Volume I — Arc 1 — Epoch I
[Cycle 004 | Pulse 21:30:00 — Aftercare tick / Witness rounds / Intake audit — Log: custody audit → tutor follow → runner witness take → Morn intake ledger sync → Channel: secure → public digest on close]
Aurelius: "A net that closes asks for hours of small work after. Proof is a thing you carry day by day. When a town makes a habit of neat acts, law can cut less and craft can rise."
Aurelia: "Yes. Let men show their mint; let tutors teach where a hole sits. A judge reads neat pages. A buyer reads a mint. Both ask for ritual, not rumor."
Clerk (soft): [TASK] Aftercare roll — Mode: custody audit + witness round + intake sync + runner witness prep. Team: Crosspath tracers Halek (lead), Magistrate Korran (steward), River Step trustees Mira & Len, keeper Halen (supervise), tutors Kalen & Bryn, apprentices Nia & Tomas, deputies Mina & Jor, courier guide Morn (prov. deputy). Objectives: complete custody audit; run second wave of aftercare at seized nodes; process runner witness file; sync intake ledger; anchor: CL-0068.aftercare.start. Channel: secure → public.
Dawn bent soft. The seized pallets rested under trustee watch like boxes that know they will be read. Morn moved with a slow care that had become his habit: slate, wax, witness pin. He ran the intake ledger line by line, a slow scan that checked wax mark, sample tag, mirror slip. Where a seam had been weak, he called a second witness and logged a second mirror copy. That was the work that keeps a case from falling to rumor.
Halen: "Do not rush a seal. If wax misreads or a pin slips, we lose the whole page. Check twice, then call a trustee. The court trusts a clean chain."
Morn: "I mark each line twice and keep the mirror slips in two stacks. If a steward asks, we hand neat sets, not one torn page."
Clerk: [AUDIT] Custody audit start — CL-0068.custody.audit.start. Manifests A–C intake verif; mirror slip copy x2; witness pin check for each pallet. Anchor CL-0068.custody.audit.log1.
Halek walked the sealed packet with the tracers like a man who reads a map for small lies. He pulled one manifest aside that bore a faint repeat mark: an alias scrawl in the margin that matched the runner's confession from the night prior. He flagged it and sent a tame tracer note back to the steward file: tie stronger; call one witness who can name a meet point.
Halek: "This repeat mark pairs with the runner's line. We set a witness ask. If he names the meet, we tie a node; if not, we hold and test. We move by fact."
Clerk: [FLAG] Trace add — CL-0068.trace.flagA; manifest tie note added to steward packet.
Tutors moved onward in the net not as show but as craft push. Kalen and Bryn split the day: one pair went to a dock shop where buyers had not yet come back; the other went to a hamlet node that still showed thin marks. Their method was spare: demo, test, leave comb only after repeat, post mirror hash. Where a keeper had posted a pledge, tutors left a simple script for repeat duty: press twice, post hash, show a buyer the mark.
Kalen: "Teach the test. Make the buyer part of the check. When both buyer and seller know the ritual, a runner has no safe corner."
Clerk: [DISPATCH] Tutor second wave — CL-0068.tutor.wave2.exec: dock shop demo; hamlet node demo; mirror hash post CL-0068.tutor.wave2.logs.
At the dock Rook welcomed the tutors like a man who had worn thin hope into a small calm. They set a bench and ran three buyer trials. Each buyer watched the press, counted bars, and left a hash slip when content. The keeper wrote the mirror anchor by hand and Erin, a buyer who had once balked, left a small note: she would buy again if the mint shows twice.
Rook: "The lane feels less hungry now. Buyers test and then come back. A shop that posts a mint twice holds better trade."
Clerk: [LOG] Dock shop trial — CL-0068.dock.trial3; mirror anchors posted; buyer Erin note CL-0068.buyer.Erin.
In the hamlet, Sera the maker had posted her new mint line and kept her teach promise. Apprentices watched as she filed one tooth and pressed twice; her stamps came cleaner and she posted a hash in the mirror board. The apprentices bound the slip into the witness booklet that would move to steward docket. The small acts turned into proof.
Sera (quiet): "I learned a steady knot. A buyer checks once; if you show it twice, they come back. I will teach when I can."
Clerk: [RECEIVE] Sera mint anchor CL-0068.Sera.mint2; apprentice witness add CL-0068.Sera.wit.
Back at the hall the runner who had confessed stood under a muted light with Halek and the clerk. He had come not to boast but to fix a long debt. He named one meet: a ferry lane at dusk, a man with a red knot on his cloak. Halek wrote the line down slow. The runner's name would enter witness files; his recall to the steward would be noted as cooperation. That trade of names for leniency is narrow, but it makes a net hold.
Runner (low): "I did runs for a debt. I can point to the meet. Ask the man with a red knot at dusk. I will show names if the court will let me stand and teach later."
