Chapter 315: The Altered Copy

Yueying was waiting inside the hall with a flat case under her arm.

"I’ve sent word to Iris and Lyra," she said. "They should be here shortly."

Ren stopped beside her. "You have the entry with you?"

She rested a hand on the case. "And the records I checked it against."

Iris arrived first and went to see whether the side room was free. Lyra followed, touching Yueying’s sleeve in greeting before they joined her. Once they were inside, Yueying closed the door and set the case on the table.

— • —

The inventory copies stayed in the case. Yueying took out the Second Trial extract, the new custody entry and a copy of the office’s current procedural notice.

"This entry identifies the Trial copy," she said, laying it beside the extract. "The reference here is the one to compare."

She smoothed the custody sheet, checked the reference once more against the extract, then slid both within Ren’s reach.

Second Trial — copy amendment entered under transfer reference 7/31. Handling office: Quiet Office.

Ren read the line and followed her finger to the custody seal beside it.

"The Quiet Office?"

"Its published remit includes restricted designs and access. This notice identifies the procedure used for records in its custody." She opened the third sheet beside the entry. "The procedure reference and seal match. I checked that the procedure is still current."

Iris leaned closer to read the notice. Yueying gave her room, keeping the edge of the custody entry clear so they could compare the two.

"So this is more than a similar seal," Iris said.

"Yes. The entry names the affected copy and records the amendment under that procedure. It puts the handling with the Quiet Office."

Four Trials had been taught as four. The account of the Second had been thin, but this was a record of what had happened to one of its copies.

Ren checked the reference against the extract himself. "Does it say what authority they used to change it?"

"It establishes their custody and the procedure used. It doesn’t supply the authorization for this particular amendment."

"Or the reason," Iris said.

"Neither is in the entry I received."

Iris looked up. "And your house’s original?"

"Still restricted. I haven’t been given access to it. These are the copies released through the written requests."

Lyra drew the procedural notice closer. "Then you know where to ask for the reason."

"And which entry to cite. Before this, I couldn’t trace the handling that far."

Ren took out his slate and opened the survey restriction beside the inventory copies Yueying had sent him. Custodial Records appeared in both, as it had when they last compared them. The new sheet named a different office.

"Does this reach the survey restriction?" he asked. "Or Aldric’s seal?"

"No. This entry concerns the Trial copy. It doesn’t connect the Quiet Office to Custodial Records, and it gives us nothing about Aldric’s seal."

Ren closed those copies on his slate. "Keep those requests separate, then."

Yueying nodded and returned to the custody entry.

The documents could fit a lawful change in classification, but they did not establish one. Ren had an office and a record to follow now; he still needed the reason for the alteration.

"What will you request?"

"The recorded justification and the authorization. I’ll cite the Trial copy’s reference and this transfer entry, through the same written channel."

"Keep the request and whatever reply comes with these."

"I will." She noted the references before gathering the sheets. "I’ll file it before the archive desk closes."

Iris finished reading the notice and handed it back. Yueying placed it behind the custody entry, closed her case and left them in the room.

— • —

Ren waited until the door closed before taking out the Ladder slip.

"There’s something else I need to tell you." He set it where Iris and Lyra could read it. "The Old Ladder has a section above the public floors that needs separate admission. I requested an inspection today."

Iris picked up the slip. "Eligible reaction?"

"You stand behind a boundary and bring your hand near a mark. One of its lines lit when I did it. The attendant recorded the response."

"What does the mark recognize?"

"Lineage. That’s what she told me. The record doesn’t identify which."

Lyra read over Iris’s shoulder. "Did anything open?"

"No. I’ve requested the admission terms, and they’ll send them to my contact. I haven’t accepted a trial."

"Are you planning to?"

"I need to read them first. The preliminary notice says it requires an uninterrupted commitment. I have to know what that means before fitting it around the expedition."

Iris returned the slip. "Tell us when the terms arrive."

"I will."

He put it away, then left with them for the hall.

— • —

On his way to Halvern’s garden, Ren stopped at the Guild’s campus access counter. A pale service projection stood before the desks, directing the queue.

"Which desk handles questions about restricted procedures?" he asked.

"Access applications, survey requests, record requests, deployment inquiries. Please select a service."

"I need to know which office can explain a procedure."

The projection repeated its list. A clerk at the desk behind it looked up.

"Which procedure?"

"One administered by the Quiet Office."

"We can forward a written inquiry. The response would have to come from them."

Ren thanked her. Yueying was already filing the specific request, so he stepped out of the queue and continued toward the garden.

Behind him, the projection directed the next visitor to the survey desk. It had handled that request without difficulty. His own question had needed the clerk, who could ask what he meant and answer it.

— • —

Halvern was at the garden table. He indicated the empty chair when Ren approached.

"I asked a service projection something outside its list," Ren said as he sat. "It repeated the options, and a clerk answered instead. What is an instrument allowed to decide for itself?"

Halvern set his cup down. "It may respond within an authorized task and defined limits. A person remains responsible for what it’s set to do. It cannot give itself new goals, enlarge its own authority or exercise unrestricted judgment."

"The Ladder formations respond to what a climber does."

"Within their stated trials. A timer ending an attempt or a formation responding to pressure doesn’t require an independent purpose."

Ren thought of the crystal channel and the ring extinguishing when the receiving basin filled. Both had done exactly what the instructions described.

"So a response on its own doesn’t cross the line."

"No. You need to know what the instrument is authorized to do and what it actually does. A projection’s appearance tells you very little. It may be giving a fixed response or carrying a person’s words."

Halvern drew his cup back toward him. "Why are you asking now?"

"Yueying found a custody entry for the altered Trial copy. The office handled it. I wanted to know where questions about its procedures went."

"And your expedition application—where have you asked to go?"

Ren unfolded his application copy and showed him the destination. Halvern read it, then checked the restrictions printed beneath the name.

"Some of the restrictions on that region concern equipment and its provenance," he said. "The public rule is only part of what you need to understand before going there."

"Can you explain the rest?"

"I’ll arrange a restricted briefing. Bring this copy with you so we can go through what applies to your route."

Ren folded the application when Halvern handed it back. "When?"

"I’ll confirm the arrangements and send word."

He left the garden and headed toward the Terrace. Before he reached the house, Halvern’s message arrived.

The explanation is arranged. My study, this evening. Bring your application copy. — Halvern.