Scene 1 – Audit Request

Cassel was early.

Too early.

His knock had no rhythm this time. Just three flat taps and a clipped,

“Got flagged. Can you run a trace?”

Caldra stared at him.

His badge was crooked.

He always centered it.

She let him in.

The Cold Room hadn’t fully reset since the ghost file incident.

She could still feel the echo in the terminal wiring.

“Show me,” she said.

Cassel placed a folder on her desk. Paper.

No system signature.

She opened it.

Inside: a printout of an internal memo. No stamps. Just the line:

Support Clerk Authorization Discrepancy – Origin Unconfirmed

Linked File ID: [NULL ENTRY]

Clerk ID: Thorn, C. – Access Log: Unavailable

She tapped the corner. “This isn’t a flag. It’s a system erasure.”

He didn’t move. “I logged in this morning. Normal shift. But… I’m not on the roster. I scanned out, but the log time is before I got in.”

“You’ve been ghosted,” she said.

Cassel paled.

She stood. Walked to the old vault console.

Her chalk still lay beside it—broken in half, still warm.

“Sit,” she told him. “I’ll pull the original trace.”

He did.

But he didn’t look away from the folder.

Like it might disappear if he blinked.

Scene 2 – Internal Trace

The system wasn’t resisting.

That was worse.

It let her in.

Layer by layer, she accessed intake history. Routing nodes. Clerk entry timestamps. Each lined up—except one.

Cassel’s entry was duplicated.

Clerk ID: Thorn, C.

Terminal: Cold Room 4A

Log Time: 09:37 AM

Entry Method: Verified Print

Duplicate Timestamp: 09:37 AM

Entry Method: Key Override

Two identical timestamps.

One approved. One manually keyed.

Impossible.

She opened both records.

The first showed his standard profile. Audit note pending, no flags.

The second? No metadata. No IP. No session log.

But it still had his name.

She opened the embedded notes.

Handwritten.

“Routing loops not resetting.

Signature echo detected.

Custodian presence implied.”

The last word wasn’t his style.

Cassel didn’t use “implied.”

She pulled the ink signature ID.

Match: Partial. Layered from multiple scans.

Someone was reconstructing his writing.

Layer by layer.

She froze the screen. Backed up the terminal.

There were now two records of her last authorization on file.

Authorization Code: 7A-CM

Origin: C. Myre

Input Method: Verbal Confirm (Live)

Duplicate Entry: Timestamped 9 minutes prior

Source: [Pending Signature Review]

She hadn’t spoken.

And she hadn’t confirmed anything that morning.

Behind her, Cassel was silent.

She turned.

But he wasn’t looking at her.

He was looking at the screen now blinking just above the Cold Room entryway.

Route Realignment In Progress

Signature Reconciliation Pending

File Origin: Duplicate

Scene 3 – Locked Duplicate

Caldra did not normally request physical pulls.

But she made the walk herself.

Corridor V-C had not been used for active routing in nearly a year.

Too cold. Too deep. Too close to the outer audit vaults.

She passed three empty filing bays before finding it.

Drawer Label: [Path 7A – Manual Override, Custodian Copy]

Requesting such a file required dual authorization.

She hadn’t requested it.

But there it was.

She pulled the drawer.

It didn’t resist.

Inside: two identical files.

At first glance.

Same seal. Same routing signature. Same date.

She lifted them carefully—weight matched, pressure seams clean.

Then she checked the first page of each.

One listed her as the originating Custodian.

The other listed no name.

Instead, it was signed in handwriting that matched her own.

Only slightly off.

Spacing wrong. Too perfect.

No pen pressure. No tilt.

Mimicked.

She scanned the ink layer.

Carbon match: near-exact

Timestamp: Off by one minute

Source tool: Unknown

The mimic hadn’t been perfect.

But it had been close.

Too close for protocol.

She examined the final page.

Both had the same routing conclusion.

Clerk Cassel Thorn: Origin Status – Confirmed

Custodian Oversight: Myre, C.

But one page shimmered faintly—barely visible to the eye.

A second signature began to emerge when she tilted the paper just enough.

It was not her name.

And it wasn’t Cassel’s.

E. M.

She closed both files.

Carefully.

And placed the unsigned one back in the drawer.

She did not log this action.

She did not write a deviation report.

She only whispered three words—directed at the archive itself:

“You’re not done.”

File 006. Multi-tiered flag detected. Duplicate entry confirmed.

Cassel arrived early. The system insisted otherwise.

Signature integrity breached. File count inconsistent.

Ink pressure patterns off.

Authorization mismatch noted.

I reviewed the documents.

They mimicked my hand.

They used my name.

Additional trace filed under: “Drawer did not resist.”

Observation ongoing.