Location: Registry House, Sublevel 3 → Western Wing AnnexTime: 01:17 AM to 01:42 AM (System Time Unstable)Personnel Present: C. Myre, C. Thorn (Simultaneous Crisis)Classification: Level 7 Custodial Breach (Continued)Supplemental Notation: Silent Cut Layer 2 Activated. Terminal Override Confirmed. System Identity Fracture Detected.

Scene 4: Cassel’s Acceleration

[Simultaneous Location: Western Wing Annex, Terminal 4C]

Cassel stared at his screen as the countdown jumped.

68 hours.67 hours.66 hours.

The system was breaking its own rules, accelerating his erasure ahead of schedule.

A new window opened without his input:

ROUTING UPDATE - PRIORITY OVERRIDESubject: Thorn, C.New Assignment: Sublevel 5 - Document DisposalReport Time: 02:00 AMFailure to comply will result in disciplinary measures.

The cursor blinked once. Then it froze, a single pixel holding its breath.

The keyboard locked.

His fingers hovered over the keys, trembling. Through the window, he could see the furnace level’s glow—orange light bleeding up through the building’s bones.

His badge flickered between amber and red, the transition growing faster, more erratic.

Click.

The terminal updated itself:

CUSTODIAN THORN: COMPLIANCE PENDINGDEVIATION THRESHOLD: EXCEEDEDSILENT CUT: LAYER 2 INITIATED

The screen went black.

In the reflection, his badge had turned solid red.

Scene 5: The Narrow Escape

Caldra fought her way back through the archive in complete darkness.

The Type 9 token was her only light source, its red pulse creating a small bubble of visibility in the suffocating black. She used it to navigate by the chalk marks on the file drawers—Elric’s breadcrumbs leading her back toward the elevator.

Behind her, she could hear the filing system rearranging itself. Drawers sliding shut. Locks engaging. The archive was sealing itself against her presence.

The elevator doors were closed when she reached them. She pressed the call button.

Nothing.

She pressed again. The button remained dark.

She pulled out her emergency pen and jammed it into the door mechanism, using it as a lever. The metal groaned, protested, then gave way with a sharp crack.

The doors opened onto an empty shaft.

The elevator was gone.

She looked up. Far above, she could see a faint square of light—the elevator waiting at a higher level, denying her escape.

She looked down. The shaft descended into absolute darkness.

She had enough chalk for one more mark.

She drew on the wall beside the open doors:

A simple “10.”

The chalk hissed against the metal. The mark glowed.

Somewhere in the darkness below, machinery hummed to life.

The elevator descended slowly, reluctantly, like something being dragged against its will.

When the doors opened, she stepped inside without hesitation.

As the elevator carried her upward, she saw the mark she had left beginning to burn itself deeper into the wall—no longer chalk, but something being etched by heat and pressure.

The “10” became a scar in the metal.

A permanent record of her presence in a place that officially didn’t exist.

Scene 6: The Cost of Knowledge

[Western Wing Annex: 01:17 AM]

Caldra emerged from the elevator shaft breathless, dust-covered, her clothes torn from the archive’s resistance. The Type 9 token was warm in her pocket, and Elric’s memo felt like it was burning through her coat.

Her hands shook as she unlocked her terminal.

The screen flickered to life, displaying her standard custodial interface. But something was wrong with her name in the upper corner.

It wavered.

C. MyreC. MyreX-9RX-9RC. Myre

The system was processing her. Categorizing her. Deciding what she was allowed to be.

She opened Elric’s memo with trembling fingers.

The final line, barely legible in the dim light:

“You can’t stop the Cut… unless you’re willing to lose something else.”

Below it, in fresh ink that had appeared while she was gone:

“Layer 3 active. Layer 4 pending. Choose what you keep.”

Her terminal chimed softly.

A new log entry appeared:

SILENT CUT PROTOCOL UPDATELayer 2: INITIATED 01:17 AMTarget: Thorn, C. Document Disposal Assignment ConfirmedLayer 3: PENDING 06:00 AMTarget: Myre, C. Custodial Authorization Review

Countdown to Layer 4: 54 Hours

She stared at the screen until the numbers blurred.

When she blinked, her reflection in the dark window showed someone she didn’t quite recognize. Someone covered in chalk dust that glowed faintly in the darkness, like phosphorus on bone.

Something had changed in Sublevel 3.

Something in her had changed.

And the Registry knew it.

Final System Log Entry (Automated)

Custodian C. Myre: Unauthorized Access ConfirmedSublevel 3 Breach: LoggedType 9 Override Token: MissingChalk Signature: AnomalousClassification: No Longer Standard Personnel

Silent Cut Protocol: Escalation AuthorizedLayer 4 Preparation: In Progress

Note: Subject demonstrates active resistance. Further observation unnecessary.Authorization Pending: Deyr, A.

[End of FILE 009B]

The chalk dust glows on her skin. The system has marked her. And somewhere in the depths of the Registry, Layer 4 is already beginning.

Next: FILE 010

—Shiro Kuma