Volume I — Arc 1 — Epoch I
Chapter 16 — Probation & Patrol
[Pulse 05:50:00 — Probation tick | Log: Gate retrain | Channel: public]
Aurelius: "Today we watch GK-12 train and watcher patrol the east lane. Show plan."
Aurelia: "Retrain must be plain, not show. Teach rule, not shame. Patrol must guard, not hunt."
Clerk (calm): [SCHEDULE — GK-12 Retrain | Mode: role review + anti-toll protocol | Tick span: 1] [WATCH — East lane patrol | Agents: watcher + clerk | Duration: 2 ticks] [ALERT LEVEL: moderate]
Mira: "I will run the retrain. Gate work is small duty but heavy cost if loose. We keep swift and kind."
Len: "I will help with role demo. Show do, do not preach."
GK-12 (soft): "I accept. I want to keep trust. I will do the steps."
Watcher (low): "Patrol will not bind hand. I watch, I mark, I report. If I find toll, I raise tally."
Aurelius stepped into the ribbon light like one who enters a clean room. Seeing felt like a job now — not a thrill but a duty. He kept his voice small. "Show closure on redress. Let Hela and GK-12 see work toward repair."
Mira set a bench near gate and began the lesson.
Mira: "First: what we may accept, and how we log it. Gate is for seal only. Signs of thanks must be passed to clerk as voluntary gift with witness token. If a gift looks like fee, clerk triage will run."
Clerk: [DEMO] Gift log step: gift offered → witness token (1+) → gate note → optional clerk transfer to charity ledger. If gift includes coin mention, clerk flags for trustee review.
GK-12 watched hands, repeated steps aloud, moved slowly. He practiced refusing sugar bread that a cook offered as thanks, then logged the offer with a witness mark. He placed the bread in a shared tray and wrote a note: "gift offered — not seal fee — witness: Mira."
Clerk: [ENTRY] GK-12 retrain log: refusal demo pass. Entry id: GK-R-05.
Hela sat close by, eyes on the gate keeper. She watched the retrain, small calm moving in her face.
Hela: "You did not close my pouch back then. I saw coin slip. I want to trust again."
GK-12: "I will show the clerk all moves from now. I will take no coin unknown. I ask time to mend trust."
Mira: "You will have time. You will also wear probation badge so folks see you are on watch. That is not shame; it is mark of care."
Clerk: [ISSUE] Badge: PROB-GK-12 → visible token for probation duration. Mode: public. Effect: extra clerk spot-checks.
Watcher moved the patrol like a quiet tide. He walked east lane with two small marks, eyes scanning for odd hand passes and for the faint pattern of hush transfers.
Watcher: "I mark touch and timing. Where coin moves in odd hush, I note. Tell me when you want me to call tally."
Len: "Call when two tokens or a trustee flag come in. We do not hunt on rumor."
Watcher: "I will call with traces, not whispers."
A trader came past with a sack and quick talk.
Trader: "My stalls want to know if pre-register will slow caravans. We want seal speed, not more snares."
Aurelia: "Pre-register is a route to speed. Use clerk pre-file to get a fast pass. Gate must not keep coin. Gate only stamps route."
Clerk: [ACTION] Pre-file use spike: tutorial scheduled for merchants. Gate quick-pass mode: active for pre-registered caravans.
Sarn, who kept Hearthhum, strolled up with a small jar of oats. He handed the jar to the shared tray by the gate.
Sarn: "I give food to table. If bread feeds bellies, let gift go to child who needs it."
Hela watched Sarn's hand and smiled faint. She touched her pouch but did not hand coin back. The public moment shifted like a small stitch.
Clerk: [ENTRY] Community gift: gate tray +0.01 trust bump noted. Hela note: received restitution; watch pending.
Aurelius felt that the thing law made most was small social acts that might have otherwise not happened: public refusal, public gift, public witness. Law took life and turned it into ritual.
Mira ran a written drill for GK-12: hypothetical calls, how to log a gift, how to use a witness token, how to call for trustee help if unsure. She tested GK-12 with a tricky mimic: a hooded hand that slips a coin and says "for quick work." GK-12 paused, called for witness, and gave the coin to clerk chest with note "gift — clerk hold — trustee review possible."
