Chapter 28 The System that could not Tell
Rafael said "He is already inside three territories" as he walked into the war room. His coat was still cold from outside. His hair was pushed back. He had been moving fast.
Vince turned around from the map table. He stood up straight like he was ready for something. "Which three?" he asked.
Rafael went to the table. Used the interface. Three territories lit up on the map. They were an amber color. This meant the system had been penetrated and the borders were compromised.
I felt my chest get tight when I saw the locations. "Those are the territories that held position after the harbor " I said. They had agreed to the conditions. Stopped moving.
Rafael said "Yes. The ones that agreed to the conditions. The ones that stopped moving when you defined the outcome."
Vinces jaw moved. "He used the stabilization window " he said.
Rafael corrected him. "He used the trust window." This changed everything. "While they held position and waited for recognition he moved through the gaps between their borders. The system read his signature as a registrar command. Opened the channels without resistance."
The map was moving. A fourth territory was lighting up. It was not solid yet. It was building up.
I went closer to the table. I let the connection open. I felt the systems awareness moving through me. The channels were strained. The balance I had anchored was pulling in many directions. The structure was intact. It was vibrating. It was like something was about to break.
I said "He is not taking territory. He is placing himself inside the network. He is threading his signature through the layer so that when he moves the system reads it as authorized."
Rafael looked at me. "Can you distinguish his signature from yours?" he asked.
I held the connection for a moment. I felt for the texture of what was moving through the channels. My signature had a quality. It was warm and precise. It responded to intent.
What I found in the compromised channels was cold. It was deliberate. It was shaped with precision. It was not responsive. It was like a copy of a key.
I said "Yes.. The system is already treating them as equivalent."
Vince stood up straight. "Then we have a narrowing window before he can issue commands the network will follow without requiring verification."
Rafael said "Based on the penetration rate across those three territories between four and six hours before he reaches the depth where the compact layer stops distinguishing between sources."
We had four hours. Nobody moved for a moment.
Then Vince said "Pull every enforcer from the perimeter and redirect to the three compromised zones. Full border lockdown. Physical presence, not system response."
An enforcer was already moving. He was relaying the order.
Rafael turned to me. He lowered his voice. "If you push a counter-signature through the channels now before he reaches depth you can interrupt the penetration. Force the system to re-verify the source."
I asked "And if he pushes back?"
Rafaels expression said it all. "Then the system experiences two simultaneous registrar commands in conflict and it does what any structure does when two opposing forces apply equal pressure to its center."
I said "It fractures."
Rafael said "It fractures."
Vince said "There is an option."
We looked at him.
He had his hands flat on the map. He was looking at the amber zones. " Of a counter-signature you redefine the verification requirement. Change what the system accepts as authorization before he reaches the depth where the distinction stops mattering."
Rafael thought about it and nods his head. "That would work " he said slowly ". Redefining the verification layer requires accessing the root architecture. The foundational compact structure."
He looked at me with concern in his eyes. It was the first time he would look at me with such genuine concern and it is not to say he hates me.
I just find it rather odd. I knew what this meant. The system my father built did not separate its layer from the person carrying the bloodline. Accessing the root architecture meant opening myself to the network.
I asked "How long would it take?"
Rafael said "Minutes. If nothing resists you."
I asked ". If something does?"
Rafael did not say anything.
Vince came closer to me. "I will not tell you what to do " he said. ". I need you to understand that if he reaches full depth before you act the commands he issues will move packs that have been holding position on the strength of the structure you built. Everything you stabilized at that dock will be turned against the territories that trusted it."
The map was moving again. The territorys amber was deepening.
I felt the connection. The system was pressing against my awareness.
Vince said "Do it. Go into the root."
I put my hands on the map table large enough for everyone to see it.
The channels opened with a loud noise.
The depth of the system rushed up to meet me. It was vast and cold and ancient.
I found the verification layer. it was hidden far in the deep.
I began to rewrite it.
Then from somewhere deep, inside the network something answered.
It carried my fathers signature. The exact same line in the signature that could cause a serious problem for me.
It was very precise and because of the apt nature, I could easily tell it from anyone else. My father always had a habit of drawing a line breath the signature and it made it unique and unmistakenly to be not recognized.
My hands locked against the table. The connection pulled taut between me and the source. I heard Rafaels intake of breath as the map lit up across every zone at once.
The signature coming through that channel was not a copy. My hands began to tremble and in that moment I realized something that I was hiding all these while.
It was the original.