Chapter 67: Targets: Witnesses

Luke made it eighteen meters before the Warden realized the evidence was wrong. The salvaged plate flashed red in his hands.

The six-second firing window forced everyone to act on work they had already divided. Nobody waited for Jace to narrate the plan. Liam pulled civilians left, Michael shoved the false evidence right, and Seraphina prepared the barrier angle. The team only looked coordinated because they had spent the previous hour disagreeing about what each person could safely do.

Nobody waited for permission to correct the plan.

The difference showed when Michael changed the route without asking permission. Nobody treated the correction as insubordination. They simply moved.

FALSE EVIDENCE SIGNATURE DETECTED.

Witness deception classified: HOSTILE.

Purge Cannon Cooldown: READY.

"Now," Michael shouted.

Luke dropped flat. Carter's tow cable snapped tight from behind the barricade. A wrecked delivery van rolled sideways across the street and slammed into the Warden's damaged left knee.

Movement Integrity: 71% -> 48%.

The machine went down on one leg. Jace opened the emergency quest.

[EMERGENCY DEFENSE QUEST]

Stop the Warden Remnant from completing Vane's cleanup order.

Witnesses alive: 616/616.

Safe Zone Barrier: 39%.

Warden Health: 2,460/2,460.

Optional objective: Recover command architecture.

Failure: Witness deletion begins.

Reward preview:

Combat Overflow Experience.

Warden salvage.

Command-code access.

The cannon rotated toward Luke. Michael ran into the street and pulled him behind the van as gold light burned through the pavement where his chest had been. Luke landed hard.

"You were late."

Michael dragged him farther. "You were dramatic."

"Firefighter."

"Explains it."

Jace used Breach Sight on the exposed knee. The van had cracked the outer armor. Beneath it, a gold actuator cycled every time the Warden tried to stand.

LEFT KNEE ACTUATOR

Integrity: 38%.

Command dependency: Mobility correction loop.

Repair instruction: Repeat until standing.

Loop priority: Higher than target acquisition during structural failure.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Jace looked at Seraphina.

"Can you keep it trying to stand?"

She opened the Free Accord.

"I can reinforce the false mobility state. I choose twenty Charge."

FREE ACCORD CONTRIBUTION

Seraphina Noble Reserve: 64 -> 44.

Accord Integrity: 46% -> 48%.

Target: Warden mobility correction.

Claimcraft effect: ACTUATOR FAILURE RECOGNIZED AS REPAIRABLE.

The Warden forced the knee straight. It failed. Again. Failed. Again.

MOBILITY CORRECTION LOOP

Attempts: 1.

2.

3.

Target acquisition delayed.

Michael saw what was happening.

"Everybody back. We have a window."

Luke shook his head.

"No. We have an evacuation window."

Michael looked at him. Luke pointed to the remaining civilians near the south door.

"Move them. Then hit it."

This time Michael did not argue. Natalie led the last two stretchers west while volunteers cleared the doorway. Luke stayed in the street until the final patient crossed.

Witnesses within weapon range: 41 -> 12 -> 4.

The Warden broke the mobility loop.

LEFT KNEE ACTUATOR

Integrity: 38% -> 29%.

Emergency override engaged.

Target acquisition restored.

Jace pushed Breach Sight past the armor and into the command core.

Breach Sight Proficiency: 61% -> 64%.

COMMAND CORE

Integrity: 100%.

Functions:

Mission persistence.

Target classification.

Weapon authorization.

Emergency autonomy.

External commander link: DEAD.

Hidden weakness:

Core must preserve last valid command during transfer.

Jace smiled despite the headache.

"Found the stupid part."

Seraphina glanced at him. "Specificity would help."

"If the core is removed, it cannot delete the command while moving it."

"That means the order transfers with the core."

"Yes."

"And the weapons?"

Jace followed the link. The cannon carried a local emergency copy.

Purge Cannon autonomy reserve: 23 seconds.

Luke came back within earshot.

"Twenty-three seconds is not zero."

"No."

"What do you need?"

"A reason for it to eject the core."

Michael picked up the broken Warden plate.

"Can we make it think the core is contaminated?"

Jace looked at him.

Michael shrugged. "Dead orders. Bad evidence. I am learning the vocabulary."

Jace marked the salvaged command fragment with Error Mark.

ERROR MARK

Target: Vane authorization fragment.

Effect: Contamination flag.

Cost: 1 Health.

Health: 5/420 -> 4/420.

Natalie shouted from the shelter.

"I saw that."

"Busy."

"You will be busier when your heart stops."

Michael threw the marked plate. It struck the Warden's chest.

CONTAMINATED COMMAND SIGNATURE DETECTED.

Core integrity review initiated.

Emergency preservation procedure:

EJECT COMMAND CORE.

The Warden's chest opened. A gold cylinder launched three feet into the air. Luke caught it against his firefighter coat and almost fell under the weight.

WARDEN CORE REMOVED.

Main chassis Health: 2,460 -> 0.

Encounter state: CHASSIS DEFEATED.

The Warden collapsed. The street went quiet. Then the reward panels arrived.

[ENCOUNTER COMPLETE: WARDEN CHASSIS]

Overflow Experience gained: 18,000.

Overflow Experience: 265,200 -> 283,200.

Breach Sight Proficiency: 64% -> 67%.

Error Mark Proficiency: +5 points.

LOOT ACQUIRED

Warden Core [Rare].

Damaged Purge Cannon Components [Rare].

Extermination Armor Plates [Uncommon] x8.

Command-Code Fragment: VANE CLEANUP ORDER [Quest Item].

Charge recovered: 286.

Source: Hostile System entity.

Human Yield: NONE.

Status: LOCKED UNTIL CLEANUP ORDER TERMINATES.

SALVAGE PREVIEW

Owen Reed can convert Warden components into:

Barrier reinforcement.

Anti-cleanup armor.

Command jammer.

Crafting Station progress.

The main quest did not complete.

EMERGENCY DEFENSE QUEST

Warden chassis defeated: YES.

Cleanup Order terminated: NO.

Reason: Distributed emergency copies remain active.

Witnesses alive: 616/616.

Luke looked at the core in his arms.

"So we killed the body."

"Machine," Michael said.

Luke stared at the families behind the shield.

"It was a body to the people it was shooting at."

A mechanical click came from the street. The collapsed Warden's left arm moved. Seraphina's face changed.

"Local weapon autonomy."

The severed Purge Cannon assembly tore itself free from the dead chassis. Gold legs unfolded from beneath the housing, small enough to have been hidden inside the armor.

AUTONOMOUS CLEANUP BATTERY

Emergency power remaining: 00:00:21.

Command: VANE CLEANUP ORDER.

Primary anomaly target: Obstructed by barrier geometry.

Secondary targets: WITNESSES.

Luke dropped the Warden Core and ran. The battery ignored him. Its barrel rotated past Jace. Past Seraphina. Toward the western doorway where the last evacuees were still moving.

CIVILIAN TARGETS IN FIRING CONE: 9.

Purge discharge: 00:00:06.

The Warden raised its weapon toward the civilians instead of Jace.