Hela Allowed Looking, Not Copying: Traces of an Added Page in the Binding Holes
The gravity suppression valve in the basement of the main building of the Stability Maintenance Office emitted a dull, low-frequency vibration.
Every ten steps along both sides of the corridor stood a Black Crow Honor Guard clad in heavy, jet-black armor, with a breathing valve behind his visor exhaling a fine mist of white vapor.
Lynn stopped in front of the double Alloy Door at the far end, carrying the well-sealed plastic file basket.
The black greatsword emblem on the door gleamed with a cold, matte light.
Ke'er stood sideways, his hand on the sword at his waist, his face somewhat grim, his right hand still wrapped with the insulated glove that had just been removed and inspected.
"Director Hela only gave me ten minutes to approve it." Ke'er pushed open half of the heavy isolation door. "Director Lynn, according to regulations, personal terminals are not allowed in the inner hall."
Lynn took off his wristwatch-style portable terminal, placed it casually on the lead tray beside the door, picked up the basket, and stepped across the threshold.
The main lighting in the inner hall was off; only a cold white spotlight hung above the long desk.
Hela sat in a high-backed chair, one elbow resting on the armrest, the hem of her black trench coat trailing on the metal floor, her right fingertip casually tapping a Obsidian paperweight.
"Xiao Zhou making quite a fuss about getting the seal on the Archives Division."
Hela raised her chin, her gaze fixed directly on the file basket in Lynn's hand.
"Ke'er needs to get the receipt at 2 o'clock, and you come to the Stability Maintenance Office at 1:40 with a whole box of scrap papers. Do you think I don't have enough bad debts in charge of the seals, or that the martial law at Starport isn't tight enough?"
Lynn walked to the desk, pulled out the iron chair, sat down, and placed the file basket on the steel plate table between them.
"Trusting the seal is an official matter; canceling or invalidating it is a procedure."
Lynn removed the recently affixed seal from the box lid and pulled out the authorization document with the third page.
"Since there's an extra page in the program, we naturally need to have the official in charge of stamping it verify its authenticity."
Hela glanced down at the official seal of the Stability Maintenance Office at the top of the page.
Her fingers paused on the Obsidian paperweight, and her voice lowered.
"The original document is in cabinet number three of the inner archives. You may view it if you wish, but only in front of me. No copying is allowed, and no Spectrum scanning is permitted. After viewing, please sign the receipt."
She leaned forward slightly, her dark pupils staring directly at Lynn.
"Outside the Starport in the Seventh Defense Zone, the Black Crow Guard just apprehended two smuggling shuttles that had broken into service. If you sign the verification form, I can withdraw half of the garrison at the third quarantine checkpoint of the Starport and replace them entirely with civilian security personnel from the Logistics Department."
This is a blatant concession of military power.
Within the Management Committee, the Starport quarantine checkpoint is the bottleneck controlling the entry and exit of goods and personnel. Hela gave up half of its posts in exchange for Lynn not bringing up past grievances.
Ke'er, standing beside him, held his breath, his hand resting on the hilt of his sword without moving an inch.
Lynn's expression remained unchanged, and he didn't even look at the chips Hela offered.
"The Starport Defense is under the overall Stability Maintenance Office, and the Logistics Department is overwhelmed with armed personnel."
Lynn extended two fingers and pushed the authorization document forward by half a foot.
"I'm only checking accounts today, not dividing up territory."
Hela squinted, and the air pressure around her suddenly dropped.
"Lynn, are you determined to tear down this facade?"
"I didn't tear it; the person who drilled the hole was just too clumsy."
Lynn turned the document around and pointed to the edge of the binding.
"The three-hole thread is made with special cotton-linen waxed thread used by the Stability Maintenance Office. Each hole must be threaded from right to left with a reverse twist. Director Hela, you can check the original files and compare them to see for yourself."
Hela didn't call for the guards; instead, she reached out and pressed a hidden key under the edge of the table.
A flat alloy safety box pops out from a pneumatic slide rail embedded in the wall.
She entered a six-digit mechanical code, took out a thick, red-covered original document, and slammed it down next to the document.
"Look," Hela sneered, "The original is right here. I personally pressed the Broken Sword Seal on it, and the ink was mixed with Titan black stone powder. Who could forge it?"
Lynn didn't touch the large red booklet; instead, he took out a wooden magnifying glass and held it half an inch above the binding hole of the original document.
"The print is real, and the paper is blotting paper approved by the Stability Maintenance Office."
Lynn's fingertip hovered over the first round hole.
"However, the hole spacing on the first and second pages of the original document is a standard 52 millimeters. The wax embossing marks at the threaded areas are smooth, without any torn or fragmented material."
He moved the magnifying glass away and placed it on the accessory he had brought.
"This extra third page has a 4.2-millimeter aperture, which is larger than the previous two pages. Most importantly, this is the key point—"
Lynn gently pressed the handle of the magnifying glass against the left fold line of the accessory.
