The heater coil failed at dawn. The salvaged unit sputtered, glowed orange, then went dark. The temperature in the medical tent dropped five degrees in ten minutes.

  The children huddled closer. Their shivering was a constant rhythm now.

  The Council timer ticked in my vision.

  [ADMINISTRATIVE REVIEW ETA: 34:12:08]

  [PROTOCOL: LETHAL RETALIATION LOCKED]

  [DEFENSIVE ACTIONS: AUTHORIZED]

  [ADMINISTRATOR IMMUNITY FLAGS: ACTIVE]

  [/SYSTEM]

  The System could not kill us for thirty four hours. Not without violating its own review protocols. But it could defend its property. It could contain us. It could watch us freeze.

  "We are going out," I said.

  Marcus looked up from checking a child's pulse. "Where?"

  "To take what we need. Before the Council arrives."

  Eli shook his head. His hands trembled slightly. "The depots have non-lethal defenses. Foam drones. Gas. Lockdown protocols."

  "Which means they will not kill us," I said. "And we will not kill them. No combat data. Just theft."

  The Rival leaned against the tent pole. "During a Council review freeze. It is elegantly petty."

  "It is survival." I pointed to the map. "Small logistics depot two kilometers north. Light security. Medical supplies. Heating units. We hit it, take what we can carry, return before the System reroutes heavier assets."

  Marcus stood. "I will organize a team."

  "Not just us. The refugees come too."

  He stared at me. "They are civilians. They are sick."

  "They are starving. They carry. We protect."

  The woman with the casing stood. Her movements were stiff but deliberate.

  "I will show them how," she said. Her voice was raw. "How to move. How to carry. How not to panic."

  Marcus looked from her to me. "You trust her?"

  "I trust that she wants those children to live."

  She did not wait for approval. She walked to the main chamber where the refugees huddled. She spoke quietly, but her words carried.

  "We are going to take food and medicine. The System will not kill us today. But it will try to stop us. You will listen. You will follow. You will not drop what you are carrying."

  Twelve refugees stood. Their faces were gaunt, their eyes hollow. But they stood.

  We split into two teams.

  Team One: Marcus and the woman, with eight refugees. Brute force and numbers. They would carry the bulk.

  Team Two: Me, Eli, the Rival. Precision. We would handle security, sabotage, and the Omega Null.

  The sky was the color of old iron. The air bit at exposed skin. We moved through the ruins, staying low, using broken walls for cover.

  This novel's true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.

  The depot was exactly as Eli's old scans had shown. A single story prefab structure. A perimeter fence with one gate. Two turret mounts on the roof, their barrels dark.

  "Non lethal models," Eli whispered. "Foam and shock rounds. Currently powered down due to the freeze. No lethal force allocation."

  The woman pointed to the gate. "That is the only entry. It will be locked."

  "We do not need the gate," the Rival said. He pointed to the fence fifty meters left. "We cut through there."

  Eli produced a small bottle of chemical solvent from his pack. "This will eat through the composite. Quick and quiet."

  He applied the solvent to the fence. The material hissed, bubbled, and parted. We slipped through, one by one.

  I approached the main structure. There was a service panel on the north wall. Eli pried it open.

  "Basic motion sensors. I can loop the feed. Give us forty five seconds. The alarm triggers on inventory discrepancy, not motion. So once we take something, we have less than a minute."

  His hands shook as he worked. He dropped a tool, caught it before it hit the ground.

  The panel light went from green to amber.

  "Loop active. Go."

  I signaled Marcus. His team moved through the fence, the woman leading. They were silent.

  The depot door was a simple magnetic lock. The Rival placed a small device against it. The lock disengaged with a soft click.

  Inside, the air was cold but dry. Rows of shelves stretched into dimness. Everything was labeled with System glyphs.

  Eli scanned quickly. "Medical supplies, aisle three. Heating units, aisle seven. Nutrient blocks, aisle one."

  Marcus's team spread out. The woman showed them how to stack boxes efficiently, how to distribute weight. They worked without speaking.

  I moved to the back wall. A secure locker stood there, marked with Council glyphs. A black case sat inside, visible through a clear panel.

  [COUNCIL EVIDENCE LOCKER]

  [CONTENTS: AUDIT DATA - SECTOR 7-C]

  [STATUS: INSPECTION MODE - FREEZE PROTOCOL]

  [/SYSTEM]

  The locker was not locked. The freeze had placed all Council evidence in inspection mode. A protocol conflict. I opened it.

  The black case was heavy. Cold to the touch. I slung it over my shoulder.

  "Time," Eli whispered. "Thirty seconds."

  Marcus's team was loading the last of the heating units. The refugees moved with surprising efficiency, their arms full of boxes.

  Then the lights went red.

  An alarm sounded, soft but persistent.

  [INVENTORY DISCREPANCY DETECTED]

  [DEPOT 12-A]

  [RESPONSE: NON-LETHAL CONTAINMENT]

  [/SYSTEM]

  Ceiling vents opened. White foam began to spray, expanding rapidly.

  "Go!" I shouted.

  We ran. The foam reached for us, hardening on contact with the floor. A refugee slipped. Marcus hauled him up, kept him moving.

  We burst through the door into the cold air. Two maintenance drones hovered outside, their nozzles aimed.

  "Foam only," Eli said. "Non lethal."

  I raised the Omega Null. Did not fire. The drones shot streams of adhesive foam. I dodged. The Rival was not fast enough. The foam hit his leg, hardening instantly.

  He did not panic. He drew a knife from his boot, cut the foam away from his boot, and kept running.

  We reached the fence. The woman was already through, helping refugees pass boxes over. Marcus went last, his shield deflecting another foam stream.

  We did not look back. We ran through the ruins, our breath fogging, boxes cutting into our arms.

  Back at camp, we did not celebrate. We worked.

  Eli hooked up the heating units. Real heat began to fill the medical tent.

  Marcus distributed nutrient blocks. The refugees ate slowly, as if afraid the food would vanish.

  The woman sat by the new heater, a cup of warmed water in her hands. She shook. Not from cold.

  Marcus handed her a blanket. She did not thank him. She pulled it around her shoulders, her eyes on the children who had stopped shivering.

  Eli approached me, his eyes on the black case. "What is it?"

  "Council evidence. For our review."

  He placed it on a makeshift table. The case was featureless except for a single data port. He connected his scanner.

  "It is not encrypted. It is in inspection mode. Anyone can read it."

  He opened a file. A holographic display flickered to life.

  [AUDIT RECORD: SECTOR 7-C]

  [DATE: 14 DAYS PRIOR TO CURRENT TIMELINE]

  [VERDICT: DECOMMISSION RECOMMENDED]

  [REASON: BEHAVIORAL CONTAGION RISK]

  [NOTE: VERDICT PRE-RENDERED. REVIEW PROCEEDING IS FORMALITY.]

  [/SYSTEM]

  The words hung in the air.

  Fourteen days ago. Before I destroyed the Node. Before the children were surrendered. Before the raids.

  The verdict was already decided.

  Eli looked at me, his face pale. "They were going to kill us anyway. The trial was never real."

  I stared at the hologram. At the date. At the pre rendered verdict.

  The Council was not coming to judge us.

  They were coming to sweep us away.

  And we had just stolen the broom.