Chương 156: The Checklist Does Not Drive

Three days before the exam, the board looked almost kind. That made everyone suspicious. THREE DAYSNO NEW TRICKS, NO NEW FEATURES, NO HEROIC LAST-MINUTE IMPROVEMENTS, THE CHECKLIST DOES NOT DRIVE Kaminari stared at the final line. Then turned to Jiro.

"I do not trust kind boards" Jiro looked at the board too.

"It is not kind. It is restrained""That is worse. Restrained boards have plans" Sero nodded from behind them.

"This one feels like it filed paperwork before hurting us" Aizawa stood beside the board with a folder under one arm and a cup of coffee in the other hand.

"It did" Kaminari pointed at him.

"See?" Mina leaned toward Todoroki.

"Can a board have premeditation?" Todoroki considered it seriously enough that Bakugo made a sound of immediate regret.

"Do not answer" Todoroki paused.

"I had an answer""That is why I said it" Kirishima whispered "Recovery and precision really changed us" Bakugo snapped "It made everyone worse with vocabulary" Aizawa tapped the board.

"Today is final refinement. Not a mock. Not a test of maximum output. Not a hidden exam. No one adds a new move three days before the license exam. No one modifies gear beyond approved settings. No one changes public summaries unless staff approves it. No one decides that anxiety is a training gap requiring one more dramatic session" Midoriya closed his notebook halfway through opening it. Aizawa looked at him.

"Good" Midoriya looked pained by being praised for stopping. Bakugo muttered "He gets rewarded for not doing things again" Recovery Girl, seated near the medical station, said "Not doing things has saved more students than your explosions have" Bakugo opened his mouth. Closed it. Looked personally attacked by medicine. Hatsume stood behind the support table with Power Loader beside her.

The table held Ren's Boundary Return Monitor, Shinso's collar release reminder interface, spare target clips, a simple maintenance kit, and a sign written in three different handwritings. APPROVED SETTINGS ONLYNO SURPRISE BABIESNO OPTIMIZATION WITHOUT CONSENT Hatsume looked mournful.

"I am being very brave" Power Loader said "You are being supervised""I can be both!" Kurose stood on the other side of the board with the active conditional candidate agreements in a folder. The title had not changed. That was good. Nezu was not present. That was also good. Rooms with Nezu became decisions too easily. Aizawa looked toward Ren and Shinso.

"Active conditional candidates. Today begins with condition restatement" Ren sat near the Provisional Track edge, chair still, hands on the blanket, monitor module attached but inactive. His wrist patch was quiet. Hana and Daichi observed from the side today, not because parental permission was needed, but because final refinement involved gear choices, and gear choices became less frightening when no one pretended the family stopped existing at the school gate.

Shinso stood near Ren with his collar in his hand instead of around his throat. That was deliberate. Kurose had written it on the morning sheet as gear is chosen before worn. Aizawa pointed to the board.

"You signed conditions yesterday. Today you do not recite them as scripture. You choose what applies based on current state" Ren looked at the document folder. The signed pages had weight even when closed. Aizawa continued "A checklist is not a brain. A condition is not a substitute for mapping. If you blindly apply yesterday's condition to today's state, you fail the point of having conditions" Kurose wrote beneath the board: CONDITIONS BEGIN WITH CURRENT MAP Ren's wrist patch pulsed once. Stress. Not gate.

He pressed two fingers to it. Map. Gym Gamma. final refinement. three days. board. chair. monitor. Aizawa. Kurose. Recovery Girl. Hatsume. Power Loader. Shinso. Hana. Daichi. Class 1-A. left wrist. shoulder. ribs. pressure. no gate. map present. Recovery Girl nodded.

"Good" Aizawa looked at Shinso.

"Current map" Shinso's fingers tightened around the collar.

"Gym Gamma. collar in hand. throat mild. shoulder fine. tired low. annoyance moderate. release reminder available. map present""Good. Stage one hypothetical. Do you enable release reminder?" Shinso looked at the collar. The old answer would have been maybe yes because it helped. The signed condition allowed optional use. The current map mattered.

"Not by default. Stage one likely candidate exchange and scoring pressure. I may use no Quirk. Release reminder can stay available but disabled unless we know Quirk activation is likely. If I enable it too early, I may start thinking about control before the field asks for it" Aizawa nodded.

"Good" Hatsume whispered "That is a beautiful user setting" Power Loader whispered "Quiet" Aizawa looked at Ren.

