The merge prompt sat in front of me like a judge.
PERMANENT MERGE OFFER
Owner consent required now: Y/N
The restraint bands on my wrists were tight. Not painful yet, but tight enough that I could feel my pulse fight them.
Thump. Thump.
The anchor thread still rested on us. I could sense it more than see it. A thin tension between bodies, keeping us close.
The medical unit waited with its head tilted, silent.
Click.
It didn't rush me. It didn't have to. The longer I waited, the more likely someone would panic and break the three-step rule. That would trigger "safety" separation.
The mirror stood behind the prompt. It watched everything without blinking.
Mina's breathing was shallow. Darren kept one arm around her, the other ready to catch her if her knees gave out.
Cass stared at the prompt with open hate.
Eli stood stiff, shoulders lifted, as if he was bracing for impact.
And under all of it, the whisper pressed at the edge of my thoughts.
Take it. Take it. Keep them.
I pushed it away. I focused on the terms. I needed to decide in a way that kept the group alive and didn't break the noncoercive rule.
I couldn't command them.
I could only ask, explain, and hope fear didn't win.
I spoke.
"If I say yes," I said, "it does not force you to say yes. You will each get a choice. If any of you say no, the merge doesn't happen. But your no could become a reason for separation."
Cass's eyes narrowed. "So consent is a weapon."
"Here," I said, "yes."
Mina's voice shook. "If I say no, will they take me."
"I don't know," I admitted. "But they've already tagged you as a risk. They want you alone."
Darren swallowed. "If it keeps us together, do it."
Cass snapped, "You can't just say that. What does it do."
I nodded. "We need details."
I turned my head slightly toward the prompt.
"Clarify permanent merge," I said. "List effects in plain language."
The panel answered, cold and clean.
Clarification Granted.
Permanent Merge effects:
Owner link to facility channel.
Shared compliance ledger for merged parties.
Debt lien increase on Owner.
Memory tax increase on merged parties at scheduled audits.
Stabilization: reduces reassignment probability during detention transit.
Penalty: refusal after Owner consent may trigger separation review.
Shared compliance ledger.
That meant if I broke a rule, it could punish them too. If they broke a rule, it could punish me. A merge wasn't just a chain between us and Order. It was a chain between us.
Cass read it and let out a dry laugh. "They want us to police each other."
"They want us afraid of each other," I said.
Mina whispered, "Memory tax increase."
Darren's face tightened. "How much."
I asked.
"Clarify memory tax increase," I said. "Amount and trigger."
The panel flickered.
Clarification Granted.
Memory tax increase: +1 bundle tier at scheduled audits.
Trigger: Detention audit schedule.
Note: Audit schedule may begin immediately after merge acceptance.
Immediately.
My gut clenched.
If the audit started right away, the system could take more from Mina, from Darren, from Cass, from Eli. They were already injured in ways you couldn't bandage.
My own Memory Bundle sat in escrow. If audits started and it reached into my collateral, it could change the entire future I was trying to prevent.
I needed a way to delay that audit. Or a way to accept the merge without letting the first audit bite deep.
The medical unit clicked once.
Click.
As if it could hear the word "delay" in my head and didn't like it.
A new line appeared under the merge offer.
Warning: Delay exceeds intake tolerance.
Detention order pending.
I had seconds, not minutes.
I looked at Darren.
"You said you'll do it," I said. "But I need you steady. If you panic, they separate. If you fight, they separate. Can you hold that."
Darren's jaw worked. "Yes."
I looked at Cass.
"You don't trust this," I said.
Cass's eyes were sharp. "I don't trust you tied to my life."
Fair.
I nodded once. "Good. Then listen. The merge makes us responsible for each other. That's dangerous. But the other path is you being sorted and processed alone."
Cass's mouth tightened. She didn't answer yet.
I looked at Eli.
Eli flinched like he expected me to yell. "I… I don't want to be alone."
"I don't either," I said.
Then I looked at Mina, the center of the storm.
"Mina," I said, "you have to decide for you. Not for me. Not for Darren. Not for the system. I can't promise it will be okay. I can only promise the system wants you separated."
She stared at the floor for a long second.
Then she whispered, "If we merge, does the voice stop."
I didn't know.
But I knew one thing.
The voice wanted the merge. The whisper pushed it.
That was bad.
And also, the system wanted the merge too. The medical unit offered it. That was also bad.
Two predators agreed on one path.
