Clara catches Dallas by the arm and turns him away from the glowing monitor. The filing cabinets along the wall give off a low mechanical hum, like something waking up in its sleep.
Clara
Don’t watch the screen. That’s the point. They want us looking digital while the paper goes through the walls.
Dallas lets his eyes travel over the cabinets, the vent seams, the old labels. The room smells like dust, toner, and stale air conditioning.
Dallas Fontaine
The cabinets are the real machine.
Clara
I hate that I’m right about this.
Murderbone settles close to Dallas’s leg, calm but watchful, his ears flicking once at the soft grind from the metal drawers. Clara’s grip loosens, but she does not step back.
Clara
For once, can we just breathe for a second? After this, I want coffee. Real coffee, not archive machine coffee.
The hum stays steady. Dallas, Clara, and Murderbone stand together in the narrow quiet, with the dust floating in the light and the conversation finally leaving room to start.
✓ Quest Accepted
Secure the physical archive documents
“I run my fingers along the vent seams to find the mechanism that moves the paper.”
SUCCESS (Legendary Investigation, rolled +0)
Dallas slides his fingertips along the vent seam above the cabinets. One panel catches, then gives with a thin metallic click.
Dallas Fontaine
That latch is newer than the paint.
Behind the seam, a narrow paper track runs into the cabinet bank, hidden by a strip of felt and wire guides.
Clara
There. Something feeds the drawers from the wall.
Murderbone leans in, nose working once, while the monitor keeps flashing its purge notice in the office beyond.
Clara
If we want the log before it vanishes, we need to pull it now.
Dallas finds the mechanism's hand crank tucked inside the seam, and a routed strip of paper shivers as it starts to advance.
“I pull the routing log now”
SUCCESS (Legendary Investigation, rolled -1)
Dallas gives the crank a steady turn, and the routed strip glides free with a soft, papery hiss.
Dallas Fontaine
The feed is straight. No snag.
A folded routing log slides out with it, its corners dusted from long storage.
Clara
You got it. That is the thing we needed.
Murderbone shifts closer as Dallas catches the log in one hand, while the purge notice keeps blinking in the office monitor behind them.
Clara
Now do we chase what is erasing this, or do we take the paper and go?
Quest Complete
Secure the routing log
New Gift: Logistics Pattern Analyst
“I pull the routing log now”
SUCCESS (Legendary Investigation, rolled +2)
Dallas tugs the routed strip free, and the rest of the log follows with a dry whisper, leaving the cabinet throat open and empty.
Dallas Fontaine
Got it.
The paper settles into his hand, folded and intact, while the exposed feed inside the wall sits still.
Clara
Then we have the physical copy. Good.
Behind them, the monitor keeps hurrying through its purge notice, but the log is no longer inside the machine.
Clara
If that screen finishes first, we lose the trail. What do you take with you?
Quest Complete
Secure the physical archive documents