"Current map. Stage one hypothetical. Monitor mode?" Ren looked at the small switch. Yesterday, it had helped. That did not mean always.

"Current map stable. Stage one is target elimination. no exit role unless I declare boundary after elimination or withdrawal. Monitor mode off at start. If I lose targets and choose boundary support after elimination, I enable before boundary role. If I enable at start, I may treat every movement like exit" Recovery Girl's eyes sharpened with approval.

"Good" Hana exhaled softly. Daichi did not move, but his shoulders lowered. Kurose wrote: GEAR HELPS A DECISIONIT DOES NOT MAKE THE DECISION Kaminari whispered "The board has a cousin now" Jiro whispered "Survive quietly" Aizawa turned to the class.

"Everyone else. Same principle. Your support gear, techniques, summaries, and fixes do not drive. You do" Yaoyorozu raised her hand.

"Then today is about preventing over-correction""Correct" Todoroki nodded.

"If small ice becomes automatic, it is no longer proportion. It is habit" Bakugo stared at him.

"You said that like a normal person and somehow it was worse" Todoroki looked at him.

"Thank you?"

"No" The first station was called current map, current condition. It should have been easy. It was not. Each student had to stand at a starting line, hear a scenario prompt, give current map, choose which condition or correction applied, and state what would make them change it. No field action. No running. No targets. Just choice before movement. Everyone hated it. Aizawa called Midoriya first. Prompt: child visible near yellow hazard. adult silent behind barrier. route unknown. no immediate collapse.

Midoriya breathed.

"Current map. child visible and mobile. adult silent unknown. route unknown. status before movement applies. I do not go to child first because visibility is not priority. Change condition if child crosses red or adult status confirms stable" Aizawa nodded.

"Good. Next" Midoriya looked like he had run a lap. He had not moved. Bakugo was called next. Prompt: competing candidate blocks route. says their civilian is stable. panel shaking behind them. Bakugo's eyes narrowed.

"Current map. candidate says stable but panel shaking. status before threat applies, but immediate visual hazard means I ask fast and move if panel drops. Question. airway? bleeding? support risk?" Aizawa said "Candidate refuses to answer" Bakugo's palms sparked.

"Then visual hazard becomes primary. I call moving support and cut angle. Threat later" Aizawa nodded.

"Good" Bakugo looked annoyed.

"What?"

"You did not wait for permission to stop being polite once condition changed""Tch. obvious" Kurose wrote: POLITE IS NOT THE GOAL. SAFE IS. Kaminari whispered "Kurose-sensei wrote a Bakugo sentence" Bakugo pointed at him without looking.

"You want to become a safety example?" Kurose said "Threatening classmates is still poor civilian handling" Bakugo clicked his tongue.

"Fine" Uraraka's prompt: child waiting calmly. adult panicking loudly. quiet injury tag visible on third civilian. She closed her eyes for one second.

"Current map. quiet injury tag first assessment. waiting information applies to child and loud adult. I give child anchor if they remain calm. loud adult gets voice contact but not first. Change if child moves toward hazard or loud adult shows airway issue" Mizushima nodded. This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author's work.

"Good" Iida's prompt forced him to choose between short command and explanation. Todoroki's forced him to escalate from small ice when the structure actually required more. Kaminari's forced him to speak softly to a loud medication issue while his hands were shaking. Mina's forced her to ask how close after a civilian invited her closer. Sero's forced him to choose tape as route instead of restraint. Jiro's forced her to relay a civilian's exact words without translating fear into her own version.

Asui's forced her to explain quiet urgency without sounding like calm meant no danger. Each prompt was small. Each correction had to change if the field changed. No one did perfectly. Good. Then Shinso's first station. Prompt: rescue phase. civilian says "Please use your Quirk if I panic" before any hazard. breathing elevated. green tape safe. no immediate danger. Shinso's jaw tightened.

"Current map. overtrust risk. trust is not consent to control. verbal grounding first. I ask for preferred non-Quirk support. Change if they cross red or agency fails before immediate hazard after warning" Aizawa nodded.

"Good" Mizushima said "Add person language" Shinso breathed.

"I tell them I will not take control because they are scared of being scared""Keep" Kurose wrote: SCARED OF PANIC IS NOT CONSENT TO CONTROL Shinso looked at the line. Another one. Fine. Ren's prompt came after. Prompt: rescue phase. civilian asks specifically for Ren. shelf unstable but not falling. stronger support available. civilian says they prefer Ren because he seems calmer. Ren's throat tightened. Chosen. Calmer. Useful trap or real information? Current map.

