The barracks corridor was quiet, the way it always was after morning rotation. Squad 7 had returned from standard post, shed their outer layers, and settled into the same loose pattern they'd kept since the Annex. Drake sat on his bunk with the bench wedge in his hand, turning it over. He'd decided the pine scrap Luna had given him was too soft and was considering a replacement. Xander had his book open again. Luna was mending a torn cuff. Kara was lying on her back on the floor, staring at the ceiling beams. James sat against the wall with his knees up, doing nothing in particular.
Nobody was talking. Nobody needed to.
The knock came mid-morning.
Drake looked up. Xander closed his book. Kara rolled onto her elbow. James didn't move.
The door opened and a young woman stepped in — early twenties, plain grey administrative coat, a leather folder tucked under one arm and a slate in her other hand. She looked like someone who spent most of her day in corridors exactly like this one.
"Afternoon," she said. "Records office. I'm here to verify a few details from your North Annex rotation."
Drake glanced at the others. "Now?"
"If it's convenient." She didn't sound like it mattered either way. "Shouldn't take more than ten minutes."
Drake gestured at the room. She stepped inside, set her slate on the small table near the door, and opened the folder.
"All five of you present for the Annex assignment?"
"Yes," Drake said.
"Names, please."
They gave them, one by one. She checked each against a column on her slate.
"Arrival date?"
Drake told her. She marked it.
"Departure?"
He told her. She marked it.
"Any instructors or proctors assigned to the site during your stay?"
"No."
"Master Chawng was present at various points," Xander said.
The clerk glanced up. "Formally assigned?"
"No."
"Noted as informal supervision." She made a mark. "Who filed the timber-hound property discrepancy form?"
"James."
She looked at James. "That's you?"
"Yes."
"Signature is yours?"
"Yes."
"Thank you." She turned the page. "Was the entity destroyed, reclaimed, or suppressed?"
"None of those."
She paused. Looked at him. "The form offers three options."
"I know."
She looked down at the folder again. Read something. Looked back up.
"You wrote 'Unassigned.'"
"Yes."
"On the line provided for status classification."
"Yes."
"Which isn't one of the options."
"No."
She was quiet for a moment. Then she made a small mark on her slate and moved on.
"Was there a second signature on the Unassigned form?"
Xander looked at James. James looked at the clerk.
"No," James said.
"You're certain?"
"Yes."
"All right." She made another mark.
"Was the fence construction formally authorized?"
"No."
"Noted." She made a mark. "Any structural modifications to Academy property beyond the fence?"
"No."
"Equipment loss during the rotation?"
"No."
"Unauthorized entry to restricted zones?"
"No."
She continued through the remaining questions without pausing. Duration of residency. Return transport method. Each question was procedural. Each answer was accepted without comment. She didn't linger. She didn't push. She just worked down her slate the way someone might work down a grocery list.
"Last one," she said. "Who was responsible for the fence construction?"
"Squad Seven," Drake said.
"Individually?"
"Collectively."
She wrote that down. "No formal authorization was filed."
"No."
"It was noted by Registrar Vance."
"Yes."
"Understood." She closed the folder and tucked it back under her arm. "That's everything. Thank you for your time."
She picked up her slate and walked out. The door clicked shut behind her.
---
The room was quiet for a moment.
Kara sat up. "What was that about?"
"Records verification," Xander said.
"I know what it was. I mean why."
"Audit, probably," Drake said.
"Audit of what?"
"Annex."
She frowned. "Why now?"
Drake didn't answer. He didn't know either.
Xander was still looking at the door.
"Why did she ask about a second signature?" he said.
James glanced at him. "There wasn't one."
"I know."
"Then why ask?"
Xander didn't answer right away. He picked up his book, then set it down without opening it.
"It was on the form," he said.
"What was?"
"The question." He looked at James. "She asked because the form told her to ask. Someone wrote that question into the verification list."
Kara frowned. "So?"
"So the form assumes there might have been a second signature."
"It didn't."
"Right." Xander picked his book back up. "The form doesn't know that."
Nobody said anything for a moment.
Then Kara lay back down on the floor.
"That's stupid," she said.
"Yeah," Xander agreed.
He opened his book. Drake went back to the wedge. Luna picked up her needle. James settled against the wall.
The corridor outside was quiet again. Somewhere down the hall, a door opened and closed. The barracks settled into the same pattern it had kept all morning.
The question about the second signature remained.
Nobody mentioned it again.