The second conditioning session was scheduled for 14:00.
Dean spent the morning in mandatory institutional orientation. Two hours of recorded instruction about Academy hierarchy, rank progression pathways, and behavioral expectations. The presentation loop had been optimized for compliance reinforcement. Every third slide contained reminders about System fairness. Every fifth slide showed statistics on successful adaptation rates.
No one asked questions. No one was given the opportunity.
Dean sat in the back row of the orientation hall and watched the other initiates. Thirty-nine remained from the original Menial intake. Three more had disappeared overnight. No announcements. Just empty bunks and reassigned meal tokens.
The girl who had overperformed at the resistance station yesterday was gone. So was the boy who had panicked in the stress chamber. The third was someone Dean hadn't paid attention to. Irrelevant variable, now resolved.
He noticed the cameras.
There were twelve visible units in the orientation hall. Standard institutional coverage. But three of them had repositioned since yesterday. Slight angle adjustments. One near the back row was now aimed directly at Dean's section.
Not obvious. Just persistent.
[Surveillance Density: Elevated][Observation Frequency: +12% from baseline][Monitoring Interval: 4.2 hours → 3.7 hours]
Dean kept his expression neutral and watched the presentation. The slides cycled through projected advancement timelines for compliant initiates. Rank 1 achievable within eight months. Rank 2 within eighteen. Rank 3 conditional on institutional sponsorship and extended evaluation.
The timeline was a lie. Dean had followed it exactly in his previous life. He'd reached Rank 7 in six months by exceeding every benchmark.
Then the System had erased him.
The presentation ended. The lights brightened. An automated voice instructed them to proceed to the dining hall for midday ration distribution.
Dean stood and filed out with the others.
The dining hall operated on strict schedule adherence. Initiates entered through designated gates based on dormitory assignment. Section nine was Gate 4, the furthest from the serving stations.
Dean joined the queue. Forty-two people ahead of him. The line moved in regulated intervals, each initiate receiving their allotted nutrition pack and hydration unit before moving to assigned seating.
Standard procedure. Efficient. Optimized for minimal interaction and maximum throughput.
Dean noticed the discrepancy at the third serving station.
The dispenser mechanism was slower than the others. Not broken. Just delayed. Each pack took an additional six seconds to process. The initiates receiving from that station were being forced to wait longer, which meant less time to consume their rations before the mandatory return to dormitory sections.
The System didn't account for consumption time in its scheduling. If you didn't finish within the allotted window, the unconsumed portion was forfeited. No exceptions. No accommodations.
Dean watched three initiates receive packs from the slow dispenser. All three looked exhausted. All three were section nine occupants.
Then he noticed the pattern.
[Resource Distribution Protocol: Active][Dispenser 3: Processing Delay Intentional][Target Group: Section 9, Compliance Index <95%][Penalty Classification: Indirect Nutritional Restriction]
The System wasn't malfunctioning. It was optimizing. Section nine initiates had the lowest compliance scores. The slow dispenser ensured they received fewer calories over time without technically violating ration equality regulations.
Clever. Petty. Effective.
Dean reached the distribution point. An overseer gestured toward Dispenser 3.
Dean looked at the overseer. The man's face was blank, professional. Just doing his job. Directing traffic. Maintaining flow.
Dean glanced at Dispenser 1. It was empty. The initiate who had just been served was walking away. The dispenser reset, ready for the next person.
The overseer gestured toward Dispenser 3 again.
Dean had a choice.
He could follow the direction. Accept the slower dispenser. Lose six seconds of consumption time. Forfeit part of his ration if he couldn't finish fast enough.
Or he could step toward Dispenser 1. Claim the faster unit. Receive full nutrition.
The overseer's hand moved slightly, pointing more firmly toward Dispenser 3.
Dean looked at the queue behind him. Dren Moss was fourth in line. The boy's face was pale, his breathing shallow. He'd coughed twice during the walk to the dining hall.
If Dean took Dispenser 1, someone behind him would be redirected to Dispenser 3 instead.
If Dean followed the overseer's direction, he would be the one penalized.
[Choice Detected][Compliance Option A: Follow Overseer Direction → Nutritional Penalty Applied][Compliance Option B: Redirect to Dispenser 1 → Maintain Baseline Nutrition][System Evaluation: Pending Selection]
Dean stepped toward Dispenser 1.
The overseer's expression didn't change. He simply redirected his gesture toward the next person in line. A girl from section nine. She moved toward Dispenser 3 without protest.
Dean placed his hand on the scanner. The dispenser activated immediately. His ration pack and hydration unit dropped into the collection tray within two seconds.
He picked them up and walked to the seating area.
Behind him, the girl at Dispenser 3 waited. The machine processed slowly. She glanced at the timer on the wall. Her hands tightened on the tray.
Dean sat down and opened his ration pack. Standard nutrient compression. 1,847 calories. Sufficient for baseline metabolic requirements.
He ate methodically. The food had no flavor. It wasn't designed to.
Across the hall, the girl from Dispenser 3 finally received her pack. She had four minutes and eighteen seconds remaining before the return bell. She would have to eat faster than metabolically optimal. She would finish, but barely. Tomorrow, if the pattern repeated, she might not.
Dean finished his ration with two minutes to spare. He disposed of the packaging in the designated receptacle and returned to the exit queue.
[Nutritional Intake: Optimal][Compliance Index: 94.7%][Threat Rating: 0.02%]
Nothing had changed in his visible metrics.
