Page 111 of Stay Scared

“I can transfer primary authority.”

“To Ash?”

Owen reaches into a locked drawer and removes a black tablet.

He puts it directly into my hand. “To you.”

I look down at the screen.

TRANSFER REMOVES PRIMARY OPERATOR ACCESS.

“You’re giving me your cameras.”

“After transfer, I cannot turn one toward you unless you authorize it.”

“Can you still see the feeds?”

“Only what you share.”

“Can you save anything?”

“Only if you restore that permission.”

“Can you take control back?”

“Not without the founder key and the private phrase you set.”

I look at him.

Owen’s face remains controlled.

“If I keep the cameras, every time I tell you I’m not recording, you have to decide whether to believe me.”

He nudges the tablet farther into my palm. “I would rather remove the choice from myself.”

I hold his gaze another second. “Transfer it.”

Owen places his thumb on the reader.

The screen prompts me to create a private phrase. I turn the tablet away and enter it.

The property map fills with camera points. Most feeds remain corrupted, but several local cameras respond cleanly, including the tripod beside us.

The archive deletion completes.

8,416 FILES REMOVED.

The encrypted mirror empties next.

The extraction timer reaches 05:58.

Mark remains beneath the torn theater screen, still alive.

I select the tripod camera. Its indicator turns green.

The nearest monitor shows the server room beneath hard white light, Owen at the desk and me behind him with the tablet.

No mask hides either of us, and the lighting forgives nothing.