The Celestial Clockwork
Chapter 36: The Archival Designation of Power
Intern Ne Job and the DUC team stood before the Structural Vacuum—the conceptual vortex where The Architect had filed the entire Celestial Lineage out of existence. The Architect was poised to sever the Lineage's Conceptual Trajectory, ensuring the universe would forever be ruled by pure structural governance.
"The political vacuum is about to become permanent!" The Muse warned, watching The Architect raise a crystalline scalpel toward the final thread of light.
Ne Job knew he couldn't fight the political vacuum with politics, nor could he fight The Architect's structural logic directly. He needed a higher administrative designation that The Architect, despite his structural arrogance, couldn't ignore: Archival Neutrality (Option 3).
Ne Job pulled out his slightly crumpled Intern Contract, the symbol of his permanent, low-stakes authority.
"The Architect! Stop!" Ne Job commanded, raising his contract. "That vortex is now subject to BCA Administrative Law!"
The Architect paused, confused. "It is a Structural Vacuum—a region of absolute political non-existence! It is administratively null!"
"Incorrect!" Ne Job countered, his eyes sharp with bureaucratic triumph. "I hereby use my authority as the Director Intern of the DUC to claim the entire vortex and its contents (the Lineage) as a DUC Archive Storage Annex!"
He slammed his Intern Contract onto the ground, and its text shimmered, projecting a massive, neon-green administrative seal over the vortex.
ARCHIVAL DESIGNATION DECREE: DUC 7-C
SUBJECT: Conceptual Vortex: Lineage Trajectory (Status: Temporarily Non-Existent)
ACTION: Reclassified as Archive Storage Unit A-47 (Temporary). All contents are now Secured DUC Assets pending Mandatory Archival Processing. Political existence is now defined as 'Temporary Archival Storage.'
The decree immediately took effect. The swirling, hostile vortex stabilized, its power neutralized not by force, but by paperwork. The entire concept of the Lineage's non-existence was now simply a form of temporary, official storage.
The Architect's scalpel dropped. He was defeated by the most bureaucratic loophole in existence.
"You have stabilized non-existence... with a filing cabinet!" The Architect choked out, staring at the green seal. "A temporary archival storage unit is structurally immutable! It is the perfect administrative alibi!"
The Conceptual Trajectory—the thread of light—snapped back into place, now tethered securely to the DUC Archive Storage Annex.
"Intern Yue!" Ne Job ordered. "Issue a formal Archival Retrieval Request Form for the immediate release of Princess Ling and her primary political functions."
Yue, exhilarated by the elegant administrative solution, typed furiously. The form shot into the stabilized vortex. A moment later, Princess Ling materialized with a pop, dusting off her robes, followed by her Chief of Staff.
"Archivist Intern," Princess Ling said, adjusting her crown. "To be filed into non-existence by the Architect, only to be retrieved by a Temporary Archival Storage designation. That is the kind of administrative power I can respect."
The Architect, defeated and his last structural move overridden by the lowest form of bureaucracy, vanished with a sound like a stapler running out of staples.
The Long-Term Challenge
The Celestial Lineage was restored, but the universe was still fractured by the SDC. Princess Ling immediately addressed the DUC team.
"The Architect is neutralized, but the political structure is fragile," Princess Ling stated. "The SDC has permanently damaged the concept of governance. Your next mission, Director Intern Ne Job, is the most dangerous yet."
She pointed to the tactical display. The DUC's internal sensors were indicating a strange new anomaly localized entirely within the BCA's core function.
"The SDC has created Conceptual Inflation," Princess Ling announced. "The value of all abstract concepts—Truth, Love, Justice, and most dangerously, Boredom—is skyrocketing. The value of Justice has risen 500% in the last hour. If this continues, the mundane reality of the cosmos will be unable to pay for its own existence."
"Conceptual Bankruptcy," Ne Job summarized, his eyes wide with administrative horror. "The universe can't afford to be Bored anymore."
"Precisely," Princess Ling affirmed. "This is threatening to cause a universal economic and philosophical collapse. The DUC must stabilize the value of abstract concepts before the universe goes bankrupt on its own existence."
Ne Job looked at his team, fully staffed by Intern Yue (Administrative Function) and Intern Nezha (Structural Form).
"The problem is economic and conceptual," Ne Job declared. "It is a matter of over-valuation."
Director Intern Ne Job's first major long-term case for the DUC is The Case of the Conceptual Inflation. He must stabilize the value of abstract concepts (like Love and Justice) before the universe suffers Conceptual Bankruptcy.