But the System had logged the choice.
Dean returned to section nine and sat on his bunk. The dormitory was empty except for Dren Moss, who was lying down with his eyes closed. His breathing sounded wet.
Dean opened the extended interface.
[New Data Available][Behavioral Assessment: Updated][Pattern Recognition: Adaptive Decision-Making Detected][Classification: Self-Preserving, Non-Cooperative][Monitoring Priority: Maintained]
Dean read the entry twice. The System had categorized his choice. Not as defiance. Not as cruelty. As adaptation.
Self-preserving. Non-cooperative.
Those weren't punishment triggers. They were neutral descriptors. The System didn't care about morality. It cared about predictability.
Dean had acted predictably. He had optimized his own outcome. The System approved.
But it was still watching.
He closed the interface and lay back on his bunk. The ceiling tiles were still stained. The mattress was still calibrated for suboptimal sleep. Nothing in section nine had improved.
Across the room, Dren coughed again. Longer this time. He rolled over and faced the wall.
Dean didn't look at him.
Empathy was a liability under surveillance. The System rewarded outcomes, not intentions. Helping someone might improve their metrics temporarily, but it would flag Dean as unpredictable. Unpredictable meant elevated scrutiny. Elevated scrutiny meant reduced survival probability.
The math was simple.
Dean closed his eyes and waited.
At 13:47, the conditioning session notification appeared.
[Report to Training Hall 4-B, 14:00][Session Focus: Endurance Calibration][Attendance Mandatory]
Dean stood and walked to the corridor. Other initiates were already moving toward the training hall. Silent. Compliant. Efficient.
He joined the flow.
The walk took eleven minutes. Dean counted his steps. 1,847. The same number as his caloric intake. Coincidence, but he noted it anyway. The System optimized everything. Even unintentional patterns could be significant.
Training Hall 4-B looked identical to yesterday. Same equipment. Same layout. Same cameras in every corner.
Senior Instructor Vane was waiting at the front.
She didn't acknowledge the arriving initiates. She simply stood, tablet in hand, reviewing data. Her posture was relaxed but controlled. Authority without effort.
Dean positioned himself in the third row again. Fourth from the left. Same as yesterday.
Vane looked up.
Her gaze swept across the formation, then stopped. On Dean.
Two seconds. Then three.
Her expression didn't change. No suspicion. No curiosity. Just observation.
She looked back down at her tablet and made a notation.
[Instructor Vane: Observation Logged][Subject: Dean][Note: Resource allocation decision recorded. Adaptive behavior confirmed.][Evaluation Window: Adjusted][Next Assessment: 18 hours → 14 hours]
Dean's pulse didn't change. His breathing remained steady.
But the System had moved the timeline forward.
Vane addressed the group. "Today's session will focus on sustained exertion tolerance. You will complete endurance circuits until system threshold is achieved. Underperformance will result in extended conditioning requirements. Overperformance will be noted."
The same warning as yesterday. Packaged differently.
Dean understood what she wasn't saying. The acceptable range was narrowing. The System was tightening parameters around specific individuals.
Around him.
"Begin," Vane said.
The initiates moved to their stations. Dean walked to the endurance track and started running.
The resistance adjusted in real time. The treadmill incline shifted. The speed calibrated to his cardiovascular output.
Dean maintained pace. Not fast. Not slow. Precisely within projected parameters.
[Endurance Circuit: Active][Target Duration: 22-28 minutes][Current Performance: Acceptable]
He ran for twenty-four minutes and thirty-six seconds, then slowed to a walk as the system signaled completion. The treadmill decelerated smoothly.
Dean stepped off and moved to the cooldown area.
Around him, other initiates were still running. Some were struggling. One boy collapsed at nineteen minutes and was immediately escorted out by an overseer.
Vane watched from the observation platform. Her eyes tracked movements, cataloged failures, noted deviations.
Dean stretched mechanically and waited for dismissal.
The session ended at 15:47. Vane dismissed them without comment.
Dean returned to section nine.
The dormitory was quieter now. Only two other occupants. Dren was gone. So was the boy whose name Dean had never learned.
The girl who counted was still there. She sat on her bunk, staring at the wall, lips moving silently.
Dean sat down and checked the interface.
[Conditioning Session Complete][Performance Evaluation: Acceptable][Compliance Index: 94.7%][Threat Rating: 0.02%]
The numbers hadn't changed. But the pressure had.
[Observation Status: Continuous][Monitoring Interval: 3.7 hours → 2.9 hours][Behavioral Pattern Under Analysis]
Dean closed the interface and lay back.
The System was adjusting faster than he'd anticipated. Every correct decision tightened the net. Every moment of optimal performance brought him closer to threshold.
He'd stayed within parameters. He'd avoided flags. He'd survived.
And the System had noticed that too.
Across the room, the girl stopped counting and lay down. Her breathing evened out into forced sleep.
Dean stared at the ceiling and calculated timelines.
Fourteen hours until the next evaluation. Two point nine hours until the next monitoring pass. The margins were shrinking.
He had made the right choice at the dispenser. Nutritional optimization. Self-preservation. Logical outcome.
The System had logged it as adaptive behavior.
And moved him higher on the watchlist.
Outside, the corridor lights dimmed to evening mode.
Dean closed his eyes.
Somewhere in the Academy's administrative core, algorithms recalculated risk assessments and adjusted surveillance priorities.
He had done exactly what he was supposed to do.
And it was working against him.