Volume I — Arc 1 — Epoch I
[Cycle 046 | Pulse 77:30:00 — Mobile registry sweep / Errand & trust → Log: mobile day → desk deploy → intake transfer test → missing slip trace → witness relay → apprentice exchange → Crosspath midweek digest → public mobile update → Channel: secure → public digest on close]
Aurelius: "A ledger that moves must carry its quiet with it. A mobile desk is not a cart of paper; it is a moving promise. Keep the promise plain where the people meet."
Aurelia: "Right. Bring the log to the lane, not the lane to the log. Teach hands how to read tags in the sun, then keep the trust when dusk comes."
Clerk (soft): [TASK] Roving Archive roll — Mode: deploy mobile registry to bakery & ferry lanes → run intake transfer test (mobile → slab) → trace a missing witness slip CL-0152.trace.miss → convene witness relay & trustee aid CL-0152.wr.relay → apprentice exchange & cross-training CL-0152.appr.xchg → Crosspath digest sync CL-0152.cross.digest → post mobile update CL-0152.mobile.upd. Team: Magistrate Korran (steward cue), Crosspath Halek (digest & sync), River Step trustees Mira & Len (witness & relay), keeper Tomas (vault liaison & transfer), keeper Halen (overwatch), tutors Bryn & Kalen (cross-train leads), apprentices Jorren (mobile lead), Nia (assist), clerks Rell & Sorin (mobile intake pair), deputies Mina & Jor (escort/witness), courier guide Morn (clerk & intake). Objectives: mobile desk run CL-0152.box.run; intake transfer test CL-0152.transfer.test; locate missing slip CL-0152.trace.miss; perform witness relay CL-0152.witness.relay; apprentice cross-train CL-0152.appr.xchg; sync Crosspath digest CL-0152.cross.sync; post update CL-0152.mobile.upd. Channel: secure → public.
They set out at the third bell with a packed chest and a tidy map. The mobile registry wore a strap and a ribbon like a small traveling altar: brass reader, spare wax, ink pads, a bundle of blank witness slips, and a copy of the Continuity Log's active page. Jorren marched beside the courier, his hand steady on the chest's lid; Nia held a stack of FAQ cards. The ferry lane would be first — where morning hands slept late and the slab's lamp did not reach.
Morn (steady): "Deploy at the ferry first. Put the pad under shade; show the brass reader; teach the double-read tag script to two ferrymen and the night baker. Run an intake transfer test to move any slips to the slab before dusk."
Clerk: [DEPLOY] Mobile run CL-0152.box.run — ferry CL-0152.ferry.deploy; bakery CL-0152.bakery.deploy.
At the ferry, the bench set the chest beside a low bench where hull-ropes coiled. Two ferrymen leaned in, their palms stained by rope and tar. Jorren showed them the tag reader; he read a mock tag aloud twice and tapped Crosspath to pull a node. The brass blinked and Halek's pad returned a waxed triplicate. The ferrymen's faces eased — the thing was small and learnable. Nia handed each a FAQ card and a bead to tie to an apron if they wished; the bead was a tiny contract between practice and memory.
Ferryman (broad): "We'll bring slips when a hold appears. The brass looks easy. We'll practice twice each tide."
Clerk: [TRAIN] Ferry demo CL-0152.ferry.demo — ferrymen trained CL-0152.ferr.trn.
The first intake came from a baker who runs the second bell and only stops by the ferry to fetch coal. He brought a witnessed slip for a neighbor claim and asked that the mobile desk transfer it to Lorek's slab before the afternoon bell. Rell recorded the anchor, attached a provisional tag, and ran the intake transfer protocol: pad copy, wax seed, witness pin, mobile register log entry. The test would prove the chest's purpose: move proofs where people are and keep their chain intact when they reach the slab.
Rell (calm): "Transfer test: pad copy, wax, witness, mobile log recorded. We will send a sealed pouch to the slab courier at noon and confirm receipt by wax bloom match."
Clerk: [RUN] Transfer test CL-0152.transfer.test — baker slip CL-0152.baker.slip; pouch sealed CL-0152.pouch.ok.
They tied the pouch to the courier and sent it along with a note: Transfer: Mobile intake — deliver to slab before second bell — CL-0152. Tomas at the slab watched for its arrival. Crosspath marked the intake provisional until the slab confirmed the wax bloom on receipt. The mobile desk's promise was a small chain of handoffs; each link needed strength.
Meanwhile, a small worry surfaced: a ferryman reported a missing witness slip — a child had dropped a slip he'd been asked to hold and the ferryman could not find it. The claim was not large in coin but large in trust. A missing slip, untraced, can hollow a neighbor's faith in the chest's usefulness, so the bench moved from teaching to tracing.
Ferryman (worried): "A child found a slip and clutched it. Then it flew into the reeds. We looked but the reed hides a thousand things. The claim had witness pins—do we trace it?"
Korran (steady): "Trace it. We use witness relay first: ask neighbors, mark times, and if needed call a vault micro-flag for provisional proof. A slip lost in reeds may yet echo in a witness's hand. Do not name anyone. Find the fact first."
Clerk: [ORDER] Trace run CL-0152.trace.miss — reed search CL-0152.reed.search; witness relay CL-0152.wr.init.
