Dusk settled over the Inner Gate service level like a shroud. Suspension orders were plastered on doors, their red wax seals still warm. Proctors announced the night lockdown and impending evidence sweep at dawn. Halls emptied rapidly. The sodium lights buzzed. The tang of solvent hung in the air as doors thudded shut with finality.
---
Qin Ye stood before a posted order. His fingers hovered over the wax seal.
[Daily Sign-In available.]
[Location: Suspension Wax Seal.]
[Sign-In? Yes / No]
Yes.
[Ding! Sign-In successful!]
[Reward: Sweep Thread (Lv.1, 25 breaths — highlight tamper anomalies & unsealed paths) + Escort Pass (1 use — proctor-escorted access to secured corridor; auto-log).]
---
Evidence Sweep — First Pass.
A proctor fell into step beside him. The Device Witness orb hummed to life. They re-entered Supply Room 2F-East. Qin Ye activated the Sweep Thread.
For twenty-five breaths, his perception sharpened. He saw hairline cracks in the wax seal of a lesser-used interior door. A faint solvent trail led from its base. Metal filings, fine as gray pollen, dusted the floor.
---
Friction — Closed Access Gambit.
A He-line aide materialized, blocking the interior door. "This is closed storage. Unauthorized."
"The suspension order grants full audit ingress. Clause 4.5," Qin Ye stated, his voice flat.
He activated the Escort Pass. A soft chirp sounded from the proctor's log. "Access granted. Logged," the proctor confirmed, stepping forward. The aide retreated, scowling.
---
Auxiliary Annex — Concrete Clues.
The room—S-Annex—was colder. Benches stood empty save for a single lead strike strip. On it was a fresh, full impression of the unknown symbol, the metal still holding an oily sheen. A shipping sleeve lay nearby, addressed to Master Floor Service Corridor. A micro-shim with a unique burr sat beside it.
"Evidence Seal on the strike strip. On the shipping sleeve."
The soft chimes echoed in the silent room. Timestamps flashed in the proctor's log.
---
Technique Cache — Pick & Use.
He opened the procedural Technique Cache. Two options glowed: Cross-Link Filing or Rapid Clause Pull. He chose Cross-Link Filing.
Knowledge flowed into him. He willed the connection. The system instantly linked the S-Annex strike strip to the requisition chit from the main supply room and to the press log. The digital threads wove together in the official record, a perfect, unbreakable chain.
---
Complication — Security Drill.
A siren chirped. Emergency shutters began their slow, grinding descent for a timed security drill. The line-of-sight to the evidence, and the log continuity, were about to be severed.
"Clause 7.1. Audit continuity cannot be interrupted by scheduled drills," Qin Ye cited, his voice cutting through the noise.
The proctor acted, pulling a manual override lever. The shutters halted. The Device Witness status bar continued its steady tick, preserving the unbroken line.
[Ding! Micro-Goal: "Keep the Line Unbroken."]
[Reward: +200,000 Spirit Stones; Chain Continuity +1 (situational).]
---
Trail Tightens.
The Sweep Thread, in its final moments, highlighted a path: a service lift leading to the master floor corridor. A faint cart track glinted on the floor. The solvent tang grew stronger.
At a corridor junction, Lin Xiu appeared from a cross-passage. For three silent steps, they fell into a Shadow Duet Step, a perfect mirror of motion, before their duties pulled them apart again.
---
Ending Cliff.
A monitor on the corridor wall blinked to life, showing a live feed. A parcel tube clanked. A small, sealed package slid into a pickup niche labeled Master Floor Audit Room. The wax seal on the package was pristine, bearing the full, finished unknown symbol.
A proctor leaned closer, his voice a hushed murmur. "That seal… it wasn't logged."
[Ding! Side Quest updated: Trace the Hand (Second die likely in transit — Master Floor).]
[Ding! Optional Objective unlocked: "Secure the second die before dawn." — Reward: Technique Cache (procedural, advanced, locked).]
[Ding! Main Quest updated — Inner Gate Trial: final day (pre-dawn window).]
The package rocked once in the niche, as if breathing, and the corridor lights cut to red.