AF 0, Month 3. Midmorning light slid across wet stone. The Lower Ferry Step—a short row of worn steps to the river—smelled of rope and fish. The founder stood beside a small cart. He did not take the handles. Warden did.
Objective: prove the founder will obey the field rules as a quiet hand.
Stakes: if he fails, he cannot wear the Mask; the group loses trust.
Constraint: he must not lead; one chance only.
Rule Card — L5 Loyalty Test (Founder)
1. From → To: Lower Ferry Step → Pale Hearth (back door)
2. Time: midmorning
3. Item: spent grain
4. Say: "Spent grain. Pig feed."
5. Signal: Lantern left = Go; Lantern right = Stop
6. If Blocked: show seal → wait → change route once
Warden spoke low. "You walk on the right of the cart," he said. "You do nothing unless I ask. If I touch the cart, you let go. If I step left, you step left. If I stop, you stop."
"Understood," the founder said.
Arbiter—playing a shed clerk—tucked a letter with a wax seal into his coat. Strategist stood inside the bakery lane, ready to repeat the cover line to anyone who needed a reason. Watcher placed two spotters near the shrine turn and the eel-stall corner. Shadow waited in the back lane behind Pale Hearth.
Warden set his hand on the cart. "We go."
They rolled out at a normal pace.
Why: steady looks ordinary; rushing looks guilty.
At the ferry shed, the clerk lifted a hand. Warden showed the seal—just the wax, not the words. The clerk glanced and waved them on.
Why: law first calms officials; no debate needed.
They took the shrine turn. The street narrowed. Smoke from a brazier drifted low. A man with an apple fell into step behind them. He turned when they turned. He kept the same space. They turned again. He turned again.
Warden slowed one step. The man slowed.
Warden tipped his chin toward the upper lane. The founder said nothing. He shifted with Warden, keeping the cart steady as they slid left into the less-busy way.
Why: small change early shakes a tail without noise.
The man with the apple drifted to a stall and stopped. The cart moved on.
They reached the eel-stall corner. A lantern on a nail hung right.
Warden stopped. The founder stopped with him. They waited, hands loose, eyes dull.
Why: a calm stop looks like patience, not fear.
A fishmonger crossed with a barrel. Two boys ran past with a line of twine between them like a tripwire. The lantern swung to left.
Warden moved. The founder moved with him.
A wheel ahead broke free from a brewer's cart and skittered into the lane, spilling wet grain. The brewer swore. People laughed and crowded to look. The lane was blocked.
Warden's palm touched the handle. The founder let go. Warden backed the cart into a pocket by a wall, then pointed at the shrine lane with two fingers. They eased the cart down the backup line Strategist had marked on the map.
Why: use the one planned change; do not invent more.
At the end of the backup line, Strategies crossed their path and spoke to nobody: "Spent grain. Pig feed."
The words landed like any market phrase—dull and correct. A clerk glanced at the cart and looked away.
They reached Pale Hearth on time. Warden stopped at the back door. The founder stood still. Warden knocked twice. A girl with flour on her cheek opened. The sack went in. No talk.
Warden checked the sky. "Done," he said.
The founder let out a breath he hadn't noticed he was holding.
They walked the long way back to the mill room, one at a time, in pairs and singles, so no one would see them arrive together.
Inside, the waterwheel roared. Keeper watched the clock-scratched mark on the beam. Watcher gave a small nod. Arbiter set the folded permit down. Keeper leaned on the table edge, calm. Shadow stood near the back door, the space around him quiet.
Warden faced the founder. "You did not lead," he said. "You moved when told. You let go when told. You obeyed the lantern and the stop. You made one route change. On time. No scene."
"Pass," Warden said.
The founder closed his eyes for a moment and opened them again.
"Archivist," Keeper said.
The Archivist stepped forward, wrote one short line, and set the stamp—the circle with the dot—at the bottom.
"Next step," Keeper said gently.
The founder placed a small slip of paper on the table. On it, a name the reader would never see. He struck a match. He watched the slip blacken, curl, and fall into a metal dish.
"I take the Name Burn," he said. "I burn my name and take the oath."
He spoke the oath:
"I will act only when many lives are at risk.
I will use law first, force last.
I will keep orders short and leave before praise.
I will protect the Archive.
I will keep the World's Seat empty.
If I betray this, I accept death."
The room was very still. Flour dust hung in the light.
"Mask," the Archivist said.
Shadow lifted the small iron mask from the table. Warden set it in the founder's hands. The founder raised it but did not fit it to his face yet. He looked at the World's Seat—the plain stool in the center.
"We answer to this," he said. "No one sits there."
He set the mask down again for a breath, then lifted it and tied it on. The iron was dull and close; it belonged to no name.
"The Remnant has a Mask," Whisper said softly.
"Work goes on," Strategist added. "Two more grain runs before noon. Then water pulls to the High Well."
The founder nodded. "Small teams," he said. "Short orders. Clear reasons."
He touched the circle-and-dot with two fingers. "The world remembers. Not us. The work."
They left by different doors and were swallowed by the market.
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Outcome (mission): Success. The founder obeyed in silence, stayed in role, and delivered on time with one clean route change and no scene.
Consequence: Name Burn completed; the first Mask seated; next runs green-lit with the same Rule Card.
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Archive Entry: 0004
Era: Founding
Year: AF 0 (Month 3)
Content: L5 Loyalty Test — Command completed by founder (quiet hand under Warden); on-time delivery; one planned route change; no scene; Pass. Name Burn taken; oath spoken before the World's Seat; Mask seated. Follow-on: two grain runs approved; water pulls scheduled to High Well.
SEAL: Recorded before the World's Seat. The Remnant endures. The world remembers.