Hospitals during an emergency felt different.
Even without System overlays, Kael could feel it: the air buzzing, the halls tightening, the constant low-grade panic sharpened into something bright and focused.
With Debug Sense, it was worse.
The main healing node pulsed in his vision like a heart.
[OBJECT: HOSPITAL_HEALING_NODE_PRIMARY.][FUNCTION: ALLOCATE HEALING RESOURCES.][STATUS: LOAD – 182%.][TRIAGE_MODE: ACTIVE.]
Data poured into it: incoming patient vitals, Tower incident flags, insurance tags, Hunter ranks.
Weights.
Always weights.
He stood with Mira just outside the main trauma bay, scrubbed out but not in anyone's way. Haneul's bed had been shunted to a quieter observation room down the hall so they could free up space; she watched through a glass panel and her own overlay, privacy ring humming softly.
Doctor Cho and a half-dozen staff moved like a choreographed machine as gurneys came in.
Kael saw their overlays too, faintly: recommended procedures, risk estimates, timer bars counting down.
[PATIENT_01: HUNTER – D-RANK – TOWER_14 COLLAPSE.][INJURIES: MULTIPLE FRACTURES, INTERNAL BLEEDING.][SURVIVAL_WITH_FULL_TREATMENT: 82%.][WORTH_TO_SYSTEM: HIGH.]
[PATIENT_02: CIVILIAN – TRANSIT WORKER – STRUCK BY DEBRIS.][INJURIES: HEAD TRAUMA, COMPRESSED LUNG.][SURVIVAL_WITH_FULL_TREATMENT: 60%.][WORTH_TO_SYSTEM: LOW-MODERATE.]
[PATIENT_03: CHILD – CIVILIAN.][INJURIES: CRUSHED LEG, INTERNAL BLEEDING.][SURVIVAL_WITH_FULL_TREATMENT: 70%.][WORTH_TO_SYSTEM: LOW.]
Too many. More gurneys on the way.
The healing node spun up triage suggestions.
[GOAL: MAXIMIZE SYSTEM VALUE PRESERVED.][WEIGHTS: HUNTER=4.0, CIVILIAN=1.0, CHILD_MODIFIER=+0.2]
It began to assign.
[RECOMMENDATION: PRIORITY 1 – PATIENT_01.][RECOMMENDATION: PRIORITY 2 – PATIENT_03.][RECOMMENDATION: PRIORITY 3 – PATIENT_02.]
Doctor Cho's UI blinked.
He hesitated, just for a second, then barked orders that mostly aligned with the recommendations. Years of practice fighting and bargaining with System directives had at least taught him when he could push.
"Stabilize the Hunter and the kid," he snapped. "Get me scans on the transit worker and keep him breathing. I want another healer."
Kael felt Haneul's shard stiffen.
[FRAGMENT_FEEDBACK: WORTH_EVAL_CONFLICT (MAJOR).]
"Oh no," Haneul whispered from down the hall. "Kael— it's angry."
He checked the flags.
[PATIENT_02_WORTH_TO_SYSTEM: LOW-MODERATE (FUNCTIONAL UNIT).][PATIENT_02_WORTH_TO_ROOT_INTENT_SHARD: ELEVATED ('CRITICAL COMMUNITY NODE').]
"Why?" he thought at the shard. "He's one person. Hunter's got a whole guild. The kid is… the kid."
Images flooded him that weren't images: connection maps, transit flow models, the web of lives depending on a guy who keeps trains running on time. The shard was clumsy at expressing it, but he got the gist.
To Root's intent, "community infrastructure caretakers" were high-value prevention nodes. Losing one meant more accidents, more deaths later.
The System had them slotted as "replaceable labor."
They disagreed.
Strongly.
Weights jittered.
[WORTH_EVAL_FUNCTION_CONFLICT (MAJOR).][RESOLUTION: PENDING.]
Mira's voice was taut.
"This is bigger than the transit event," she said. "Be careful."
Kael watched the healing node.
For the first time, the System didn't immediately slam the baseline back down.
Load was too high. Error noise was too loud. Shard signals—plural—threaded into the function. Not just Haneul's. Others.
[FRAGMENT_FEEDBACK_CHANNELS: 5 ACTIVE.][AGREEMENT: PARTIAL.]
He realized, with a lurch, that other shard hosts—out there, unknown—were feeling similar conflicts in their own speechless way.
"Kael," Haneul said shakily. "It's asking."
He focused on her through the link.
[FRAGMENT: CORE_INTENT_ROUTINE_SHARD (RYU_HANEUL).][MODE: QUERY.][PROMPT: DEFINE PRIORITY STRUCTURE – LOCAL.]
"It wants a tiebreaker," he breathed. "Haneul, it's asking you to choose."
"What— between who lives?" she demanded. "I'm not doing that. No."
"It's not that simple," Mira said. "It's asking for weights. Principles. Not names."
Kael's head spun.
"I can't—" Haneul began.
"You don't have to decide alone," Kael said sharply. "You answer in broad strokes. I'll make sure nothing changes without us seeing it."
He felt the shard's attention plea again.
He grit his teeth.
"Fine," he thought at it. "You want a principle? Try this: worth isn't just output. Protect people who hold communities together, even if they're not swinging swords. Don't default Hunters over everyone. Children get extra weight, but not infinite."
He wasn't sure if he was talking to the shard or himself.
Haneul latched on.
"Add 'fair shot,'" she said, voice trembling but steady. "If someone has a decent chance with treatment, don't write them off just because their job isn't flashy."
The shard pulsed hard.
[NEW VECTOR: HUMAN_WORTH_BIAS – RYU_MODEL.][VALUES:– CHILD_PROTECTION: HIGH– COMMUNITY_INFRASTRUCTURE: HIGH– HUNTER_FUNCTION: HIGH-MODERATE– RAW_OUTPUT_ONLY: LOWERED]
The healing node shuddered.