Halek: "We take your note. We will carry it as witness fold to the steward. Cooperation shifts weight. Paper still counts, but your talk helps stitch the map."
Clerk: [FILE] Runner witness file CL-0068.runner.witfile; add to steward packet CL-0068.steward.add.runner.
Morn's audit moved to mirror sync. He sat and matched each intake line with the steward packet and with the apprentice witness slips. He added small tags: who held the seal, who placed the pin, which tutor ran the aftercare. Each tag tightened the court's ability to read the man's map. Halen watched and then gave a short nod: neat work makes law less blunt.
Halen: "You line the slips so a steward can read them on tick. If our lines are tidy, the court can weigh mitigation instead of default cut."
Clerk: [SYNC] Intake ledger sync — CL-0068.intake.syncA: mirror slips matched to steward packet; witness booklets crosslinked.
Midday brought a thin friction: a trader at the ford had a bad batch show a faint V-3 hint in a retest. He froze and looked to tutors and to Halen. The keeper advised the plain rule: seal, post pins, do not sell the lot until trace clears. The trader agreed and called a public hold. A small public teach followed to show why he held the lot — a move that the clerk would log as proof of duty.
Trader (flat): "I hold the lot. I will not sell until the chest reads it. I post teach now so buyers know why."
Clerk: [HOLD] Ford trader public hold CL-0068.ford.hold2; teach demo posted CL-0068.ford.hold2.teach; mirror anchor CL-0068.ford.hold2.anchor.
The witnesses' round came next. Mina and Jor walked lanes and checked on those who had held pins at the recall: had they felt any threat? did they want shelter? did they need escort for the hearing? Their route was not mere courtesy; a witness who fears a street will not show again. The pair recorded small notes and called a night rota for those who asked.
Mina: "We will not let a man who speaks walk alone at dusk. Post the flag and the escort will come. A witness must keep their feet free to show in court."
Clerk: [ROTA] Witness round report CL-0068.witness.round1; shelter slots reserved; escorts set CL-0068.witness.escorts.
Halek returned with a tracer update: the ferry meet the runner named had a small ledger mark that matched a shard found earlier; the man with the red knot had ledger pages in a trunk at a stall near the ferry. Crosspath advised a sealed approach; they would not call a public dragnet. The steward would get the sealed addendum at the next tick.
Halek: "We take a quiet fold. We will seal inquiry and bring it to the steward. No loud step. We bind the knot without scatter."
Clerk: [ATTACH] Ferry meet trace add CL-0068.trace.ferry.add; steward packet update CL-0068.steward.update.
Late day the apprentices gathered mirror bundles and tied them to the steward packet. Ryn showed them a small trick: fold slips in a way the clerk can open fast, mark the top with a node tag, and place a witness leaf so the steward sees the human fold. It was small craft, and in that craft the town places trust.
Ryn: "Fold neat. Put the node tag on top. The steward will not spend an hour sorting our slips. They read what is tidy first."
Clerk: [BUNDLE] Apprentice mirror bundle CL-0068.appr.bundle.post.
Night fell with a calm the town had not had at the start of the week. Buyers returned to a dock stall; a hamlet maker set a second teach for next dawn; a runner had named a meet and might yet turn testimony into aid. Morn closed his ledger and placed a small wax seal over the intake stack. Each seal meant a mirror copy and a witness pin beside it. He thought of the old handler's pouch and tucked his mirror slip inside for safe keep.
Morn (soft): "A case lives in small acts after the chest rolls away. We hold neat maps so a steward can read them. I will keep the mirror clean."
Clerk: [COMMIT] Snapshot CL-0068 — Cycle 004 | Pulse 21:30:00 ▪ Ch.88 ▪ Change type: Custody audit run; tutor second wave aftercare; runner witness file logged; intake ledger sync complete; ford public hold & teach log; witness round and escort rota set; ferry meet trace add attached; apprentice bundle posted ▪ Anchors: CL-0068.aftercare.start; CL-0068.custody.audit.log1; CL-0068.trace.flagA; CL-0068.tutor.wave2.logs; CL-0068.runner.witfile; CL-0068.intake.syncA; CL-0068.ford.hold2; CL-0068.witness.round1; CL-0068.trace.ferry.add; CL-0068.appr.bundle.post ▪ Trustee sign: Mira + Len. Secure dossier forwarded. Public digest posted.
Post-Law Reflection: A recall makes a map, but a town must walk that map to mend. Keep chain neat: wax seal, mirror slip, two witness pins, tutor note. Teach in the lanes seized; leave a comb only after repeat; make buyers part of the test. Take witness care not as charity but as law work — a witness who fears will not step forward. Sync intake ledgers to steward packets so magistrates read tidy proof. A runner who gives names may shift a call from wrath to repair if his talk is backed by neat paper. Keep the mirror clean, keep the temper slab warm, and make habit the town's answer to a chest's probe.