Jack was given a choice.
That was how the Authority framed it.
Two options. Clearly stated. Perfectly reasonable.
Which meant it wasn't a choice at all.
Maizy stood across from him in the upper control chamber, the city far below them reduced to irrelevant geometry. Between them hovered a translucent directive—Authority-level clearance, immutable once acknowledged.
Jack didn't touch it.
He already knew what it said.
"You want me to do it publicly," he said.
"Yes," Maizy replied.
Her voice didn't shake. That scared him more than if it had.
"You want him to see me do it," Jack continued. "To understand that I chose you."
Maizy met his eyes. "You will choose them. Or they will choose for you."
Jack laughed softly. "You really learned their language."
She looked away.
Arnold was brought out of the room for the first time since Lysa was removed.
Not escorted.
Displayed.
The chamber was circular, open, filled with observers—analysts, operators, silent figures whose faces never quite resolved when you tried to focus on them.
Jack stood at the center.
Waiting.
Arnold felt it immediately.
The weight.
The intent.
"You didn't come to help," Arnold said calmly.
Jack swallowed. "I came to finish this."
That was the line they'd given him.
He hated how easily it left his mouth.
The Authority spoke through the chamber itself.
"Subject Arnold Vale has demonstrated repeated autonomy under restriction."
Arnold looked around. "Is that what this is?"
"Yes."
Jack forced himself not to look away.
"Human intermediary Jack Rowen has been selected to perform compliance enforcement."
A murmur rippled through the chamber.
Arnold's gaze snapped back to Jack.
Understanding arrived instantly.
Not shock.
Not anger.
Disappointment.
That was worse.
"So this is how you keep him," Arnold said. "You make him do it."
Jack clenched his fists. "Arnold, listen to me—"
"No," Arnold interrupted gently. "You already did."
The device in Jack's hand was small.
Non-lethal.
Non-invasive.
It didn't harm the body.
It rewrote access.
Once activated, Arnold would still think.
Still feel.
But he would never again reach the edge where choice destabilized reality.
A ceiling placed just above free will.
A perfect prison.
Jack raised his hand.
The chamber waited.
Jack's mind screamed.
This won't save him.
This won't save Lysa.
This won't save anyone.
But the Authority had been thorough.
If Jack refused—
The city beneath them would destabilize
Thousands would be "corrected"
Jack's name would be attached to the failure
Not as punishment.
As precedent.
Jack looked at Arnold.
"I'm sorry," he said.
And meant everything except the action.
Arnold stepped forward.
The chamber reacted—but too slowly to stop him.
Jack froze.
"Do it," Arnold said quietly. "Before they make you worse."
Jack's hand shook.
"You don't understand," Jack whispered. "They'll erase you."
Arnold smiled faintly.
"They already tried."
Jack activated the device.
Light flashed once.
Clean.
Silent.
Final.
Arnold gasped—not in pain, but in recognition.
Something closed.
Something vast.
Something he hadn't known how to name until it was gone.
The chamber exhaled as one.
Compliance achieved.
Arnold fell to one knee.
Jack rushed forward instinctively—then stopped himself.
The Authority was watching.
Arnold looked up at him.
Eyes clear.
Present.
Human.
"You chose them," Arnold said.
Jack nodded once.
"Yes."
Arnold studied him for a long moment.
Then said the sentence that would haunt Jack for the rest of his life.
"Good. That means I don't have to."
Maizy felt it then.
Not a spike.
Not an alarm.
A shift.
Subtle.
Wrong.
"The readings stabilized," an analyst said. "Choice variance eliminated."
The Authority remained silent.
Too silent.
Far below the chamber—far beyond any sensor—
Something fundamental adjusted.
Arnold's ability to choose had been sealed.
But the cost of that seal had not been paid by him.
It had been transferred.
To Jack.
The Authority spoke at last.
"Containment successful."
Maizy didn't answer.
Because she could see it now.
Arnold was no longer the catalyst.
Jack was.
And unlike Arnold—
Jack had just proven he would do anything to save the world.
Even betray it.