Three Veridian Central regiments rolled through the barrier into Quantum Collective, their presence a sharp escalation. Over the past three days, streets were partitioned and barricaded, while ten checkpoints sprang up to monitor and catalog every movement in the district.

When the command for deportation warrants targeting all non-Quantum Collective citizens came down, additional regiments were dispatched without delay. Their primary directive was to secure control over three newly constructed hospitals. The closest of these hospitals lay just two blocks from the barrier, a facility initially built to aid citizens living in a shanty ravaged by mesh sickness.

Speculation swirled about why the Center abandoned the citizens who moved near the barrier by retracting mesh services. One prevailing theory blamed the sheer size of the population crowding the barrier—tens of thousands desperate to stay within reach of the mesh, forming an unsustainable and chaotic encampment clustered along the three-mile barrier. Its numbers far too large for either Quantum Collective or the Center to support.

The primary security threat of such a population was threefold: 1) the population size was enough to overrun all but the harshest of countermeasures, 2) the supply chain requirements to feed and provide water were overwhelmed and too large to be supported effectively by Quantum Collective in their current predicament, and 3) the complaints of premiere citizens within the Center had grown to demands as they experienced the struggling citizens first hand. This final reason was shaped into the official stance, 'the mesh service was withdrawn at the barrier in order to protect premiere Quantum Collective citizens living in Veridian Center from potential spread of the mesh-sickness.' Ever since, very few premiere citizens even knew of the full extent of the sickness. Only those who stayed behind or returned to help truly understood. Slowly word of the challenges made it back to their wealthier society members and shared rapidly.

Along with checkpoints established across the city, the barrier shut down all Quantum Collective citizens from crossing. Checkpoint data routinely gathered data on citizen movements, turning back those who expressed the Center as their destination. That this slowed communication between its citizens across the barrier was not doubted. That it changed the complaints to border rights was a victory for the Center, as propaganda was far more successful against immigrating citizens than demands from stories of suffering.

The long line of vehicles was moving at three-fourths speed barreling through the barricade opening side by side. At the front of the line were large plows capable of diverting buses off of a road way if needed. There was no need. Within a minute they had traveled the two blocks to the first of three community hospitals set up and run by other districts. They barrelled past shaking the walls and windows. The length of the convoy was so long that several patients and nurses gathered to witness the show of force.

It did not feel like a parade.

At the end, three large tank units and four transports pulled into the emergency drop-off. The rumble of engines filled the air, blending with the vibrations against the windows and floor. Patients and staff backed away from the windows fearing the entrance could be stormed. Even people on the second and third floors backed up, as the vehicles decelerated only at the last moment, screeching to a stop. Immediately tens of Veridian Stormforce troops emerged from three of the transports. Within a minute, there were a hundred strong with full tactical gear and weapons drawn.

The first 10 entered the emergency room and announced the arrest of all non-Quantum Collective residents in the hospital. As this group collected papers, squads of ten ran past, going from section to section.

"What is the meaning of this?" Anya Solaris ran into the emergency waiting room at the sound of the commotion, alerted by concerned patients watching the military's arrival.

Two soldiers advanced with scanners, "Anya Solaris, you are hereby detained for questioning. Deportation proceedings will resume thereafter." Each grabbed an arm and closed shackles around her wrists.

Her mind raced as she processed the words—‘held for questioning’—their implications crashing down like a wave. Every patient left untreated, every operation interrupted, every hard-fought step forward undone by the cold machinery of bureaucracy

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"I'm the head of this hospital, you have no right!" she yelled as one of the soldiers put her with others in a sitting area. Immediately another soldier put a colored tracking band on their wrist. She had seen those before, used on criminals for more than tracking. She had treated injuries when overzealous guards prescribed more deterrents than needed. She tried to make a call to Jo but communications were blocked.

