Episode 2

Chapter 002

The Index waited behind his eyes, silent as a loaded chamber, and Simon understood the next shot would cost more than blood.

The medical chair understood no poetry.

It clamped his wrist, bit his finger with a pulse clip, and printed a red warning across the monitor.

TRAINEE VALE, SIMON

VITAL INSTABILITY: REVIEW REQUIRED

STARTER-BOND CLEARANCE: HOLD

Across the evaluation yard, Eleven sat beside the cracked wall plate and ate the mineral brick like no hearing in the world could touch him.

"That hold kills the waiver," the Commission handler said.

Simon opened one eye. "It delays the waiver."

"It kills it if the bid window closes." The handler slid a tablet toward Maya. "B-011 has one active disposal-transfer bid and two inactive starter-auction bids. At noon, the private kennel buyer can request release."

The senior trainee by the rail smiled. "No one bids on a bad cub twice. Salvage trainer does the Commission a favor, we all move on."

Eleven stopped chewing.

Not because he understood every word.

Because everyone understood that tone.

Simon tried to stand. The chair beeped angrily.

Maya put a hand on his shoulder. "If you faint again, I will sedate you out of principle."

"Cruel, but efficient." Simon looked at Lydia. "Is the bid sheet public to the ward?"

Lydia's eyes sharpened. "To authorized staff."

"Then authorized staff can see the new footage. The disposal bid was filed before the corrected impact test. That changes valuation and welfare risk."

The senior trainee snorted. "You cracked one wall plate. That is not a valuation event."

Simon pointed at Eleven's collar tag. "It is if the declared reason for transfer is repeated failure under standard protocol, and the protocol was misapplied."

Maya's mouth went flat. "He's not wrong."

The handler rubbed his forehead. "You still need clearance."

"Then run a no-contact intent test first."

Silence settled around the yard.

Lydia tapped once on her tablet. "A voluntary approach test does not require bond clearance if the candidate remains outside the safety line."

"It also doesn't cost anything," Simon said. "Which is my favorite legal category."

The senior trainee leaned on the rail. "The cub already followed you for food."

"Then the test should be boring."

It was not boring.

Ten minutes later, Eleven stood behind a yellow line in the small intent room. Three handlers waited behind three separate gates: the senior trainee with a standard mineral cube, a kennel assistant with a fresh feed bowl, and Simon with nothing but the handbook in his lap and a medical chair under him.

The bid sheet glowed on the wall.

B-011 BLACKSTEEL

ACTIVE DISPOSAL-TRANSFER BID: 120 COMMONWEALTH MARKS

STARTER-AUCTION STATUS: FAILED

WELFARE REVIEW: PENDING

One hundred and twenty marks.

Less than the monitor cuff on Simon's wrist.

Below the price, the buyer had attached a note.

TEMPERAMENT FAILURE. LOW RECOVERY VALUE. REQUEST EXPEDITED RELEASE TO REDUCE PUBLIC COST.

Public cost.

Simon read the phrase twice. It was a clean little insult dressed as accounting. No one had written stubborn, scared, underfed, or trained badly. They had written cost, because cost did not have eyes and did not sit beside a cracked wall with mineral dust on its muzzle.

Lydia saw his face. "Do not say what you are thinking unless you want it in the transcript."

"I was thinking the transcript needs better villains."

"Mr. Vale."

"Fine. Better nouns."

Eleven's eyes moved across the room. Mineral cube. Feed bowl. Simon.

The senior trainee lifted the cube. "Come on, Bear. Easy food."

Eleven did not move.

The kennel assistant shook the bowl.

Eleven yawned.

Simon turned the handbook around so the cub could see the cover. "If you come here, you get no food yet. You get paperwork, medical checks, and probably me making bad financial decisions."

Maya muttered, "Excellent sales pitch."

"I believe in informed consent."

Eleven crossed the room.

Not fast. Not cute. He walked like a small judge with paws.

He stopped at Simon's safety line, sat down, and planted one forepaw on the handbook.

The intent-room recorder chimed.

VOLUNTARY APPROACH: CONFIRMED

HANDLER PREFERENCE: SIMON VALE

FOOD COERCION: NEGATIVE

The senior trainee's smile died.

Lydia sent the file before anyone could pretend not to see it. "The disposal-transfer bid is frozen pending welfare review."

Maya crouched outside the line, studying Eleven like she had just found a relic under bad carpet. "He understood the trade."

"He understood everyone else was cheap," Simon said.

Eleven huffed once.

Close enough.

The handler's tablet pinged. His expression changed from annoyed to professionally doomed.

"What now?" Simon asked.

"The private buyer has filed an objection. Claims your test manipulated the cub after an unauthorized skill event."

The senior trainee's confidence came back fast. "There it is. You pushed a failed cub through a trick, got everyone excited, and now the adults have to clean it up."

Simon did not look away from the order text. "If it was a trick, the buyer should be happy. He can withdraw and avoid buying damaged goods."

"He won't."

"Then he believes the cub has value."

Lydia's pen paused above her tablet.

Simon finally glanced up. "And if he believes that, the 120-mark disposal bid was false valuation."

For the first time, the senior trainee had no quick answer.

"Was there an unauthorized skill event?"

Lydia looked at the cracked wall footage replaying on her tablet. "There was a supervised behavioral correction."

"Beautiful phrase."

"Do not make me dislike it."

The handler scrolled. "Objection triggers an expedited hearing. If the hearing officer upholds it, B-011 transfers at noon. If you want to keep the evaluation slot, you need medical clearance, fee-waiver approval, species signoff, and a starter-bond consent test before then."

Simon looked at the clock.

Three hours and seventeen minutes.

His left hand was still trembling.

The Index stirred.

[Bond candidate trust threshold: rising.]

[Blacksteel Hardening pattern: stored incomplete.]

[Copy transfer remains locked until legal bond-space contact.]

Eleven's paw pressed harder on the handbook, wrinkling the laminated cover.

Simon lowered his voice. "You heard that?"

The cub's ears tipped forward.

"No food bribes. No disposal buyer. No cheap transfer. But if you choose this, I will push you harder than that wall ever did."

Eleven showed a small line of teeth.