A report in the Director's office, another side to the discarded chips

The battle damage report that Natasha submitted was delivered to the Director's Office the following morning.

Paper document, black envelope, two copies. One copy goes to the Inspection Office's file, and the other is presented directly to the Director's desk.

Lynn was reviewing official documents. Gwen Stacy brought in the report, placed it on the corner of the desk, and didn't leave.

"Director Dai is waiting outside," she said. "He said he has something important to discuss and will answer in person."

"Let her in."

Natasha entered the room, her steps slow. She stopped three steps in front of the table, her hands hanging at her sides, her posture perfectly upright.

"Director."

"Sit."

She didn't sit. "Standing while answering questions is the rule of the Inspection Office."

Lynn put down his pen and opened the report. He read it slowly, page by page. The room was quiet, with only the soft rustling of turning pages. Gwen Stacy stepped back to the door and stood there with her hands at her sides.

The report was well-written. It listed the battle damage during the clearing operation, the number of Mechanical Guards destroyed, energy consumption, and the injuries of accompanying operators, all clearly and logically. The last page included a list of evidence.

"Forty-one Chip." Lynn's gaze lingered on this row. "They're all sealed up at the Liaison Office."

"Yes," Natasha said, "It was registered yesterday; Director Gwen Stacy it."

"Has the application for Chip inspection been submitted by the Inspection Office?"

"It was submitted this morning." She paused, "But I didn't come today to urge an inspection."

"Then why?"

Natasha raised her eyes. "During the clearing operation, did the Director see the battle report and accompanying pictures regarding the guards' fighting style?"

"I saw it."

"The guards are arrayed in three waves. The first wave surrounds the pier, the second wave blocks the passageway, and the third wave—" she lowered her voice, "... the third wave is protecting the Archive Cabinet. The metal shells protect the cabinets, protecting them more tightly than they protect themselves. Doesn't the Director find that strange?"

"Say what you mean."

"I disassembled the outer layer of a Chip," Natasha said. "I didn't disassemble it deeply, just scanned the surface. Inside, it didn't contain combat tactics, it contained a log. A guard's duty log." She looked at Lynn, saying each word carefully, "The dates recorded in the log were a full seven years earlier than the year that base was abandoned."

There was a moment of silence in the room.

Gwen Stacy glanced up from the doorway.

"Seven years," Lynn repeated, his tone flat. "The guards at the abandoned branch office kept a log recording the years before it was abandoned. What's so strange about that? Things are always built sooner than they're buried."

"It was created seven years earlier, but the duty log only shows the last three days." Natasha took a half step forward. "The records for the first six years were erased. Erased so thoroughly that only a stub remained. Director, the method used by the person who erased the records is standard procedure used by our Management Committee."

After those words were spoken, the room fell completely silent.

Gwen Stacy's fingers subtly tightened inside her sleeve. The three people present all knew what those four words, "Management Committee Standard," referred to. At most, no more than five people could invoke the standard to erase permissions. Lynn was the first.

Natasha lowered her eyes and waited.

She was waiting for Lynn to respond. If he did, he would have to explain; if he explained, he would have to reveal his true intentions. What was erased from the Chip? Was it the footage of that transaction from back then, or something else? As long as Lynn opened his mouth to defend himself, she could follow his words and find out what he was really trying to hide.

Lynn closed the report.

"Regarding the methods used to erase information," he said, "the Inspection Office has a record of that."

None available.

"Nothing at the moment, that means nothing." Lynn pushed the report to the corner of the desk. "Speculation without evidence can't be included in a report, nor can it be submitted to the Standing Committee. The acting Director in the Inspection Office; I don't need to teach him that."

"The Director's reprimand is well-deserved," Natasha replied readily. "That's why I'm speaking privately today, not in a formal report."

"You should be even more careful when speaking privately." Lynn leaned back in his chair, looking at her. "What rules did you follow when you removed the Chip?"

Natasha's eyebrows twitched.

"During the period of evidence sealing," Lynn said calmly, "no department may conduct unauthorized inspections. This is an appendix to S-014, which was read aloud on the pier yesterday. The acting Director told me today that you removed the outer layer of a Chip— "

He paused.

"Just a quick bite."

