The technician nodded.
Chief Mercer stood near the entrance to the digital evidence office. "You're deliberately leaving a compromised connection open while a witness is on the road."
"I'm limiting the connection while we identify the source."
"If that vehicle loses communication, you'll have no control over it."
Maya turned toward him. "The driver has control of the vehicle. We're taking control away from the software."
Mercer said nothing further.
On Lena's screen, the transport icon moved east. The municipal camera markers became less frequent: Asheford's traffic network covered the main routes well, but several county roads beyond the city limits had no connected cameras at all.
Lena enlarged the map. "The route the system is pushing leads toward Mill Creek Road."
"What's out there?"
"Mostly farms, older county roads, and a few industrial properties. Cellular service drops in parts of that area."
Ben Carter had entered the room quietly. "I know Mill Creek. My uncle has a repair shop out that way."
Maya looked at him. "Can you identify a route that keeps them closer to county communication coverage?"
Ben moved toward the map, but stopped before touching the workstation: "Route 14 to State Road 8, then south near the old feed store. If they stay on that road, they should pick up county relay most of the way."
Lena checked the infrastructure map. "He's right. There's a relay site near the volunteer fire station."
Maya told the county dispatcher to verify the route independently. A woman answered from county communications, her voice calm and experienced: "14 to State 8 is clear. Tell your driver to ignore the Mill Creek turn. There's a white church on the north side of the intersection and a feed store across from it. If he sees those, he's in the right place."
Maya relayed the instructions. The driver confirmed.
On the vehicle map, the automated system immediately tried to recalculate. A new instruction appeared: Turn left, Mill Creek Road. The driver ignored it.
The Sloan session issued another update, then another. The federal technician watched the commands arrive. "It's persistent."
"Same administrator certificate?"
"Yes. Source still masked behind Sloan's remote environment."
Maya looked at Mercer. "Does your department normally allow a contractor to change routes on government vehicles?"
"No."
"Did you know Sloan had that capability?"
"No."
Rebecca was no longer in the room; she had been moved to a separate office after the purge attempt, with instructions not to access department systems.
Maya turned back to the monitor. The transport continued toward State Road 8. Then the location update paused. Lena waited. Another update did not appear.
"Signal dropped."