Three minutes remained in the answer window. Class D's external response field had already closed. The Cold Backup page was still receiving timestamps and page versions. Hirata handed Gu Heng a new report.
The same system notification appeared on Class B's public page. Source: Ichinose; unconfirmed whether it was the same Zodiac group.
Gu Heng checked the report's timestamp first. It had come two minutes later than Class D's system notification.
"That doesn't prove the two attempts came from the same place."
"Nor does it prove someone in Class B submitted something?" Hirata asked.
"It only proves they saw the notification."
Ichinose soon added another timestamp record.
Class B's page displayed only the system notification; no external note was shown.
Gu Heng compared the fields on the two pages one by one. Class D's note had appeared first, followed by the system notification.
Class B had only the system notification, with none of the same text before or after it. The so-called similarity was limited to that one system line.
He crossed out "identical" from the report title.
Hirata asked, "Should we send this correction to Ichinose?"
"Send the facts, not our judgment of her."
After the message was sent, Ichinose replied quickly.
I'll keep Class B's original page. I won't decide for them whether they should submit.
This time, Class B's boundary also had someone responsible for it. It did not change Class D's answer position.
But it ruled out a premature explanation that the two sources were the same. Gu Heng placed Class B's original page in the outer fact log.
The page was not copied into Class D's Cold Backup. Hirata saved only the source, timestamp, and field differences.
That would slow later verification by a beat. But it