Keep Going
Copyright© 2026 by Trevor Dohlen
Chapter 6: Still There
Daniel disliked dead-man switches.
The name was too dramatic.
Most implementations were too simple.
And, as he pointed out to Margaret, they usually depended on someone remembering to press a button proving they weren’t dead.
“That seems backwards.”
Margaret looked up from the draft trust amendment.
“What would you prefer?”
“Something based on normal activity.”
“Such as?”
“Spending.”
“Money?”
“Bitcoin.”
“Of course.”
Daniel ignored the tone.
“If I’m using my wallet normally, that’s evidence I’m active.”
“Evidence,” Margaret said.
“Exactly. Not proof.”
“And if you stop?”
“Nothing happens immediately.”
“Good.”
“After a long enough period, the system changes what it does with future distributions.”
Margaret put down her pen.
“Now we’re getting somewhere.”
Leonard joined them by video.
Mercer’s talking head occupied a third window.
Daniel had begun using Mercer routinely during meetings because it could retrieve records faster than Daniel could remember where he’d saved them.
Leonard said, “How long is long enough?”
Daniel shrugged.
“A year?”
Margaret shook her head.
“Too short.”
“Why?”
“You could spend a year traveling without touching that wallet.”
“I’d probably spend from it.”
“Probably is not how I want to draft this.”
Leonard said, “Two years.”
Daniel looked at him.
“You think I’m going to forget Bitcoin exists for two years?”
“I’ve had clients forget they owned buildings.”
“Fair.”
Margaret said, “Twenty-four months of no qualifying activity seems defensible as an operational trigger.”
Daniel pointed.
“Operational trigger. That’s the phrase.”
“Not death.”
“Never death.”
Mercer said, “Proposed state terminology: ACTIVE and INACTIVE.”
Daniel nodded.
“Good.”
Margaret added, “And the documents must explicitly say that INACTIVE does not constitute a legal determination of death.”
Mercer replied, “Recorded.”
Leonard leaned closer to his camera.
“What qualifies as activity?”
Daniel answered, “A spend from an address in the Daniel wallet tree.”
Leonard frowned.
“Any spend?”
Daniel paused.
Mercer said, “A transaction could be generated automatically by software or by another person possessing the private keys.”
“Correct,” Daniel said.
Margaret looked at him.
“So what are we really measuring?”
Daniel smiled.
“Whether the keys are still being used.”
Leonard said, “Not whether Daniel is alive.”
“Right.”
Margaret nodded slowly.
“I like that distinction.”
Daniel looked smug.
“You’re starting to understand Bitcoin.”
“Don’t push it.”
The next question was what happened after twenty-four months.
Daniel had assumed the answer would be obvious.
It wasn’t.
“Keep sending it to me,” he said.
Leonard stared.
“If you’ve been inactive for two years?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because I might come back.”
Margaret said, “Then what’s the purpose of the inactive state?”
Daniel frowned.
That was irritatingly reasonable.
Mercer said, “The state could alter the destination of future surplus without affecting previously distributed funds.”
Daniel looked at the screen.
“To what?”
“That requires policy.”
“Thank you, Counselor Mercer.”
“You’re welcome.”
Margaret smiled.
“I vote charities.”
Daniel glanced at her.
“That fast?”
“You already give to several.”
“I write checks.”
Leonard said, “You complain every time.”
“I complain about writing checks. Not the charities.”
“Then automate it.”
Daniel stopped.
Margaret smiled.
“Oh, that’s going to get him.”
Daniel leaned back.
“Fine.”
They started with a list.
Children’s hospitals.
Veterans organizations.
Food banks.
Medical research.
Local community groups.
Daniel rejected several large national charities immediately.
“Why?”
“Too much overhead.”
Leonard said, “Based on what?”
Daniel pointed at him.
“Good question.”
Mercer said, “I can evaluate publicly available financial filings, audited statements, program-expense ratios and governance information.”
Margaret looked at the screen.
“You could choose the charities?”
“I could rank candidates according to criteria provided by the trust.”
