Chapter 10 - THE WOMAN WHO CLICKED DISCHARGE
Her name was Staff Sergeant Leah Moreno.
She requested a representative before speaking.
Good.
She worked central military working-dog medical administration.
Thirty-one.
Seven years in.
No record of misconduct.
She cried before the interview started.
Not because she wanted sympathy.
Because she already knew why we were there.
“I discharged Atlas.”
Under Rex's identity.
She did not deny it.
The shared account existed because a software migration had broken individual discharge permissions for three regional clerks.
Their supervisor told them to use the legacy account temporarily.
Temporary lasted fourteen months.
Leah received the Atlas file.
Name:
Rex.
Handler:
Cole.
Narrative:
Atlas.
She noticed.
She emailed the German unit.
No immediate response.
She checked the command note.
Hold identity correction until Green Banner closes.
So she assumed:
The animal identity was temporarily frozen intentionally.
She processed the medical discharge from Halstead to contracted rehab under the existing record so the dog would not lose a bed.
“Why didn't you stop?”
the investigator asked.
“Because Atlas needed to move.”
“Why not create a new record?”
“That would duplicate billing and medical custody.”
“Why not call the handler?”
She looked at me.
“The system said Carter was handler.”
“Did you call me?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because command note said identity correction pending.”
There.
Another person choosing workflow over obvious contradiction.
Leah did not know Atlas's real handler was Tyler.
She did not know Rex was inbound injured.
She thought she was preserving continuity until command cleaned up the record.
Then why did the discharge say:
Handler declined continued inpatient rehab?
Template.
Required field.
She selected the closest available option because the receiving site was a contracted kennel rather than hospital inpatient.
“That field was false.”
“Yes.”
“Did you know it was false?”
She swallowed.
“I knew no handler had spoken to me.”
There.
Specific responsibility.
Leah received a formal administrative investigation.
She was removed from independent discharge processing while it ran.
No instant discharge from the Army.
No prison.
No dramatic villain label.
She had made a serious records decision inside a system that rewarded completion.
Then she said:
“I wasn't the only person using Regional Vet Admin 2.”
“How many?”
“Four.”
“Can logs separate you?”
“Some.”
“And the Rex record?”
“My workstation.”
Main mystery solved.
Mostly.
Then the investigator asked:
“Who used the same account at 02:11 the night before Atlas was injured?”
Leah frowned.
“What transaction?”
A record access.
Rex's profile.
No edit.
Just opened.
Then Atlas's profile.
Then Lane Six veterinary restriction records.
Somebody had looked at all three before the first injury.
The shared account prevented immediate attribution.
Vale stared at the log.
Mason's hold message came the following afternoon.
This access came almost thirty-six hours earlier.
May you like
Before there was any wrong medevac entry to fix.
Someone had been looking at Rex, Atlas and Lane Six before either dog got hurt.
