Chapter 141: The Hearing Begins
The FBRA public proceeding began twenty-two days after its notice.
The interval belonged to service, privilege review, exhibit screening, and witness preparation. No one could turn the complete email chain into a public dump because a hearing had been scheduled.
Each party received an exhibit list and redaction key. Disputes went to the hearing officer before publication. The sealed original remained in the regulatory evidence room; the public portal held only approved copies.
The hearing officer read the scope order before any lawyer spoke.
Old trial authorization.
Reporting obligations.
Record integrity.
The proceeding would not decide whether the fictional therapy worked. It would not determine private medical causation. It would not open participant histories beyond lawfully authorized document facts.
Conduct outside that scope could be referred elsewhere. Referral would not become a finding here.
I appeared in two recorded capacities.
Principal inventor of AURORA-9.
Trust-authorized scientific representative for the licensor.
That did not make me owner of Helena Research Trust or give me power to grant a license by myself. The independent trustees had approved the limited representation.
I did not appear for Leah.
I did not know whether she would come until her own counsel filed notice.
Her counsel filed a separate appearance notice preserving her right to attend, decline, or set conditions within the hearing officer's authority. My seat carried no permission to tell her story.
Sterling appeared through independent regulatory counsel rather than Celeste's personal lawyer. The board's legal committee transferred authenticated originals under seal. Public exhibits used masked identifiers, removed experiment parameters, and excluded unrelated privileged advice.
Northstar attended only as an observer to the transaction consequences. Its delayed merger did not give it party control over the hearing or access to protected materials.
Nathan sat with his own lawyer in the witness section.
He was no longer Chief Legal Officer.
Celeste remained restricted CEO.
Conrad remained chairman.
Neither had been suspended or removed by this proceeding.
Nathan's employment termination remained a company action, not an FBRA sanction. The officer said that distinction aloud before the gallery could combine every consequence into one judgment.
The hearing officer warned every party that opening statements were not evidence. Celeste's counsel said the company had suffered from selective history. Conrad's counsel said delay had allowed responsible verification. Nathan's lawyer reserved individual defenses while acknowledging his document submission.
Rhea spoke only for the Trust's record interests.
"The licensor asks for one thing," she said. "Use the dated authorization, reporting, and record files as they exist. Do not substitute family statements for them."
The first public exhibit was the old authorization order. It showed what Sterling had permission to do and what reporting conditions attached. It did not describe a participant or promise a result.
The officer directed counsel to use old authorization rather than license as shorthand. Trust licensing and regulatory permission were separate. Suspending one had not automatically revoked the other.
The second exhibit was the reporting policy in effect during the incident week.
The third was a redaction map for the approved portions of the master chain. The map showed dates and responsibility categories without exposing the sealed original.
No raw inbox export appeared on the screen.
Reporters watched from a separate gallery. Cameras could record the hearing officer and public counsel table. Witnesses could request additional protection.
I could feel the room searching for Leah before she arrived.
The hearing officer stopped a photographer who aimed toward the private entrance.
"No witness is public property because this proceeding is public," she said.
The sentence entered the transcript.
At lunch, my name appeared in headlines beside words like vindication and victory. I ignored them. The hearing had begun, not ended.
My board conflict notice stayed active. I could testify to invention history and Trust-authorized licensing records, but I could not direct Sterling's defense or negotiate Northstar terms during the proceeding.
The regulator had not restored a license, revoked an authorization, or decided liability.
It had done something less dramatic and more useful.
It defined the questions.
It also defined who could answer each one.
After the recess, the private entrance opened.
Leah walked in beside her own lawyer.