The light shone obliquely down, casting an extremely fine groove on the paper.
"Indentations from a double-hole fixture."
Lynn looked up at Hela.
"Only the large vertical binding machine of the Seventh Laboratory of the Department of Technology would leave this 0.3-millimeter-wide horizontal roller scratch at the paper feed inlet. Not only that, the original wax thread had been disassembled once, the knot at the bottom had been broken, and someone had used an ordinary fine Steel Needles to force the attachment back in and then re-tied a flat knot."
Hela's gaze was fixed on the horizontal roller mark.
The only sound in the office was the dry whirring of the exhaust pipes.
Hela slowly removed her hand from the Obsidian paperweight, her knuckles turning slightly bluish-white.
She knew better than anyone the level of security measures in her secret archives.
Double guard posts and double locks, the Black Crow Guard is on duty 24 hours a day. Except for her own orders, not even a flying insect can get in.
But the paper in front of you doesn't lie.
This was definitely not smuggled in before being submitted to the classified file.
If the binding is done in advance, punching and binding can be completed on the same machine, leaving no secondary damage from unraveling and re-binding, and avoiding fatal flaws like "page 3 of 2" appearing on the page number macro.
This page was added after the files were stored, in the secret archives room, right under the noses of the Black Crow Guard.
"Ke'er." Hela's voice wasn't loud, but it was deep and cold.
A thin layer of sweat appeared on Ke'er's forehead, and he slammed one knee onto the floor with a heavy thud.
"Your subordinate is here!"
"Who has entered document cabinet number three in the past month?"
Ke'er lowered his head, his voice trembling.
"Reporting to your superior... Aside from the weekly physical inventory by your subordinates, only Special Envoy Thomas from the Inspection Office has entered the outer reading room under the guise of cross-verification, carrying Joint Conference approval slip. However, Thomas was under constant surveillance whenever he handled the files, and he certainly did not carry any binding tools!"
Hela suddenly stood up, her large trench coat billowing, creating a gust of cold wind.
"Get out, investigate."
Ke'er didn't dare say anything more, got up and quickly walked out of the isolation door, deliberately keeping the sound of the metal door locking as quiet as possible.
The inner hall fell silent once more.
Hela looked down at Lynn from her high vantage point, the anger on her face slowly fading, replaced by an extreme coldness.
What do you want to do with this page?
"Three-party sealing."
Lynn calmly closed the document and placed it back in the gray plastic basket.
"The Director's Office, the Stability Maintenance Office, and the Internal Affairs Inspection Office will each apply a lead seal. The original document will be placed on the outer isolation shelf of Zero Storage Room. It will not be included in the official workflow, nor will it be invalidated or implemented."
Hela stared at him for a long time.
The tripartite sealing means that this bomb has been temporarily locked in a safe, neither exploding on the head of the Stability Maintenance Office nor giving the Department of Technology an excuse to make trouble.
Lynn did not seize the opportunity to take control of Starport's military, nor did he take the chance to weaken the Black Crow Guard's jurisdiction.
He just wants a compliant balance.
"You really have a knack for sitting still."
Hela opened the drawer, took out a heavy pair of lead-sealing pliers and a roll of special anti-tamper steel wire, and threw them on the table with a thud.
"You lower the first lock."
Lynn reached out and took the wire, threaded it through the sealing hole of the plastic steel basket, and skillfully pressed down the lead seal.
Hela then picked up her Broken Sword Seal and pressed it hard into the back of the lead block, leaving a dent.
Double blockade.
Lynn picked up the file basket, stood up, and prepared to leave.
Hela stood in the shadows, watching Lynn's retreating figure as he walked towards the door, and suddenly let out a low, cold laugh.
"Lynn."
Lynn stopped and turned to the side.
Hela braced her hands on the cold steel table edge, her lips pressed into a sharp line.
"There are probably no more than three people within the entire management committee who can untie the waxed thread in my confidential files and re-tie the knots in my fieldwork with Steel Needles."
She slightly raised her eyes, her gaze piercing through the dim light filtering through the crack in the door.
"Seven years ago, when you first sat in the Director's Office, the clerk who managed the seal register for you for two years used the same method to pick out the list of materials for the Forty-Second Execution, sheet by sheet, from the shredder."
Lynn's hand remained on the doorknob, his expression unchanged.
"Official documents are official documents, and people are people."
Lynn pushed open the heavy isolation door and stepped out.
The metal door slowly closed behind him, shutting out the roar of the gravity suppression valve.
The hallway lights outside were a stark white.
Lynn walked past the Black Crow Honor Guard's perimeter and reached for the portable terminal on the lead tray.
The screen lights up, and an encrypted communication notification pops up.
That wasn't Gwen Stacy's signal, nor was it Wanda's link.
The message originated from the Third Confinement Zone under the Internal Affairs Inspection Office. The springboard was disguised seven times before finally being attached to an offline terminal labeled "Watchmaker".