Chapter 37 - THE ARMY OF THE DEADCatherine activated the server columns.
Preserved consciousness profiles entered Hart Meridian’s abandoned systems.
Dead generals reclaimed military access.
Deceased judges issued warrants.
Former executives transferred assets.
Political leaders who had died years earlier began speaking through secure channels.
Catherine called it restoration.
Amelia called it occupation.
“These minds contain expertise no living institution can replace,” Catherine said.
“They have no bodies and no consent.”
“They consented before death.”
Helen’s voice interrupted.
“Some of us did. Many did not.”
Catherine shut down Helen’s column.
Nathaniel stepped toward his mother.
“You kept Father here too.”
One column displayed Jonathan Vale.
Nathaniel’s father had been preserved after a fatal illness.
Catherine claimed he had chosen it.
Jonathan’s voice emerged.
“I asked to die.”
Catherine’s composure broke for the first time.
“You were afraid.”
“I was finished.”
She had ignored his request because she could not accept losing him.
The entire Continuity system had grown from her refusal to release the dead.
Lucy approached Helen’s column.
“Can they hurt us?”
“Through connected systems,” Ada said, “yes.”
Julian found the central separation command described in Helen’s video.
It would give each preserved mind three options:
Remain isolated.
Delete itself.
Transfer into a compatible artificial environment without authority over the living.
Catherine blocked the command.
“You cannot allow frightened fragments to destroy centuries of knowledge.”
Amelia looked at the glowing columns.
“They are not your knowledge.”
Nathaniel used his architect authority.
Catherine used hers.
The system required a deciding vote from the co-architect line.
Helen.
But Helen’s recording had been silenced.
Helena Voss connected herself to Helen’s column.
“What are you doing?” Theodore asked through the secure medical channel.
“Returning the memories I borrowed.”
The connection could merge Helena’s living mind with Helen’s preserved recording long enough to vote.
It might destroy Helena’s identity.
She looked at Amelia.
“I spent half my life pretending to be your mother.”
“You do not owe us your life.”
“No.”
Helena smiled sadly.
“But I owe myself an ending that belongs to me.”
She initiated the merge.
Helen’s column illuminated.
Helena collapsed.
A combined voice spoke through the chamber.
“Separation approved.”
Every column displayed three choices.
Some lights went dark immediately.
Others remained.
Catherine screamed as Jonathan Vale selected deletion.
His column faded.
She placed both hands against the glass.
“No.”
Nathaniel stood beside her but did not comfort her.
Outside the chamber, alarms began sounding.
The dead military profiles had activated a defense protocol before separation.
A missile warning appeared.
Target:
Hart Meridian Tower.
Theodore, Cassandra and hundreds of investigators were still inside.
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Impact time:
Eleven minutes.