"There is no need for this." No one listened. She looked around at the scene. A steady line of nurses and visitors, primarily Symmetrist and AutoGen like herself, was being escorted out with security bracelets visually identifying their faction.

The guard approached her next, "Anya Solaris, Chief Medical Officer. Is that right?"

"Yes, and I have surgeries to perform. This is a huge mistake." She said as the band closed around her wrist as it turned onyx black.

"AutoGen," he said. He reviewed his holopad. "Special instructions," he mumbled to himself. "Always something." The outline of the band changed to a stark red. "Lucky you."

He moved to the next person, clasping a bracelet to Sandy's wrist. She appeared in shock, tears flowing down her cheeks. Anya knew all of these people, people who helped her set up the hospital and train Quantum Collective citizens to take on more duties as their health improved. Sandy, in particular, was calm under pressure and was their trauma specialist advising other nurses. She developed strategies for navigating the terrifying labyrinth of mesh-induced disorientation. From Symmetrist, her band turned sapphire blue.

Anya's heart melted when Sandy looked up from her bracelet noticing Anya for the first time. The bracelet was a sapphire blue, having come the day after the TruthGate to volunteer at the depot after a call through the underground reached people willing to help. She had become homeless as the quarter was vacated two days before those buildings fell in the shadow of the TruthGate. She had found a new home finding a way to contribute and reduce suffering around her in any way she could.

Anya met her eyes, sharing strength without words, neither understanding what would happen next, only that everything was changing. The guards came back through, commanding people to their feet.

"Not you," the guard pulled Anya forward out of the line and waited with her while Sandy and the others were led outside onto the transports. He sat her in an empty section, "Wait for the interrogator." The flow of staff continued, marched in front of her to the row of seats, bands placed on wrists, groups escorted to the transport.

She waited there for over an hour, occasionally she would see Quantum Collective staff talking to guards pointing her way. She truly wished them luck but knew care would suffer when it was needed the most. She leaned back, resting her head the best she could, and closed her eyes. The fading rhythm of footsteps marked the passage of time, each step a reminder of the dwindling operation.

"Fall out," she heard. The command jolted her awake. She looked up. Over the next ten minutes, she watched as the military left the hospital. The heavy vehicles outside were being started. Two guards remained in the room, looking over at her at times. The vehicles backed out of the emergency entrance and headed back the way they came.

As she felt the vibration of the engines against the windows and through the chairs, she remembered the size of the convoy that had rolled past the hospital. Her heart sank, 'Jo!'

Shortly, a small unmarked white transport arrived. When the emergency room doors opened she heard the caw of crows. She had heard them for a while now but they had sounded far away and distant. It was only when the doors opened that she recognized they must be just outside the door, but she couldn't see them. Two men in Veridian Center intelligence suits, formal with gold bands, surveyed the room. Anya was the only one present other than the two guards. One approached the guards, providing a holopad. The other approached Anya.

"Anya Solaris," he said firmly. "Follow me." The other man walked over with the two guards in tow.

"What is this all about? You have significantly impacted hospital operations," her concern was more than the strain of waiting and seeing her hard work being pulled apart. "Answer me!" her voice cracked.

"Ok, Miss Solaris, we need you to calm down now." The man said, his voice calm and professional. "We have been asked to take you to Veridian intelligence to question you about the collapse of the TruthGate."

"Oh my God—you’ve got to be kidding me!" Her voice rose, a mix of shock and anger breaking through her composure.

"Please, take a minute to calm yourself down if you need it but we have a schedule to keep," the man said.

Exasperated she pulled a deep breath then stood slowly. "I expect you to arrange for my AutoGen attorney."

The second man holding the holopad scanned her bracelet and showed it to the first man.

"No problem, Miss Solaris," he nodded back to the second before turning and walking back to the emergency room doors that opened. The crows were so loud, she thought. The guard waited for her to follow and took up behind her. As she exited and approached the transport, she finally saw the three large crows bobbing and cawing loudly in her direction.