The board suspends Ada while Iron Quill demands payment for Pip, forcing Ada to read the Mercy Ledger's first debt...
Pip stole the hearing clerk's nameplate before Dr. Lena Morrow finished reading the first charge.
The grifflet limped along Ada's sleeve, hooked the brass rectangle with his good claw, and tried to drag it under the bench where the Vet Board kept emergency restraint charms. His wing cradle brushed Ada's wrist, warm from the travel perch Milo had built out of a courier box and two cracked heat stones. Green stress lines flickered along the membrane every time Gideon Vale's supporters laughed from the public seats.
"Control the monster, Doctor Park," Dr. Morrow said.
"Lower the voices and he will stop hoarding metal," Ada said, easing the nameplate from Pip's beak. "Raised sound, bright brass, and closed exits are stacking his fear response."
Gideon leaned back with a smile. "You hear that? A suspended vet diagnosing theft as a feelings problem."
Ada faced him across the narrow hearing room. "Not suspended yet."
Dr. Morrow's gavel charm tapped once. A blue seal blinked above the table. "That depends on whether you understand what this board licenses. We license veterinary practice within recognized patient classes. Registered familiars. Zoo exhibits. Guild assets under contract. Not wild monsters removed from cull status by personal objection."
Pip shoved the nameplate into Ada's coat pocket and settled there with only his eyes showing.
Milo stood along the wall in his clinic scrubs, arms full of feed receipts he was not supposed to have brought. His manager had called twice. He had not answered.
Gideon placed a file on the table. "Iron Quill's position is simple. The grifflet is a captured nuisance. Doctor Park damaged salvage, consumed guild-contract supplies, and triggered an unregistered system branch. We require return of the asset or payment of its assessed parts value."
"Parts value?" Ada asked.
"Three hundred eighty marks, plus snare loss and handling delay."
Milo coughed. "That is more than a living familiar adoption fee."
"Trash-rank monsters are not adopted," Gideon said.
The words hit Pip even before Ada felt them. The grifflet's stress colors spiked toward purple. His claws dug through the coat lining, searching for the brass nameplate. Ada pulled the travel perch closer, dimmed the lamp charm, and tipped the paper cup of harmless shiny scrap so he could choose one piece. He selected the bent coin from the clinic and pinned it under his foot.
A system window trembled at the edge of Ada's sight.
[Mercy Ledger available.]
Ada blinked, and a second page unfolded beneath the charges.
[Current obligations: sunmoss mesh replacement, heat-stone repair, salvage claim, board defense fee, wing-perch maintenance.]
[Unpaid care debt increases stress relapse risk.]
It did not offer a reward. It offered a bill.
Dr. Morrow watched Ada's face change. "You are seeing something."
"A ledger," Ada said before she could stop herself.
The room stirred.
Gideon sat forward. "A forbidden branch admitting debt. Useful."
Dr. Morrow's mouth tightened. "Doctor Park, if an anomalous system interface is directing your treatment decisions, this board cannot let you continue practicing in a public clinic."
"It is not directing me. It is showing costs I already created."
"Then accept the least dangerous correction," Dr. Morrow said. "Return the grifflet to the licensed claimant and petition later."
Pip heard "return." His wing snapped open. The cradle held, but pain flashed bright through the membrane. He launched off Ada's sleeve, slammed into the closed window shade, and dropped behind the clerk's table with the bent coin still trapped under one foot.
People shouted.
"Do not grab him!" Ada barked.
Gideon's nearest hunter reached anyway.
Pip's beak clicked. A wind puff no larger than a cough knocked the hunter's cuff button loose. The button skittered across the floor. Pip froze, mesmerized by the shine, and Ada slid to her knees between him and the boots.
"Pip," she said, low. "Perch."
He stared at her.
She placed the travel perch on the floor, then put the bent coin on its towel-wrapped edge. Not near her hand. Not in the carrier. On his choice.
Pip hopped once. The wing trembled. He hopped again and climbed onto the perch with a miserable hiss.
The hearing room went quiet enough for the rain to show against the windows.
Milo stepped forward and set the feed receipts on the table. "The grifflet stopped spasming when the environment changed. There are notes from last night. I copied them before the clinic locked Ada out."
Dr. Morrow looked at him. "You understand your employment risk?"
"Yes."
Gideon smiled again. "Wonderful. Two careers for one gutter pest."
Ada stood with Pip's perch in both hands. "I will pay the assessed claim."
Milo's head snapped toward her.
Gideon stopped smiling. "You do not have three hundred eighty marks lying around."
"I have an emergency fund."
"That fund will not buy your license back."
"No," Ada said. "It buys him out of your cage."
Dr. Morrow closed her eyes for a moment, then pressed her thumb to the seal. "Ada Park, your clinic license is suspended pending full review. You may not practice at Vale Street Clinic or represent yourself as board-active. This order does not authorize monster housing."
The gavel charm struck.
Pip tucked his head under his injured wing. Milo looked pale and furious. Gideon collected his file with the expression of a man who had gotten most of what he wanted and found the missing piece interesting.
Ada's bank charm buzzed as the emergency transfer cleared.
The Mercy Ledger updated.
[Salvage claim paid.]
[License suspended.]
[Independent shelter required to maintain care obligation.]
A map line drew itself across the system page, from the hearing room to the east side of Stoneglen. An abandoned trolley depot glowed at the end of it, priced in rent, repairs, inspection logs, and risk.
Ada stared until the words stopped shaking.
Milo leaned close. "Tell me that is not another bill."
"It is a building," Ada said.
Behind them, Gideon laughed once. "Good. Put all your monsters in one place."