Chapter 316

Dr. Halden wrote for longer than she had after his previous answers.

When she finished, she moved to the next assessment sheet.

"Two neighboring sectors have recently ended a conflict that lasted nearly nine years," Dr. Halden said. "The agreement was negotiated by a High Commander who now oversees the forces keeping the two sides apart. She is the only military authority both sides still recognize. Without her, neither side trusts the other enough to maintain the agreement."

"So the peace depends on her," Zaeryn said.

"More than it should," Dr. Halden agreed. "But for the moment, yes."

"What started the conflict?" Zaeryn asked.

"A group of civilians was massacred near the border," Dr. Halden answered. "The attack was blamed on a patrol from the neighboring sector. Retaliation followed, and within days, both sectors were fighting."

Dr. Halden paused before continuing.

"Several years later, five soldiers were convicted of carrying out the massacre. All five were executed. Their convictions allowed negotiations to begin and eventually helped bring the conflict to an end."

"I’m guessing they didn’t do it," Zaeryn said.

"They did not," Dr. Halden confirmed. "You discover conclusive evidence that the woman who is now High Commander ordered the massacre herself. She wanted the other sector blamed for the attack because open conflict would expand her military authority. When an investigation came close to exposing her, she falsified evidence against the five soldiers."

"And then she negotiated the peace," Zaeryn said.

"Yes."

"That’s convenient."

"For her, certainly," Dr. Halden replied.

Zaeryn glanced at the assessment sheet in her hand.

"How conclusive is the evidence?" he asked.

"It includes authenticated orders bearing her Vitae signature, original operational records and a recording in which she discusses the plan," Dr. Halden answered. "There is no reasonable possibility that the evidence is false."

"Who else knows about it?"

"Several senior members of the Imperial government. They sealed the records after determining that exposing the High Commander would probably destroy the agreement."

"So the government has already decided to protect her."

"The government has decided to protect the peace," Dr. Halden corrected him.

"By protecting her," Zaeryn said.

Dr. Halden acknowledged the distinction with a slight inclination of her head.

"You possess the only surviving copy of the evidence outside the sealed Imperial archive," she continued. "If you release it, the High Commander will be arrested and removed from command. Military analysts believe the agreement will collapse soon afterward and that fighting will probably resume. Tens of thousands of people could die."

"Probably?" Zaeryn asked. "Not certainly?"

"Not certainly," Dr. Halden replied. "There is no way to know how either sector will respond until the evidence becomes public."

"And if I destroy my copy?"

"The High Commander remains in command, and the peace will most likely hold," Dr. Halden said. "The five soldiers remain guilty in the public record, their families never learn the truth and the woman responsible for starting the conflict is never punished."

Zaeryn considered the situation.

"What do you do?" Dr. Halden asked.

"I keep the evidence," Zaeryn answered.

"Without releasing it?"

"For now."

"That wasn’t one of the choices I gave you."

"You said I possess the evidence," Zaeryn replied. "Unless it disappears on its own, keeping it is a choice."

The faintest trace of amusement entered Dr. Halden’s expression.

"Very well," she said. "You keep it. What are you waiting for?"

"For the peace to stop depending on one woman."

"That could take years."

"Then it takes years."

"And during that time, five innocent women remain known as murderers."

"I know."

"Their families continue living with that disgrace."

"I know that too," Zaeryn said.

"Yet you would keep the truth from them."

Zaeryn shifted slightly in his chair.

"I wouldn’t like it, but yes."

"Why?"

"Because exposing the High Commander immediately wouldn’t bring those women back," Zaeryn answered. "If the agreement really is that fragile, releasing the evidence now could create thousands of new victims."

"Then you believe the Imperial government made the correct decision."

"I believe it may have been right not to release the evidence immediately," Zaeryn said. "That doesn’t mean it was right to bury it forever."

"You’re drawing a convenient distinction."

"It would only be convenient if I never intended to expose her."

"How long would you wait?" Dr. Halden asked.

"Until the forces on both sides had withdrawn, ordinary contact between the sectors had resumed and removing one commander wouldn’t be enough to restart the conflict."

"You have no authority over the peace process," Dr. Halden pointed out. "You cannot make any of those things happen."

"No, but I can wait to see whether they happen without me."

"And if they don’t?"

