FILE 004 – The Routing Clerk Confrontation
Location: Routing Department → Annex Pathway 12-B
Time: 09:41 – 10:14
Personnel Present: C. Myre, Routing Clerk Tolven
Classification: Level 3 Custodial Discrepancy
Supplemental Notation: Unauthorized Access Flag. Pen #044 Logged. Ghost Protocol Alert (Unacknowledged).

Scene 1: Routing Counter 3B

The Routing Department hummed with static tension.
Overhead fluorescents buzzed faintly, and the air smelled of warm paper and electricity. A pneumatic tube hissed, then fell silent without delivery.
Caldra Myre stepped into Line C, bypassing the posted queue. Her shoes struck the floor with precise rhythm—sharp, even, deliberate.

Clerk Tolven did not look up.
"Name and designation," he said, scrolling through terminal screens.
"C. Myre. Custodian. Western Wing."
She paused. "Requesting Reference Log 7A–D92."

Tolven's fingers faltered.
He adjusted his vest, cleared his throat, and offered a shallow smile.
"That path is under audit. Secondary review pending. All requests frozen."

Caldra did not blink.
"Who initiated the audit?"
"That information is restricted."
"To whom?"
"To Custodians," he said, tone clipped. "This log is outside your clearance."

Her gaze lifted to a faded notice behind him:
Routing Path 7A: Under Temporary Suspension – Audit Pending
No active clearance overlaps at this time.
A lie.
But a formally formatted one.

"Override delay?"
"Four to six weeks. Possibly longer. I can submit a Delayed Reference Request—"

"No."

She neither raised her voice nor altered her expression.
She reached forward.
The maroon-bodied pen beside his register vanished into her coat with surgical precision.

Tolven did not react.
Or chose not to.
Caldra turned and walked away.
No thanks. No protest. Just withdrawal.

[Annex Logging Entry – Internal Use Only]

Pen ID: #044
Subject: Tolven, Routing Clerk
Location: Counter 3B – Routing Desk
Incident: Denied Reference Log 7A–D92 under fabricated audit. Displayed obstructive behavior and condescension. Observed crimson-sealed document in unindexed Slot 21-F.
Disposition: Smug.
Status: Logged.
Estimated Return: Upon Professional Downfall.

Scene 2: Descent and Discovery

The Registry had denied her.
So she returned to the part of it that still listened.

The Annex freight lift was slower today. Or perhaps she noticed the seconds more clearly.
No music. No mirror. Just the whirr of gears and the occasional weight shift as the platform descended through forgotten floors.

The lights flickered once, then held.
She stepped out without hesitation.

The Annex greeted her with its usual chill. Three degrees colder than the rest of the Registry. A fact no one recorded. A fact she never corrected.

At her desk, the chalk remained where she'd left it.
She withdrew the pen and placed it beside the chalk.
Opened the drawer.

Notecards, lined and labeled.
Each with a name. A date. A ruling.
Some marked "Returned."
Some marked "Pending Shame."

She added a new one:
#044 – Tolven. Smug. Routing Desk. Denied Reference Log.
It slid into the third row.
She capped the pen.
Soft. Final.

Subsequence: Terminal Query

At 10:12, Caldra keyed into her terminal:
[C-Myre.7A.OverlapCheck.D92.Request]

Rejected immediately.
Request Rejected. Routing Path 7A Flagged – Revoked Layer Access.

"Revoked Layer Access" was not standard Registry phrasing.
Too imprecise. Too human.
She frowned.

Her mind returned to the crimson-sealed document behind Tolven's desk. Slot 21-F. She had seen that seal before.
But not recently.
Not on any official file.

She searched for a Slot 21-F manifest.
Nothing.
Tried by wax type. Nothing.
Seal imprint shape. Nothing.

A document with no record.
A seal without registration.
A bypassed trail.
Someone had forged a file directly into the system—without triggering the log.
That required access. And familiarity.
Too much familiarity.

She made a note:
INVESTIGATE SEAL VARIANTS. BACKTRACK SLOT 21-F.
Begin with: Elric Moorwen. Department 7A.

She picked up the chalk.
Grounding reflex.

System Flag: Ghost Protocol

Just before logging off, a line of text blinked onto the screen.
No chime. No input.

RECALL PROTOCOL GHOST: INACTIVE. Pending trigger event.

She stared.
Checked her history. No matching entry.
No scheduled script.
No active protocol.

She reached forward.
The line blinked again.
Then vanished.
Not deleted.
Retracted.

Final Notation

File Access: Blocked
Routing Clearance: Obstructed
Anomaly Trail: Active
Custodian State: Watchful

INTERNAL DOCUMENT: Registry Training Memo [Redacted]

Custodial Reference Copy – Partial Extract

TERM: Revoked Layer Access
CLASSIFICATION: Routing Override Phrase [Deprecated]
Notes: Not in procedural lexicon. Originally used to suppress access layers during forgery, mimicry, or drift.
Flagged in 7 of 11 audits as false-positive.
Report immediately to Oversight Team 7B if seen in live logs.
Discouraged under Quiet Clause 4.2.

TERM: Recall Protocol: GHOST
CLASSIFICATION: Legacy Custodial Fail-Safe [Restricted Activation]
Triggers:
• Deviation Pattern exceeds 3.2%
• Custodian Access Mismatch (Live vs Archived Signature)
• Document Signature Loop Detected

Status: INACTIVE
Auto-suppressed in Silent Custody zones.
May self-initiate under breach.
If visible to Custodian, do not acknowledge.
Wait.

Signed,
[REDACTED]

Closing Entry by C. Myre (Custodian, Western Wing)

I requested a reference log.
The clerk denied me.
I took his pen.
One file blocked. One document unregistered. One system glitch pretending it was on purpose.
If anyone asks, I’m reorganizing my drawer.
(Slot 21-F should not be blinking. That’s not how blinking works.)