Page 356 of Mercy Written in Blood

Hayashi looked towards Renji.

"You should have remained dead with the others."

Haruki heard through the radio.

"Record everything."

The corridor cameras turned. Hayashi glanced upward. Too late.

Renji stopped several metres away.

"You ordered the historians killed."

"They found material they did not understand."

"You altered the transfers."

"To prevent panic."

The phrase belonged to the Accord. To Sota. To every faction certain consequences justified control.

"You attacked the hospital."

"We attempted to retrieve stolen property."

"The child?"

"Lineage assets do not belong to individuals."

Renji felt Haruki's anger through silence. Hayashi continued.

"The Takahara experiment failed because it confused affection with governance."

"It worked."

"For a time."

"You destroyed it."

"We corrected it."

The words removed the final uncertainty. Not remorse. Not necessity. Belief. Hayashi did not consider the massacre tragic. He considered it maintenance.

Renji looked towards the charges.

"You will not destroy the records."

"No."

Hayashi smiled.

"You will."

One of his people opened a case. Inside lay glass vials. Blood. Seven labels. Seven descendant lines. Not complete. Enough tocontaminate the Archive seals. Enough perhaps to corrupt or trigger them.

"The first chamber responded to willing blood," Renji said.

"The deeper one may respond to ancestry alone."