"Outer layer scan, didn't touch the core, doesn't count as an inspection," Natasha said. "The loophole in the charter was left by the Liaison Office themselves yesterday."

"The loophole is left open for radiation verification, not for the Inspection Office to dismantle evidence." Lynn's voice turned cold. "Natasha, you've only been in the Management Committee for a few days. You haven't passed your probationary period assessment yet, and your self-criticism is still on my desk. At this juncture, if you overstep your bounds once, I'll make a note of it; if you overstep twice, you'll be stuck with the 'acting' title of acting Director."

Natasha lowered her eyes. "Yes."

"Regarding the Chip," Lynn changed the subject, "I approved them."

She looked up.

"Forty-one Chip, their storage period has expired. They will not be used as evidence in this case and will be transferred to the Logistics Department as ordinary consumables." Lynn picked up his pen and wrote a line on the last page of the report, "Register and catalog the scrap machinery parts. Those that can be recycled should be recycled, and those that cannot be recycled should be sealed. The application for inspection has been rejected."

Natasha stood still for two breaths.

Ordinary consumables. These four words buried all her groundwork for today in cotton. If the Chip became a consumable, there was no way to conduct the investigation, no way to keep the log. The six years that were erased, along with the "stubble" she had carefully handed to Lynn, would all be put into the Logistics Department's scrap list.

She handed him a knife, which Lynn took and casually tossed into the stove.

"Director," she said cautiously, "the logs in the Chip might still contain the TVA's deployment information—"

"Perhaps," Lynn interrupted her, "Perhaps. When the Logistics Department reworks it, there will naturally be procedures in place. The Inspection Office shouldn't stick its hands into the scrap heap."

He handed her the report. Natasha accepted it with both hands.

Is there anything else?

"There is none left."

"Go."

Natasha stepped back to the doorway, then stopped, turned around, and added, "Director, the Logistics Department is taking inventory of the warehouse this afternoon. Regarding the Chip handover, should I personally escort it, or—"

"The Liaison Office is holding it." Lynn didn't even look up. "Gwen Stacy, you go make the trip."

"Yes," Gwen Stacy replied from the doorway.

Natasha glanced at Gwen Stacy, then at Lynn behind the desk, a faint smile playing on her lips, before leaving.

The door closed. Only two people remained in the room.

Gwen Stacy stepped forward and whispered, "Director, the Chip are being transferred as consumables. The Logistics Department is overcrowded, and the Stability Maintenance Office and the Department of Technology are watching closely. What if something goes wrong on the way—"

"We need to keep an eye on them." Lynn picked up his pen again. "Forty-one Chip, coming out of the Inspection Office, being escorted by the Liaison Office, and entering the Logistics Department's warehouse. Anyone who tries to take them along the way will be the first to give themselves away."

Gwen Stacy paused for a moment, then understood. The Chip was the bait. The handover was the rod. What Lynn wanted to catch was the person who couldn't resist intercepting the goods halfway.

"The escort route," Lynn said, "Will be in the open. We'll depart from Corridor Three at 7 AM, making sure the entire Management Committee can see us."

"Understood." Gwen Stacy the order and turned to leave.

"Wait," Lynn called after her, "The spectral analysis results are in?"

Gwen Stacy paused. "It's out. The powder on the pedals... the Department of Technology did the spectral analysis overnight." Her voice lowered. "The material is a TVA-standard memory crystal, that's for sure. But the crystal's batch number—"

"Explain."

"The batch number indicates it was purchased from TVA through public channels in the third month after the Management Committee was established." Gwen Stacy looked up. "Of those crystals, only three departments within the Management Committee used them: the Stability Maintenance Office, the Science Department of Technology— "

She stopped.

"And there's Liaison Office," Lynn finished for her.

The room fell silent. Natasha had ground the powder, but the origin of the crystals circled back to the Management Committee itself, and to Gwen Stacy's own department. This frame-up was so far-reaching that it was impossible to trace; yet it was also so close that Gwen Stacy, as the Liaison Office Chief, was the first one who couldn't escape responsibility.

Lynn put down his pen and tapped his fingertips twice on the table.

"The spectral analysis report," he said, "Is yours to keep; don't give it to anyone else."

"The Chip handover--"

"As usual." Lynn looked out the window, her voice soft. "I want to see who bites the hook first."