Chapter 152
The Collective Sentence
Room Twenty-Two contained no punishment.
It contained a list of repairs.
Return property. Restore names. Fund treatment chosen by patients. Publish financial records. Create an independent archive.
The families read the list.
“Who pays?” someone asked.
The system displayed Continuity Holdings.
The company had dissolved, but its assets remained in offshore accounts.
Claire looked at Mara.
“You still control the shell.”
Mara nodded. “Then I will return it.”
“Not to me.”
“To the patients.”
The room accepted the transfer.
The offshore accounts opened.
Every dollar moved into a public trust with patient-elected control.
The first repair completed.
The second required a name.
Claire looked at Aster.
“Who should run the archive?”
“No one alone.”
The system created a council.
Each patient received one vote.
The collective sentence became a collective responsibility.
Room Twenty-Three opened in the city records office.