Chapter 226
Everetts Review
Everett Bell’s final hearing lasted nine minutes.
He sat behind glass, older than his photographs and smaller than his reputation. The review board asked whether he accepted responsibility for the witness system.
“I accepted a role,” Everett said. “The system existed before me.”
“And after you?”
He looked toward Claire.
For the first time, he did not ask the room to decide who she was.
“After me,” he said, “it should exist only if people choose it.”
The board recorded the statement. Everett’s access was revoked, his name transferred from administrator to subject, and the glass door unlocked.
He did not leave.
“Why stay?” Claire asked.
Everett placed a sealed envelope on the floor between them.
“Because I found one file I never opened.”
The envelope was addressed in Claire’s handwriting.