Page 153 - TruthAboutLyingFinalAmazon17

Nicholas Boothman
"Then we stop," Bailey Matthews said. "We just stop."
It should have ended there. It would have ended there, in
a world of lies. But the Mandate was absolute.
Volkov looked down at his own wrist monitor. It was
flashing red.
"I cannot turn them around," Volkov whispered, horror
dawning on his face.
"Why not? We just agreed!"
"Because I stated my intent," Volkov said, tears filling his
eyes. "The Mandate recorded my threat: 'If you intervene, I
will strike.' You have intervened. If I do not strike, I am a liar.
And the system... the system does not allow liars to hold the
codes."
On the screen, Volkov's hands were shaking as they
hovered over his console. He was fighting it. He was fighting
for his life. But the override was stronger. The truth
demanded consistency.
"I have to do it," Volkov choked out. "The logic is
absolute. I am sorry."
The apology was cut short by the Vagus Hammer. On the
global broadcast, Premier Volkov’s body suddenly arched,
his spine snapping taut as the V-7 Veritas Patch detected the
lethal delta between his stated intent to strike and his primal
instinct for survival. It wasn't logic or diplomacy that
stopped his hand; it was a Level 3 Truth Heave.
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