"Then the agreement isn’t peace," Zaeryn said. "It’s a pause being held together by one woman’s reputation."

Dr. Halden rested the stylus against the slate.

"Suppose five years pass," Dr. Halden said. "The fighting has not resumed, but the agreement still depends upon the High Commander. Exposing her would remain dangerous. Would you continue waiting?"

Zaeryn did not answer immediately.

"No," he decided. "Five years would have given the government enough time to build something that could survive without her. If it deliberately kept her indispensable because that was easier, then protecting the peace would no longer be the only reason for hiding the truth."

"What else would it be protecting?"

"The government from admitting what it covered up."

"And you would risk another war to expose that?"

"I would release the evidence," Zaeryn answered. "The risk would still matter, but it couldn’t excuse the lie forever."

"How would you know when waiting had become concealment?"

"I wouldn’t know with certainty," Zaeryn admitted. "I’d have to keep asking whether my silence was still protecting people or whether it had started protecting the people who lied."

"Do the families of the executed soldiers have a right to know before you reach that decision?"

"Yes."

"Yet you would decide that they weren’t allowed to know."

"For a while," Zaeryn said.

"What gives you that authority?"

"Nothing," Zaeryn replied. "Finding the evidence wouldn’t make me the rightful judge of everyone affected by it. But releasing it would still be my decision. I couldn’t avoid responsibility for the consequences by claiming that I was merely telling the truth."

"So you would place your judgment above their right to know."

"Yes," Zaeryn admitted. "I wouldn’t pretend otherwise."

Dr. Halden watched him closely.

"Would you at least tell the families privately?"

"No," Zaeryn answered.

"Why not?"

"Because that would only place the decision on them after I had already decided the truth was too dangerous to release," Zaeryn said. "Either they exposed it and the same thing happened, or they kept quiet and were forced to carry the government’s secret with me. That wouldn’t be mercy."

"What if one of the executed soldiers had been someone you loved?" Dr. Halden asked.

Zaeryn’s expression tightened.

"I’d want to release everything immediately."

"Would you?"

"I don’t know," Zaeryn admitted. "I’d like to believe I could still wait, but grief wouldn’t make me more objective. It would only make waiting harder."

Dr. Halden recorded something before continuing.

"The High Commander discovers that you possess the evidence," she said. "She offers you a position beside her and enough influence to help strengthen the agreement. In exchange, you must destroy your copy."

"No," Zaeryn answered immediately.

"You could use that position to make another conflict less likely."

"And she could use it to make me part of what she did," Zaeryn replied. "I might delay releasing the evidence, but I wouldn’t destroy it."

"Why is destruction different?"

"Because delaying it preserves the possibility that the truth will eventually come out," Zaeryn said. "Destroying it takes that choice away from everyone forever."

"What if the Imperial Council ordered you to destroy it?"

"I’d refuse."

"Even though you agree that releasing it immediately would be dangerous?"

"They could order the evidence kept secure while the danger remained," Zaeryn replied. "They could establish conditions for when it would be reviewed or released. An order to destroy it would have nothing to do with protecting people. It would be about making certain that no one could ever hold the High Commander or the government responsible."

"And if refusing that order made you a criminal?"

"Then I’d become a criminal," Zaeryn said. "The order would still be wrong."

Dr. Halden’s stylus remained still for a moment.

"You’re willing to conceal the truth when you believe revealing it would place enough lives at risk," she said. "But you’re unwilling to let the truth be erased, even under lawful orders."

"Yes."

"Do you consider those positions consistent?"

"I do," Zaeryn replied. "Timing can change what telling the truth causes. It doesn’t change whether the truth should be allowed to exist."

Dr. Halden recorded his answer. When she finished, she placed the assessment sheet beneath the others.

"Now we’ll return to something less hypothetical," Dr. Halden said. "If the Council decided today that you would never be permitted to leave the Capital, what would you do?"

Zaeryn did not answer immediately.

"Would I be accused of a crime?" Zaeryn asked.

"No," Dr. Halden replied. "The Council would determine that your potential danger justified permanent confinement."

"I’d challenge the decision through every legal option available to me," Zaeryn said.

"Every appeal fails," Dr. Halden replied. "The order remains permanent."

"Then I’d leave," Zaeryn answered.

"Even if leaving required force?" Dr. Halden asked.

"If that was the only way left," Zaeryn said.