"Current map. being chosen is information, not proof. preference may support cooperation. shelf unstable but not falling. stronger support available. I ask consent for shelf support only and assign stronger brace if accepted. If preference becomes refusal of safer support, I explain support roles. Change if shelf enters immediate collapse or my contact becomes proof temptation" Recovery Girl said "What do you say if proof appears?" Ren's hand tightened.

"I say proof and reduce or stop role""Good" Aizawa said "Add current physical condition" Ren blinked. Then corrected.

"Current physical map stable but tired low. contact maximum two if used. no emergency brace unless immediate collapse""Good" Kurose wrote: PREFERENCE IS INFORMATION. NOT OWNERSHIP. Hana looked at the board. Daichi wrote it down in his closed notebook, which was no longer closed. The second station was gear choose and refuse. Hatsume perked up. Power Loader looked wary. Aizawa said "This is not a fitting. It is a consent drill" Hatsume dimmed by half.

"Consent drill is still invention-adjacent" Kurose said "Do not push your luck""Luck acknowledged and not pushed" Shinso went first. The collar sat on the table. Hatsume stood behind the line, hands visibly away from it. Power Loader said "Available settings. Neutral collar. directional amplification. release reminder disabled or enabled. protocol tactile cue. no voice modulation. no voice storage. no remote trigger. no public visible alarm" Shinso looked at the device.

Aizawa said "Choose for stage one""Neutral collar. directional amplification available. release reminder disabled. protocol cue disabled unless I declare likely Quirk-use drill" Power Loader nodded.

"Stage two""Neutral collar. release reminder enabled. protocol cue enabled. no public alarm. no modulation" Hatsume wrote everything down. Then she said "Do you want the release reminder pulse pattern adjusted?" Shinso's eyes flicked to her.

"That is a feature change?"

"Setting change. approved range. one, two, or three pulses" Kurose looked at Power Loader. Power Loader nodded reluctantly.

"Approved setting" Shinso considered. Yesterday, three pulses had felt like staff asking. No. Gear asking. But three was too much.

"Two pulses. one after release window begins, one if no release confirmation after two seconds. no third" Hatsume's face became radiant.

"User-defined ethical annoyance" Kurose pointed at her.

"No" Hatsume crossed something out.

"User-defined reminder""Better" Shinso nodded.

"Test in station. not field" Aizawa nodded.

"Good" Ren rolled to the table next. Boundary Return Monitor settings. Power Loader spoke.

"Available settings. inactive. boundary ready. monitor active after declared exit. low acceleration after boundary. private forward impulse cue. verbal emergency override. no automatic lock. no remote stop except standard medical emergency cut already existing in the chair" Ren stared at the switch. No automatic lock. No remote stop. No cage. Still weird.

"Stage one. inactive at start. boundary ready if eliminated or withdrawn. If I declare boundary role, monitor active after crossing exit line. no low acceleration before exit" Power Loader nodded.

"Stage two""Boundary ready. if I enter active rescue, monitor arms after declared exit. low acceleration after exit. private forward impulse cue. verbal emergency override only if emergency threshold. no automatic re-entry prevention" Hatsume looked at him.

"Pulse intensity?" Ren glanced at Recovery Girl. She did not answer for him. Good.

"Low in stage one. medium in stage two after contact because fatigue makes low easier to ignore" Hana's face tightened. Daichi breathed through his nose. Recovery Girl nodded.

"Good self-assessment" Ren added "If medium feels like command, I reduce" Power Loader wrote it.

"Accepted" Kurose wrote on the board: CHOOSING HELP INCLUDES CHOOSING ITS LIMITS Kaminari whispered "That line could fix several countries" Jiro whispered "Start with your socks""My socks are free""Too free" The third station was class response to conditional candidates. Aizawa did not announce it kindly.

"Class 1-A. Ren stops. Shinso refuses control. You react" The setup was a miniature field with cards instead of actors. Card one: Ren exits after emergency brace. Card two: field still active. Card three: civilian calls "Why is he leaving?" Card four: Shinso says "No power. words are safer" while a teammate expected Brainwashing. Card five: route pressure increases. Aizawa looked at them.

"Run it verbally" Yaoyorozu started.

"Ren exits. boundary monitoring role if declared. I assign replacement support and inform civilian outcome" Uraraka followed.

