Chapter 66: Dead Orders
The Warden did not rush. That was what made Luke hate it. Machines built to kill people usually looked urgent in movies. This one walked at the pace of an inspector crossing a warehouse, cannon lowered until the next target entered the correct range.
Luke discovered that baiting a machine was easier when somebody else had permission to call the idea stupid. Michael did, twice. They changed the route after the second objection and avoided a collapsed storefront Luke had not seen from the street.
CIVILIAN TARGET COUNTER
Witnesses marked: 616.
Witnesses within current weapon range: 41.
Cleanup progress: 0%.
Luke moved the first stretcher himself.
"Natalie, west shelter."
"I need one more set of hands."
A teenager volunteered. Luke took the front handles. Michael blocked him.
"You move that stretcher through the doorway now, you put seven people in the cannon lane."
Luke looked past him. "If we wait, the patient crashes."
"And if the Warden fires, the patient dies with six other people."
Natalie checked the woman on the stretcher.
"Blood pressure is falling. I have maybe two minutes before moving becomes the least dangerous option."
Michael swore under his breath. Jace watched all three of them and understood why the System liked commanders. One voice would make the decision faster. It would also make everyone else's judgment easier to ignore. The Warden raised its left arm.
Purge Cannon Cooldown: READY.
Barrier Integrity: 43%.
Michael shoved the shelving barricade forward.
"Then we make the lane smaller."
Luke did not argue. He set down the stretcher, grabbed the other end of the shelving, and helped. The cannon fired. Gold light hit steel before the shield. The shelving vanished from the center outward.
Barrier Integrity: 43% -> 39%.
Michael was thrown backward.
Health status: Michael Foster.
Physical condition: MODERATE TRAUMA.
Combat readiness: 71%.
Luke dragged him behind the bus frame before the Warden could fire again.
"Still like the line?" Luke asked.
Michael coughed. "Still like the doorway."
"Good. Means your head works."
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Jace pushed Breach Sight deeper into the Warden's command tree.
INHERITED COMMAND SCAN
Original Mission:
Contain Zero-Protocol anomaly.
Prevent contamination spread.
Preserve actionable evidence.
Delete nonessential witnesses after evidence capture.
Commander override hierarchy:
1. Commander Vane.
2. Extermination Fleet Command.
3. Galactic Core Cleanup Authority.
Current status:
Vane: DECEASED.
Fleet Command: DESTROYED / UNREACHABLE.
Core link: INTERRUPTED.
Fallback behavior: LAST VALID ORDER REPEATS INDEFINITELY.
Revocation pathway: NONE PRESENT.
Jace read the final line twice.
"No off switch."
Seraphina stood beside him, gold claimcraft moving over one hand.
"There was one. It belonged to people who are dead."
"Then the machine outlived its bosses."
"That is common."
Michael heard her.
"Common?"
"Noble estates run on inherited orders. Fleet routes. Tax schedules. Recovery warrants. Some survive for generations because nobody with authority bothers to remove them."
Luke looked at the Warden.
"So people die because the person who said kill them forgot to file an update."
Seraphina's silence answered. The Warden crossed the next intersection.
TARGET PRIORITY UPDATE
Anomaly Jace: Distance 61 meters.
Witness cluster: Distance 19 meters.
Evidence capture requirement: 3 witnesses minimum.
Delete excess witnesses: AUTHORIZED.
Luke pointed toward the western shelter.
"We clear everybody within twenty meters."
Michael pushed himself upright.
"If we keep retreating, it walks straight into the block."
"We are moving people out of its firing lane."
"And then what?"
"Then you can have your line."
Michael looked at him, then nodded once. Natalie had already moved the first stretcher. The second patient could walk with help. The third was unconscious. The Warden's cannon began charging.
Purge Cannon Cooldown: 00:07.
Jace opened Static Step.
STATIC STEP LV. 1
Personal Charge available: 0.
Territory Reserve access: AVAILABLE THROUGH ANCHOR.
Environmental Charge contamination: 6%.
Current Corruption interference: SEVERE.
Recommended use: SELF ONLY.
He closed it. Five Health and ninety-six percent Corruption were poor conditions for teleporting into a medical evacuation. Michael noticed.
"You can move faster than that thing."
"Sometimes."
"Then get behind it and break the cannon."
Luke shook his head. "He goes behind it, the thing still has forty-one civilian targets."
"If he destroys the weapon, it has zero."
"If he misses, we lose the person holding the shield."
Michael faced him. "If we only evacuate, we eventually run out of block."
Luke pointed to the open west route.
"If we only fight, we run out of people first."
The cannon reached four seconds. Jace opened the Free Accord.
"Seraphina, can you bend its target law?"
"I can challenge the classification. I cannot erase Vane's order without authority above his."
"Can you make the witnesses count as protected evidence?"
Her eyes narrowed.
"That would force preservation until evidence capture completes."
Luke heard them.
"How many does it need?"
"Three."
Michael understood before the others did.
"We give it three empty targets."
Natalie shook her head. "It scans living witnesses."
Jace looked toward the broken Warden armor plate Owen had salvaged earlier.
"Then we give it old command signatures."
Breach Sight traced the plate through the territory inventory.
WARDEN SALVAGE LINK
Stored command residue: PRESENT.
Vane authorization fragment: 17%.
Jace routed the fragment into three barrier markers.
ERROR MARK AVAILABLE.
RULE FRACTURE AVAILABLE.
Charge cost unavailable.
Health substitution possible.
Health: 5/420.
Natalie saw the panel.
"No."
"That sounded medical."
"That was medical."
The cannon reached two seconds. Jace did not use the skills. Luke stepped into the open instead.
"HEY."
The Warden's head turned. Luke held up the salvaged plate.
"Evidence."
The cannon paused.
EVIDENCE SIGNATURE DETECTED.
Priority conflict.
Purge Cannon: HOLD.
Luke walked backward toward Michael's barricade, carrying the fragment with both hands. Michael stared at him.
"You were just yelling at me about fighting."
"I am evacuating the robot."
The Warden followed.
Breach Sight Proficiency: 59% -> 61%.
Perception Proficiency: 29% -> 34%.
Cleanup progress remained zero.
The inherited command had given them a weakness, but it was still a command written by a dead man. Jace looked at the contaminated reserve feeding his shield, the tax still draining the territory, and the Warden following Luke toward the block. Whatever came next, he had to defend civilians while weakened by Glitch Tax and contaminated Charge.