Jorren led the small search, assembling a neighbor relay: ferrymen, two children who had played there, and a potter who sells ash. They spread quietly, scanning reeds, asking for a fallen wax, and calling for anyone who had pocketed a found paper. Mina took witness slips from the mobile chest and asked neighbors to write brief attestations of what they'd seen or heard. The bench prefers witness before accusation; often a hand that keeps a slip will come forward when asked kindly.
Mina (soft): "Write what you saw, time it, and sign. If someone found the slip and kept it for safety, we will note their hand and reissue a transfer once the slab confirms. We look for paper, not for blame."
Clerk: [GATHER] Witness relay CL-0152.wr.relay — slips written CL-0152.wr.slips.
The reed search lasted an hour and produced nothing but a small scrap of ribbon. Then, unexpectedly, a boy from the toy maker's lane ran up with the missing slip in his small fist. He had found it caught on a reed stem and tucked it into his pocket because he feared to return it to a crowd. He handed it over with cheeks red and a quiet apology. The bench took the slip, read the wax bloom, and matched it to the baker's provisional tag. The chain reassembled.
Boy (shy): "I found it. I was scared of the crowd. I kept it until now. I'm sorry."
Clerk: [RETURN] Slip found CL-0152.slip.found — wax match CL-0152.wax.match; chain restored CL-0152.chain.ok.
Morn wrote a short neighbor note praising the child's courage for coming forward and recorded the incident in the petty ledger under found slips. Small public kindness prevents larger shames: the bench refused to scold and instead made the boy's act visible as a model. Sorra, who watched, brought him a warm roll later, which the bench logged as neighbor goodwill.
Morn (soft): "Record the boy's return and the goodwill. Public praise for an honest hand matters more than a stern word."
Clerk: [RECORD] Goodwill CL-0152.goodwill.rec — roll CL-0152.roll.gift; ledger CL-0152.ledger.entry.
Back at the slab, Tomas confirmed the courier's pouch arrived and the wax bloom matched Rell's seal. The transfer test closed successfully. Crosspath synced the intake line and updated the continuity log with a note: Mobile transfer tested — wax bloom match CL-0152 — transfer confirmed. Halek appended the midweek digest: two mobile intakes, one transfer success, no administrative flags, one found slip resolved, and a suggestion to add found-slip guidance to the FAQ.
Halek (plain): "Crosspath digest: mobile runs clear; transfer protocol confirmed; recommend found-slip guidance to reduce lost-proof risk. Append to next audit."
Clerk: [SYNC] Crosspath digest CL-0152.cross.sync — mobile digest CL-0152.digest.
Tomas called a brief apprentice exchange: Rell and Sorin would take morning slab duty next week while Jorren and Nia rotate to lead two mobile stops. Bryn ran a short cross-training on how to fold witness slips to keep wax safe in a reed wind; a small craft that saves paper saves trust. Apprentices traded notes and the bench logged the rota change in the continuity log.
Bryn: "Fold the slip into a small packet, wax once, fold again. Teach ferrymen to tuck slips where reeds do not reach. Practice twice each mobile stop."
Clerk: [ASSIGN] Apprentice exchange CL-0152.appr.xchg — rota update CL-0152.rota.upd; training CL-0152.train.done.
Before the lamp cooled the bench posted a short mobile update at Lorek's slab and at the lane ends: mobile desk ran two stops; transfer test passed; missing slip found and returned; new guidance to tuck slips and a public thanks to the boy; upcoming mobile schedule posted with new apprentice rota. The mobile registry had proved its value not only by moving paper but by restoring a small trust frayed by the reed.
Morn (steady): "Post the line plainly. The chest's promise holds when people see the chain close in public. Let the lane read the story and sleep on it."
Clerk: [POST] Mobile update CL-0152.mobile.upd — post CL-0152.posted.
Clerk: [COMMIT] Snapshot CL-0152 — Cycle 046 | Pulse 77:30:00 ▪ Ch.174 ▪ Change type: Mobile registry sweep executed; ferry & bakery mobile desks deployed; intake transfer test passed (pouch wax bloom match); missing witness slip traced and returned; witness relay & neighbor praise executed; apprentice exchange & cross-training performed; Crosspath midweek digest synced; continuity log updated; public mobile update posted ▪ Anchors: CL-0152.box.run; CL-0152.transfer.test; CL-0152.trace.miss; CL-0152.witness.relay; CL-0152.appr.xchg; CL-0152.cross.sync; CL-0152.mobile.upd ▪ Trustee sign: Mira + Len. Secure dossier forwarded. Public digest queued.
Post-Law Reflection: A registry that walks must carry simple rules for lost proofs and clear transfer steps. Test transfers publicly (pad copy → wax → witness → courier pouch → slab bloom match). If a slip vanishes, run a witness relay before name-calling: ask neighbors, collect attestations, and seek the lost paper calmly. Teach apprentices to fold slips to resist wind and to tuck them where reeds cannot take them. Use Crosspath to sync mobile intakes and keep a digest so outreach is not a rumor but a recorded habit. Praise honest hands in public—the act of returning a lost slip matters as much as the rule that saves it. Keep the chest light, the steps short, and the chain plain; a moving ledger that proves itself becomes a town's steady promise.