Story code: ST-001349
Part 2: Archive Room 4B
I stepped into Archive Room 4B behind them, holding the mobile terminal. Julian shut the heavy metal door, cutting off the noise from the reception. The room was lined with server racks, their cooling fans creating a low, constant hum that vibrated through the floorboards.
Julian stood between Clara and the exit, his posture rigid. ‘Where did you get that report?’ he asked, his voice low and tense. ‘Those files were supposed to be digitized and archived under my division’s key years ago.’
‘My mother kept the physical copies,’ Clara said, setting the paper down on the metal desk. She pulled out a chair and sat at the local terminal console.
Julian pulled out his tablet and showed her the screen. From where I stood, hooking up the mobile terminal to the wall jack, I could see the live genetic diagnostic readouts on his device. A sequence of red bars blinked on Julian’s personal profile.
‘My lineage profile is showing degradation,’ Julian said, his breathing shallow as he pointed at the screen. ‘The automated sweep runs at midnight. If the ledger doesn’t validate my sequence markers against a clean family template, my trust access will lock automatically.’
Clara looked at his tablet, then back at the console screen in front of her. ‘You need my clean sequence to validate yours.’
‘I need the decryption key for your mother’s original database block,’ Julian said, stepping closer. ‘Merge your sequence data into my profile update, or I will authorize the exclusion notice manually from the main lobby console. They won’t care about your paper report once the digital ledger locks you out.’
He leaned over the desk, his hands flat on the metal surface.
Clara did not look at him. She began typing on the console keyboard. Her fingers moved rapidly across the keys. The screen transitioned from the general diagnostic page to the Vance Registry Admin Console. A prompt popped up: ‘Enter Administrator Clearance Key.’
Julian watched her fingers. ‘You don’t have admin clearance.’
Clara pulled a small, physical USB key from her pocket, inserted it into the console, and typed a fourteen-digit passkey. The screen flashed blue, displaying: ‘Administrator Clara Vance: Session Active.’
Julian took a step back, his eyes moving from the screen to Clara’s face.
On the monitor, a menu appeared with a single, highlighted option: ‘Temporary Lock of All Active Trustee Accounts.’ Clara hovered her finger over the enter key, waiting for Julian’s next move.
Julian’s fingers twitched against his tablet. He looked at the flashing cursor on the console, then back at the USB key.
‘If you press that, the entire family trust freezes,’ Julian said, his voice dropping to a whisper. ‘No one gets access. Not even you.’
‘I have my physical proof,’ Clara replied, her voice remaining level. ‘You have a degrading sequence and twelve hours before the automated sweep.’
She did not take her hand off the keyboard. I stood by the door, holding the scanner, watching the progress bar on the screen transition to yellow, indicating a pending command.