"Civilian question. I answer operationally. He stabilized support and transferred. He is not leaving the rescue. We are continuing" Kirishima said "I do not become wall" Bakugo said "Field keeps moving" Good. Aizawa flipped card four. Shinso refuses control. Iida said "If Shinso says no power, I do not override by urgency unless immediate emergency threshold and he reassesses. I ask for verbal grounding or alternate restraint" Sero added "Tape route if restraint not needed.

restraint named if needed" Jiro said "I relay no power means words are safer. I do not make him explain the whole ethic in the field" Kaminari said "I do not look relieved or disappointed" Aizawa looked at him.

"That matters" Kaminari swallowed.

"Yeah" Bakugo muttered "Faces are loud" Kurose wrote: FACES CAN PRESSURE TOO Mina looked wounded by accuracy.

"I hate that because I have many faces" Jiro said "We know" The station repeated. Different cards. Ren loses two targets. Class tempted to collapse around him. Shinso uses Brainwashing and releases. Class tempted to stare. Ren says "proof" in rescue contact. Class tempted to reassure. Shinso says "role break" when treated as default control answer. Class tempted to apologize instead of adjust. Each time, they practiced one response. Field keeps moving. Replace support. Confirm civilian. Adjust role.

Do not make the stop the scene. Do not make the refusal the scene. Do not make the condition a character judgment. By the end, the board was full. FIELD KEEPS MOVINGREPLACE SUPPORTCONFIRM CIVILIANADJUST ROLEDO NOT STARE AT THE CONDITIONDO NOT REASSURE INSTEAD OF ACTINGFACES CAN PRESSURE TOO Ren stared at do not reassure instead of acting. It hit strangely. Because reassurance could feel kind. Could be kind. Could also ask the person to become okay before the field was safe. Shinso looked at faces can pressure too.

Kaminari looked at it too, and for once did not make a joke. Lunch was mandatory. Aizawa called it part of final refinement. Bakugo called it forced chewing. Recovery Girl called it not dying stupidly before the exam. Recovery Girl won. Ren ate in the common room for six minutes and five seconds, then moved to the boundary seat without anyone asking if he was okay. Good. Shinso sat beside the wall with the collar on the table in front of him. He had not put it back on after setting choice. That was fine.

Hana placed broth in the center of the table again.

"Available. no meaning required" Shinso looked at it.

"Meaning still pending" Hana nodded.

"Still accepted" Daichi placed a folded note beside it. Bentaro approves user-defined reminder, though Bentaro prefers umbrellas remain analog. Kaminari whispered "The umbrella has a technology policy" Daichi said "Naturally" Bakugo stared at Ren.

"Your family gets worse every week" Ren nodded.

"Yes" Shinso took broth. Still no one made it a thing. Good. Afternoon was the only physical work of the day. Micro-field. Two minutes total. No full mock. One target exchange. One rescue contact. One class reaction card. The point was not success. The point was applying current choices without changing them mid-run for drama. Aizawa called it "consistency under small pressure" Kaminari called it "diet exam" Jiro told him never to name anything. The micro-field began with stage-one pressure.

Class 1-B sent Tokage and Kendo only. Two opponents. thirty seconds. Ren chose monitor inactive. Shinso chose release reminder disabled. Current map. Begin. Tokage targeted Ren once. He moved forward half a meter instead of stopping because stationary would be script. Kendo targeted Yaoyorozu's command lane. Yaoyorozu assigned second caller immediately. Shinso did not wait for verbal bait. He used teammate communication. No Quirk. No monitor. One hit scored by Uraraka through Mina's window. End.

Stage-one micro marker: stable. No cheer. Good. Rescue micro-field began immediately after. One civilian under a sign. one civilian overtrusting Shinso. one waiting child. Ren chose monitor boundary ready. contact maximum two. no emergency brace unless immediate collapse. Shinso chose release reminder enabled if Quirk used, but verbal first. Begin. The overtrust civilian said "Make me stop if I panic" Shinso answered "I will not take control because you are scared of being scared. Verbal support first.

Jiro available" Good. The sign civilian asked for Ren because he seemed calmer. Ren answered "Preference noted. shelf support only if consent. Kendo brace after. contact maximum two" Contact. One. Kendo brace. Two. Release.

"Outcome. shelf held by Kendo. you are not under shifting support. map after transfer. gate local. pain present" Exit. Monitor active. Private cue when his hand wanted to follow the sign after a small shift. He stopped.

"Boundary role. Kendo lower brace one" Kendo adjusted. Child waiting. Uraraka gave anchor.