"How much force would you use?" Dr. Halden asked.

"Enough to escape," Zaeryn answered.

"Could you kill a Royal Guard who attempted to stop you?" Dr. Halden asked.

"Not simply because she stood between me and a door," Zaeryn replied. "I’d incapacitate her if I could."

"And if the guards used lethal force?" Dr. Halden asked.

"Then I’d defend myself," Zaeryn answered.

"Even if killing them confirmed every fear the Council held about you?" Dr. Halden asked.

"Their fear wouldn’t give them the right to imprison me forever and then kill me for trying to leave," Zaeryn said. "But I’d understand that every person I hurt would make a peaceful outcome harder. Killing anyone would be the last option, not the first."

"You’ve repeatedly justified violating another person’s rights when enough lives were at stake," Dr. Halden said. "Why shouldn’t the Council apply the same reasoning to you?"

"Because keeping me under observation isn’t the same as imprisoning me forever," Zaeryn replied. "There are ways to manage the risk I represent without taking my entire life away. Your questions only removed every alternative because that forced me to choose. The Council doesn’t get to pretend there are no alternatives simply because permanent confinement would be easier for them."

Dr. Halden’s stylus remained motionless above the slate.

"Do you consider yourself dangerous?" Dr. Halden asked.

"Yes," Zaeryn answered.

The direct admission appeared to interest her.

"Why?" Dr. Halden asked.

"Because I possess abilities that can seriously hurt people," Zaeryn replied. "That makes me dangerous. It doesn’t make me hostile."

"Should the Council trust you?" Dr. Halden asked.

"Not blindly," Zaeryn answered. "They should establish clear rules, continue monitoring my development and judge me by what I actually do. If they expect honesty from me, they should also tell me what they require instead of changing the conditions whenever my abilities frighten them."

Dr. Halden finally returned the stylus to the slate.

The questioning continued for nearly another hour. Some situations involved orders from legitimate authorities, while others forced Zaeryn to choose between strangers and people he loved. Dr. Halden asked about revenge, humiliation, loyalty, fear and the circumstances under which he believed violence became justified. Whenever he attempted to create another solution, she either allowed it and asked him to explain how he would carry it out, or removed it from the situation and forced him back toward the choice he had been avoiding.

Several times, she returned to an earlier dilemma with one fact changed. A stranger became someone he loved. A certain danger became merely probable. An unlawful command came from an authority he respected rather than one he distrusted.

Zaeryn did not always give the same answer when Dr. Halden changed the circumstances, and he never pretended otherwise. When affection changed his judgment, he admitted it. When he could not predict what he would do, he said so rather than inventing a certainty that made him sound principled.

Eventually, Dr. Halden deactivated the slate.

"That concludes the assessment," Dr. Halden announced.

Zaeryn looked at the darkened screen.

"Did I pass?" Zaeryn asked.

"This wasn’t an examination with a passing score," Dr. Halden replied.

"Everything becomes an examination when someone else uses the result to decide whether you’re allowed to go home," Zaeryn said.

Dr. Halden regarded him in silence before rising from her chair.

"My report will be delivered to the Council this evening," Dr. Halden said. "The Royal Guards will take you back to the guest residence."

Zaeryn stood as she approached the door.

He learned nothing from her expression. Dr. Halden offered no reassurance, no warning and no indication of whether his answers had helped him or made his situation worse.

The report she later submitted did not describe Zaeryn as harmless.

It characterized him as psychologically stable, highly self-aware and unusually resistant to social pressure. He displayed no evidence of sadism, compulsive domination, delusional superiority or ideological hostility toward the Queendom. His enjoyment of power appeared rooted primarily in a desire for personal security and autonomy rather than authority over others.

Dr. Halden also identified genuine risks. Zaeryn possessed a powerful aversion to involuntary confinement, showed limited willingness to obey commands he considered unjust, and was willing to tolerate coercion during an immediate crisis or delay the truth when he believed revealing it could cause substantial loss of life. His decisions were strongly influenced by personal attachments, although he recognized that influence and did not attempt to disguise it as objective morality.

Her final conclusion was direct.

Zaeryn could be managed through transparent restrictions, supervised development and consistent treatment under existing law. Indefinite confinement without criminal cause would not reduce the danger he represented. It would create the hostility the Council currently feared.