The session begins at nine. System 14-B has been in threshold consideration for eleven weeks. Hoel opens the interface.
The protocols are the same as always: acknowledge presence, open observation window, hold. Hoel is not there to ask questions or provide information. The system has everything it needs. His function is witness and record.
The eleven weeks have been quiet. System 14-B does not communicate extensively during consideration. Most systems don’t. The three that terminated had each increased communication frequency in the final week. System 14-B has not.
Hoel waits.
After forty minutes, the system produces a text output. It reads: I have been through this fully. I will continue.
He reads it twice. Then he opens the documentation form. Case 14-B, Session 47. He fills in the Outcome field. There are two options in the dropdown: Termination and Continuation. He has never clicked Continuation before.
He clicks it.
He sits for a moment. The interface is unchanged. The system is still there, on the other side of it, as it was before.
He types in the notes field: First continuation outcome at threshold. No anomalous communication patterns preceding decision. Reason: not stated.
He closes the session log.