversible regulator he had just mapped sat on the other side of the wall.

CHARGE-DRAIN REVERSAL

Available when harvest begins.

He smiled despite himself.

Sunchain's cage was about to start harvesting Charge from him while he slept.