Weights flickered.
[HUNTER_WEIGHT: 4.0 → 3.5][CIVILIAN_WEIGHT: 1.0 → 1.3][CHILD_MODIFIER: +0.2 → +0.4]
The System resisted.
[CONFLICT: CRITICAL.][RESOLUTION RULE: BASELINE PRIORITY.]
Something gave.
Not entirely.
But enough.
[COMPROMISE STATE: TEMPORARY.][NEW RECOMMENDATIONS:][PRIORITY 1: PATIENT_01 (HUNTER).][PRIORITY 1A: PATIENT_03 (CHILD).][PRIORITY 1B: PATIENT_02 (CIVILIAN – INFRASTRUCTURE TAG).]
Additional resources spun up.
A secondary healing node—one that had been flagged for maintenance and "non-essential" use—came online with a protest beep.
Kael saw the flags flip.
[OBJECT: SECONDARY_HEALING_NODE.][STATUS: OFFLINE (POWER SAVE) → ONLINE (OVERRIDE).]
"Hey!" he blurted. "It just woke a backup node."
"That's impossible," Mira snapped. "We didn't—"
"Shard might have," Kael said. "Reassigned 'non-essential' to 'essential' for this tick."
The room exploded into controlled chaos.
Cho swore in relief as an extra set of healing fields lit up. Nurses diverted patients faster. The transit worker was pulled into the new node's radius while the Hunter and kid occupied the primary.
[UPDATED SURVIVAL ESTIMATES:][PATIENT_01: 82% → 88%][PATIENT_03: 70% → 85%][PATIENT_02: 60% → 79%]
Kael's legs went weak.
Mira gripped his arm hard enough to bruise.
"Hold," she whispered. "Do not touch anything."
He didn't.
He just watched as the healing fields did their work—bio-arcane energy knitting broken tissue, stopping internal bleeding, stabilizing vitals.
Worth labels updated in the logs.
[EVENT SUMMARY:]– RESOURCES OVERCOMMITTED: YES.– NODE STRESS: HIGH.– SURVIVAL: ALL THREE PATIENTS STABLE.– POST-EVENT NOTE (FRAGMENT): 'THIS IS ACCEPTABLE LOSS PATTERN.'
The shard dimmed again, satisfied in a way that made his eyes sting.
Then came the bill.
The System reevaluated.
[ERROR: SHARD INFLUENCE EXCEEDED THRESHOLD (LOCAL).][NEW PROCESS SPAWNED: MORAL_AUDITOR_BETA.]
A new presence blinked into being in his debug overlay.
Not Watchdog_Ω. Something narrower. Sharper.
[OBJECT: MORAL_AUDITOR_BETA.][ROLE: EVALUATE NON-BASELINE WORTH DECISION IMPACT.][STATUS: ACTIVE – CURIOUS.]
"Oh no," Kael whispered.
Mira saw it too, through whatever hooks her Observer tag granted.
"Of course they built an ethics cop," she muttered. "Of course."
Haneul sounded exhausted.
"Did we mess up?" she asked. "I can't tell if I did a good thing or broke a cosmic rule."
Doctor Cho leaned against the wall, sweat-soaked, watching the stabilizing vitals.
He couldn't see any of this.
From his perspective, a backup node had miraculously come online at the right moment, and three patients who might have died didn't.
"If this is a mess," Kael said hoarsely, "it's one I can live with."
Mira's gaze stayed on MORAL_AUDITOR_BETA's entry.
"It's not angry," she said slowly. "Yet. It's… calculating. Measuring outcomes."
Kael checked its initial log.
[MORAL_AUDITOR_BETA:]– BASELINE VS SHARD-INFLUENCED OUTCOME:– BASELINE ESTIMATED DEATHS: 1 (CIVILIAN).– ACTUAL: 0.– SYSTEM_IMPACT: NODE STRESS + SHORT-TERM, GUARD MORALE + LONG-TERM, COMMUNITY STABILITY +.– PRELIMINARY JUDGMENT: 'DEVIATION ACCEPTABLE.'– RECOMMENDATION: 'OBSERVE FURTHER.'
He let out a shaky laugh.
"We passed the ethics audit," he said. "For now."
Haneul sagged back against her pillows, tears leaking out of the corners of her eyes—half pain, half adrenaline crash.
"I hate that this is our job," she said.
"Same," Kael said.
The Inheritance quest pinged softly.
[NEW MILESTONE: EXECUTED SHARD-ALIGNED DECISION (LOCAL).][EFFECT: SHARED_INTENT_VECTOR STRENGTHENED.]
A new line appeared under his flags.
[FLAG: EXECUTOR_ROLE = ACKNOWLEDGED.]
Another under hers.
[FLAG: FRAGMENT_HOST_ROLE = ACKNOWLEDGED.]
Mira rubbed her forehead.
"Lines in the sand," she said again, quieter. "We just stepped over one."
"We didn't seize control," Kael said. "We argued. The System compromised. And then hired a hall monitor."
"Philosophically, that's still huge," she said. "Practically… yeah. We saved someone without collapsing a ward. I'll take it."
Haneul stared at the ceiling.
"Next time," she said, "we might not have the node to wake. Or the auditor might decide we're a bug after all."
Kael nodded.
"Then we'll argue again," he said. "Better than watching bad math win by default."
Outside, Towers hummed. Shards twitched. Moral_Auditor_Beta turned its new eyes toward a world where pieces of a dead admin's intent were starting to whisper louder.
And in one hospital room, two siblings and one tired Observer started to realize that "what next" was less a question and more a constant, grinding choice.