We spread the documents across the conference table in the eastern annex — the room we had come to use for work that could not leave the building.
Shin Bao had organized everything by date. It was a habit of his, and one I had come to rely on. The shape of a thing was often clearest when you could see it moving through time.
"The transfer records go back further than we initially established," he said. "No Gyeong-su was not the first. There were two others before him — lower-level clerks, both transferred into administrative roles in the northern district within an eighteen-month window, approximately seven years ago."
Kaien looked up from the page he was reading. "Before So Jun-won's operation was fully established."
"Before it was visible," Shin Bao said. "It was already operating. These placements were foundational."