Clerk: [EVIDENCE] GK-12 test: pass. Entry id: GK-R-05.1. Note: proper hand-off protocol used. Flag: public note.
Aurelia: "Training that fixes habit must add habit checks. Trial is not enough; habit must form."
Clerk: [SET] GK-12 extra check: daily echo audit for probation span; if three clean days, probation shorten by 2 ticks. If fail, escalate.
GK-12: "I will do tally and show each time."
Watcher continued patrol. He paused by the east stall where earlier bribery attempt was logged. He found a man, quick face, watching market flow.
Watcher: "You tried coin for token once. I note your presence. How goes your shop?"
Quick face (quiet): "I mend. I do not wish trouble."
Watcher: "Keep hands clean. I will watch for two ticks."
Clerk: [LOG] Watcher patrol note: east stall flagged for observation ×2 ticks.
Aurelius took a step away from action and spoke low to Aurelia.
Aurelius: "Did we make too many small rules? Are we making life hard?"
Aurelia: "Rules are paths, not walls. The aim is not to trap breath but to shape habit. You worry that law will eat joy."
Aurelius: "I do. I see people do more ledger than market. I fear ledger grows into weight."
Aurelia: "Then teach that ledger is tool. Teach fast. Let town meet rule with craft, not pen. We write law that makes work lighter, not heavier. You shape that."
Aurelius felt both calm and a prick. He watched GK-12 practice again and felt the small craft of habit happen. The clerk's spot-checks kept a steady drum. The watcher's quiet presence kept a thin net. The town moved, awkward and careful.
Mid-tick a trader sent a note: Lampfold trial shows better sales; border map hold ok; trader asks to expand to two more posts under trial.
Clerk: [CHECK] Lampfold trial: heat index now 0.05 at posts; trader compliance: paid levy; Mira escrow still hold. Action: allow two more posts for trial if border pass & trader deposit increase by escrow ×2 (per new post) to cover upkeep. Vote: trustee quick call.
Aurelius: "Let the trial grow slow. We will not risk Hearthhum again."
Mira: "Require proof of map for new posts. Trader must show border and owner training done for those neighborhoods."
Clerk: [ACTION] Trader expansion approved pending border pass. Escrow ledger updated: trader deposit increased. Trial posts → 2 extra allowed on border pass.
Sarn, watching this, tapped Aurelius.
Sarn: "We mend hearth. I feed spark on time now. The ring is steady in my chest."
Aurelius: "Good. Your care helped many."
Sarn: "We all watch each other small. That is new."
The tick closed with a clerk snapshot.
Clerk: [COMMIT] Snapshot 05:51:12 — Entries: GK-12 retrain pass; Probation badge issued; Watcher patrol active; East stall monitor flag; Lampfold expansion pending; Fund update: 864 sparks; Gate tray gift logged; Probation audit rules set.
Aurelius: He felt the rule like a bone set — painful at first, but firm and likely to heal straight. There is a strange comfort in method.
Aurelia: "You watch the Spiral grow and you fear its teeth. That fear is wise. Keep the clerk honest, keep the teach near. Rule without teach hardens. Teach without rule frays. Find the knit."
Clerk: [NOTICE] Small note: positive public move — GK-12 refused bread in public and placed bread on tray for child. Trust bump: +0.02 recorded.
Aurelius: He smiled at that small public act and felt, for a breath, that law can lead to gentleness. He looked at the watcher and saw not a spy but a guard who plants small flags.
Aurelius: "Tomorrow we will run gate tutorial at town hall and run one more patrol at dusk."
Aurelia: "And tomorrow we will check fund drift and token use. Keep the net but keep hands gentle."
Post-Law Reflection: Probation is mercy with circuit. It is not cage but craft: a badge that makes one honest by view, daily audit that heals habits, and public acts that rebuild trust. Patrol is not hunt; it is small watch that makes slip visible early. Law must pair rule with teach and redress so people learn to use the tool, not fear it. The Spiral wants loops that hold and hands that tend. A town that trains and patrols with kindness will bend before it breaks.