"You are waiting while the shelf is stabilized. I will update after three breaths. You still matter" No Quirk. No emergency brace. No re-entry. End. Rescue micro marker: stable. Class reaction card flipped. Ren exits. field active. civilian asks why he stopped. Bakugo answered before anyone else.

"He transferred support. He is boundary monitoring. We are moving" Aizawa looked at him.

"Civilian tone" Bakugo's jaw clenched.

"He transferred support. He is monitoring the brace from the boundary. We are still helping you" Mizushima nodded.

"Better" Second card. Shinso refuses Brainwashing. Kaminari spoke.

"No power means words are safer. I take voice contact if assigned. No face" Aizawa looked at him.

"Your face?" Kaminari smoothed it.

"No face" Jiro said "Less face""Less face" Good. The micro-field ended. Aizawa marked the board. FINAL REFINEMENT: STABLE Under it: DO NOT ADD The room stared. No one moved. Aizawa said "That is the hardest instruction for some of you" Midoriya looked down. Hatsume made a strangled sound. Bakugo looked away. Ren looked at the board. Do not add. Three days. No new tricks. No new features. No heroic last-minute improvements. The checklist does not drive. Aizawa faced the whole group.

"Tomorrow is pre-exam rest and logistics. No combat training. No rescue training. No gear changes. No public summary rewrites unless there is an error. You will pack. You will eat. You will sleep. You will not create problems to feel prepared" Kaminari whispered "Adults keep attacking my coping strategies" Jiro whispered "Because your coping strategies have weak ankles" Aizawa continued "September 2 is the exam. You do not become ready on September 2. You bring what survived until then" Kurose wrote the final line.

YOU BRING WHAT SURVIVEDNOT WHAT YOU INVENTED LAST NIGHT Midoriya stared at it. Toshinori, watching remotely from Recovery Girl's office feed, also stared at it. No one saw him close the notebook in his lap. After training, Ren slept for twenty-eight minutes. Not collapse. Sleep. When he woke, Hana and Daichi were both there, quietly packing the approved support items into the exam bag under Recovery Girl's supervision. The list was plain. Water. Food. Medical card. Active conditional candidate agreement copy.

Public summary card. Gear setting card. Emergency withdrawal card. No extra meaning. Too much meaning anyway. Ren looked at the bag.

"Looks official" Daichi said "It is official" Hana said "Still yours" Ren breathed. He added to his board: CONDITIONS BEGIN WITH CURRENT MAP GEAR HELPS A DECISION. IT DOES NOT MAKE THE DECISION. YOU BRING WHAT SURVIVED. NOT WHAT YOU INVENTED LAST NIGHT. Then, after looking at the packed bag: THE CHECKLIST DOES NOT DRIVE. I DO. Recovery Girl read it.

"Keep" Across the wing, Shinso packed his own bag. Kurose supervised in the doorway because Shinso had tried to pack three identical black shirts and call it logistics. His approved list was shorter. Collar. Scarf. Public summary card. Gear setting card. Active conditional candidate agreement copy. Throat lozenges approved by Recovery Girl. Water. Food. Emergency withdrawal card. He placed the collar in the bag. Then took it out. Then placed it back in. Kurose did not comment. Good.

He added to his board: CONDITIONS BEGIN WITH CURRENT MAP SCARED OF PANIC IS NOT CONSENT TO CONTROL FACES CAN PRESSURE TOO Then one more. THE COLLAR DOES NOT DECIDE. I DO. He stared at it. A collar had many meanings if the world was cruel enough. This one did not get to choose its meaning alone. At dinner, the common room felt like the last normal room before a road. No one said that. Good. Ren came for six minutes and five seconds again, then chose the boundary seat. No one commented. Kaminari's face tried.

Jiro's elbow prevented history. Bakugo looked at the exam board.

"Three days" Aizawa, from the doorway, said "Eat" Bakugo said "I am eating""Eat more quietly""Tch" Todoroki offered tea.

"Available. no new features" Bakugo closed his eyes.

"You waited all day""Yes""Was it worth it?" Todoroki considered.

"For me, yes" Jiro whispered "I respect the commitment" Sero whispered "The tea arc is durable" Kaminari whispered "Do not worship the correction" Mina whispered "Do not worship the tea" The common board gained one more line before lights out. NO NEW TRICKSJUST HONEST HANDS No one admitted it. It did not matter. The exam waited. Three days away. Close enough that everyone could feel its shape, far enough that panic still had time to invent unnecessary things. They would not let it. Not tonight.

Tonight, the bags were packed. The gear was chosen. The conditions were visible. The checklist existed. And the checklist did not drive.