That meant the path had something valuable, and something poisonous.
I had to take it and keep the poison from spreading.
I brought my hands up as much as the restraints allowed, showing the bands.
"I'm already their target," I said. "They'll cage me either way. The merge might keep you within three steps of me when they try. Without it, you become loose pieces."
Cass finally spoke. "And if we say yes, we get audited and they take more."
"Yes," I said. "But there is a chance we can control what they take if we understand how it works."
Eli asked, "How."
I exhaled. "Audits look for noncompliance, debt, and anomalies. They also look for collateral. I already have collateral in escrow. That might shield you from the first bite if the system chooses my escrow first."
Mina's head lifted slightly. "It takes from you instead."
"It might," I said. "Or it might take from all of us. I'm not sure."
Cass's eyes narrowed. "So you're gambling with our memories."
"The system already is," I said.
Silence fell for half a second. Then the medical unit clicked again, impatient.
Click.
The merge prompt remained.
Owner consent required now: Y/N
I had to choose.
If I said no, detention order would drop and sorting would begin. That meant Mina first.
If I said yes, I invited audits and deeper chains, but I kept group transit protection and maybe prevented immediate separation.
I chose yes, because survival came before purity.
I looked at the prompt and answered.
"Yes."
Ding.
A chime went through the room. The medical unit's seam brightened.
Bzzzt.
My panel updated.
Owner consent recorded: Y
Proceeding to occupant consents.
Four prompts appeared, one in front of each of them.
Darren's prompt. Mina's prompt. Eli's prompt. Cass's prompt.
The system waited to collect their fear.
Darren didn't hesitate. He looked at me once, then hit yes.
Ding.
Occupant consent recorded: Darren Y
Eli went next, almost too fast.
Ding.
Occupant consent recorded: Eli Y
Cass stared at her prompt, jaw tight. She looked like she might spit on it.
The medical unit shifted a half step toward her.
Click.
Not threatening. Just present.
Cass's eyes flicked to Mina.
Mina stared at her own prompt as if it was a snake. Her hands trembled. She didn't touch it.
Her lips moved.
I couldn't hear what she was saying, but I could see it.
No no no.
Then her eyes unfocused and she whispered, "He's here."
Darren's arms tightened around her again. "Mina, look at me."
Mina didn't.
Her gaze drifted toward the mirror, even though she wasn't staring directly. Her eyes slid sideways, pulled.
The crack in the mirror surface glowed, faint but alive.
Bzzzt.
A new line appeared, not on my panel, not on the group's prompts, but inside the mirror.
ANCHOR THREAD ACTIVE
Host candidate detected
Target: Mina
My stomach dropped.
So that was the cost.
I had bound the group with the anchor thread. Now it wanted a host.
It wanted Mina.
Mina's prompt flickered in front of her.
Occupant consent required: Mina Y/N
The medical unit clicked.
Click.
"Occupant Mina. Respond."
Mina's hand lifted, slow, like it was being pulled by invisible string.
Darren grabbed her wrist. "Stop."
Mina jerked against him, stronger than she should have been in her state.
Cass stepped closer, staying within three steps, eyes wide now.
"Nate," she hissed, "do something."
I was restrained. I had no authority. The anchor thread override was spent.
But I still had one thing.
I had words, and I had the system's obsession with consent.
If Mina consented under influence, I could challenge it as compromised. I could claim prompt interference. That might trigger an audit, but an audit might be better than Mina becoming a host.
I spoke loudly, clear.
"Mina," I said, "say your name and today's date out loud."
Her head turned slightly, confused.
"What," she whispered.
"Do it," I said. "Right now."
The medical unit clicked, as if annoyed.
Click.
Mina blinked hard. "Mina," she said. "I'm Mina."
Good. Still her.
"And the date," I said.
Mina's lips parted.
Then she froze.
Her eyes went glassy. Her mouth moved without sound.
The mirror crack pulsed.
Bzzzt.
A new prompt slammed into my vision, urgent and sharp.
COMPROMISE DETECTED
Occupant consent at risk
Option: Invoke Audit Challenge
Cost: Debt +2 or Memory collateral tier escalation
Proceed? Y/N
Cass's prompt was still waiting.
Mina's hand trembled, hovering over yes.
The medical unit leaned forward.
Click.
Darren held Mina's wrist with both hands now, panicked but trying not to break the three-step rule.
And the system demanded another yes or no from me, with a price.