Daniel’s eyes narrowed.
“That’s better.”
Margaret said, “Better than what?”
“Hard-coding names.”
Leonard nodded.
“Organizations change.”
“Exactly.”
Mercer added, “Organizations may merge, dissolve, alter mission, lose tax-exempt status or cease meeting the trust’s requirements.”
Daniel smiled.
“See? That’s why I keep him around.”
Leonard looked at Mercer.
“Do you prefer charities?”
“No.”
“Any moral preferences?”
“No.”
“Then why should you choose?”
Mercer replied, “I would not choose according to preference. I would apply criteria established by the trust.”
Leonard sat back.
“That answer bothers me less than I expected.”
Daniel grinned.
“Careful.”
The charitable rules took weeks.
Daniel wanted measurable criteria.
Margaret wanted discretion.
Leonard wanted documentation.
Mercer wanted definitions.
They eventually reached something all four could tolerate.
If Daniel remained ACTIVE, his normal surplus distribution continued.
If Daniel became INACTIVE after twenty-four months without qualifying wallet activity, future surplus would be redirected according to the trust’s charitable policy.
The recipients would not be permanent.
They would be evaluated periodically.
No single charity would receive enough to become dependent on the trust.
No organization with materially questionable finances would qualify.
Certain categories Daniel cared about would always be represented.
And if qualifying wallet activity resumed?
Margaret looked at Daniel.
“Do you automatically become active again?”
Daniel thought.
“Yes.”
“Immediately?”
“After confirmations.”
Leonard groaned.
“Here we go.”
Daniel smiled.
“Six.”
“Six what?”
“Bitcoin confirmations.”
Margaret asked, “Why six?”
“Conservative.”
Leonard said, “How long?”
Daniel pointed at him.
“Do not say one hour.”
“I was going to.”
“Six blocks average about an hour. That does not mean one hour.”
Mercer said, “Correct.”
Leonard glared at the screen.
“I didn’t ask you.”
Mercer replied, “You asked Daniel. His answer was incomplete.”
Daniel laughed so hard he had to take off his glasses.
The first charitable test was for twenty dollars.
Margaret insisted.
Daniel wanted a thousand.
Leonard wanted one dollar.
They compromised badly.
Mercer selected a local food bank from Daniel’s approved candidates.
The organization did not accept Bitcoin.
Daniel looked personally offended.
“How do they expect to survive?”
Margaret said, “They feed people. They aren’t a cryptocurrency exchange.”
“Still.”
Mercer found a donation processor that accepted Bitcoin and settled dollars to the charity.
Daniel approved the test.
Transaction broadcast.
Confirmed.
Receipt generated.
Accounting entry posted.
Leonard reviewed everything.
“Fine.”
Daniel smiled.
“Fine?”
“Fine.”
“You sound disappointed.”
“I was hoping to find something wrong.”
“That is why I keep you around.”
Leonard looked at Mercer.
“He says that to you too?”
“Yes.”
Margaret laughed.
Daniel’s travels grew longer.
He stopped calling them vacations because there was nothing he was vacationing from.
Three months in Europe.
Six weeks in South America.
A month in Japan.
Then nowhere anybody could pin down.
Michael complained about that.
“You could at least tell me what country you’re in.”
“I could.”
“Dad.”
“I’m fine.”
“How do I know?”
“You’re talking to me.”
“Today.”
Daniel smiled into the laptop camera.
“That’s generally how conversations work.”
Michael frowned.
“You know what I mean.”
“I do.”
“Where are you?”
Daniel looked behind himself.
A plain hotel wall.
“Somewhere with terrible coffee.”
“That’s not helpful.”
“It narrows it down.”
“Not much.”
Mercer’s face occupied a smaller window on Daniel’s screen.
Michael pointed.
“He knows, doesn’t he?”
Daniel glanced at Mercer.
“Do you?”
Mercer replied, “I have insufficient reliable information.”
Michael groaned.
“You two deserve each other.”
Daniel laughed.
Later that night, Daniel opened Mercer alone.
“Connection source?”
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