Story code: ST-001182
Part 4: The Resignation
I looked at Arthur’s trembling hand on the monitor stand, then at the blinking red line on my screen. The heavy footsteps of Director Vance echoed in the hallway, growing louder with every second.
I clicked the administrative menu on my console. My fingers moved across the mechanical keyboard, entering the system override password. The screen flashed once, requesting confirmation for record deletion. I pressed the enter key.
The row containing the 12:14 PM swipe vanished. The display refreshed, showing a clean sequence of routine checks, leaving no record of the physical entry. I grabbed the cloned plastic card from the desk and slid it into my pocket just as the door handle turned.
Director Vance walked back into the room, holding a printout of the gate logs. He stopped at the edge of my desk, his eyes scanning the monitor. “Well, Jim? Did you pull the raw buffer?”
“I ran the diagnostic, Director,” I said, keeping my voice flat. I pointed to the updated list. “The reader had a voltage drop at noon. The system logged a false entry signal, but there is no record of a physical card swipe at twelve-fourteen. It was a database glitch caused by the power fluctuation.”
Vance leaned forward, squinting at the screen. He tapped the glass with his index finger. “A glitch? During a protest?”
“The logs are clean, Director,” I repeated, keeping my hands resting flat on the desk.
Vance looked at Arthur, who was leaning against the filing cabinet. Arthur’s face remained pale, but his hands were hidden in his pockets.
“A glitch or not,” Vance said, his voice cold. “A banner was hung from your window, Arthur. Your office door was unlocked. The commissioner is furious. Even if we can’t prove a security breach in the database, the public optics are disastrous. Someone managed to get past your desk.”
Arthur stood up straight. He took a slow breath, his chest rising and falling. “I understand, Director. The responsibility for my office security lies with me. I will submit my formal resignation this afternoon. My retirement will take effect at the end of the week.”
Vance stared at him for a long moment, then nodded once. “Submit it before five. We’ll announce it as a scheduled transition.” He turned and walked out of the office, the door closing quietly behind him.
Chloe took a step toward Arthur, her mouth opening as if to speak, but Arthur turned his back to her. He did not look at her, nor did he look at me. He walked to his desk, picked up a small cardboard box from under the table, and began clearing his personal files.
Chloe stood in the center of the records office for a moment, her arms still crossed. When neither of us spoke, she turned and walked out the back exit, leaving the heavy door to swing shut without a sound.
I sat at my terminal, the silent database screen glowing in front of me. For the next three days, Arthur and I worked in the same suite without exchanging a single word. When Friday afternoon arrived, he carried his single box of personal belongings out to the plaza.
From my window, I watched him walk down the limestone steps where the banner had hung. He did not look back up at the building. He crossed the street alone, leaving the keys to the office sitting on his empty desk, next to the black marker he had used to sign his retirement papers.