Jalen called before the clinic opened. He wanted to file the complaint.
Tessa met him at the community office with Eli and Priya. Rain had polished the steps, and Jalen’s crutch slipped on the first one. Eli caught his elbow. Jalen steadied himself, thanked him and kept hold of the rail for the remaining steps.
Inside, Priya had reserved a small room. She asked Jalen whether he wanted Eli present while they prepared the statement.
“He can stay if he doesn’t answer for me.”
“I won’t,” Eli said.
Jalen placed his notebook on the table. He had written the date his identification was taken, the desk attendant’s explanation and the occasions when he had asked for it back. Priya read the entries, then asked him to describe the intake in his own words.
“There was a line. They took our phones for the lockers and checked our names. The attendant asked for my card. I gave it to her because she said she needed it for processing.”
“Did she say how long?”
“She said I’d get it after the shift. I asked at the end and she said the office wasn’t finished.”
“What happened the next day?”
“I asked before the shift. She said the office opened later. At the end she said the supervisor was reviewing the records.”
Priya wrote each answer in a separate paragraph. Jalen corrected her when she described the attendant as refusing to return the card.
“She didn’t say no forever. She kept saying later.”
“That’s what we’ll write.”
Eli watched the pen move. The distinction seemed small compared with several days without identification, but Jalen had to defend the statement if someone challenged it. Words he had not chosen could make his account easier to dismiss.
Priya asked about the cabinet. Jalen described seeing his folder carried into the office and placed in the top drawer. He could not say what was inside the folder after the attendant turned away. He mentioned another worker who had complained about a missing card, then stopped.
“I only heard part of it. I don’t want her name in this.”
“We can leave her out,” Priya said. “Your complaint concerns your own document. Sera’s observation of the cabinet can be kept separately.”
Jalen read the draft. His lips moved silently as he followed the lines. At the end, he asked what would happen if the employer offered to return the card only after he withdrew the complaint.
“You can decide whether to accept any proposal,” Priya said. “I would ask for the terms in writing and the original document before recommending that you close anything. We should also ask what happens on future shifts.”
“Can they fire me for filing?”
“They may end the assignment. There may be a way to challenge that, but I can’t promise how quickly it would be resolved. Have you spoken with the housing adviser?”
“My sister and I called yesterday. The workers’ fund may help with rent if the assignment ends. They need proof of the change.”
“Do you want to file knowing that?”
“Yes.”
He signed. Priya made two copies, one for Jalen and one for her file. The original went to the intake desk. The clerk stamped it, gave them a reference number and explained that an investigator would review it. Jalen folded his copy into the notebook rather than the outer pocket of his bag.
Outside, he stood under the awning and looked across the street. “I thought I’d feel better.”
“You might feel better when the card is back,” Tessa said.
“I might feel worse if the job goes.”
“That too.”
Eli offered to buy coffee. Jalen chose tea and a pastry instead. They sat at a café table while Priya called the investigator to confirm receipt. Tessa checked Jalen’s leg after he mentioned that the stairs at the workplace had increased his pain. She did not diagnose the cause over the table; she suggested he contact the clinician who had assessed the injury and ask whether the new duties fit his restrictions.
“The supervisor said the stool was enough,” Jalen replied.
“Your clinician can tell you what to ask for. The supervisor doesn’t have to carry the pain home.”
Jalen sent a message to the clinic that had treated him. The reply offered a telephone appointment the next morning. He accepted and wrote the time beside his shift.
A woman in an Aegis jacket entered the café while Priya was still on the phone. She approached their table and introduced herself as Farah, a representative from the contractor relations office. Kellan had spoken to her about his own offer, but he was not present. Eli recognized her name from his account.
“Mr. Jalen? I understand you’ve raised a concern about an identification document. The community office told me you were nearby when I asked to speak with Priya.”
Jalen looked at Priya. The advocate ended her call and came over.
“How did you learn about the filing?” Priya asked.
“Your complaint names a contractor we supervise. We were notified that an issue had been raised.”
“The investigator hasn’t reached the workplace yet.”
“I can’t speak to the investigator’s schedule. We want to resolve the problem quickly.”
Farah sat only after Jalen agreed. She placed a folder on the table. Inside was a proposed settlement: the contractor would return the card, and Jalen would acknowledge that the matter had been resolved. Another paragraph restricted discussion of the settlement’s terms.
“Would I have to withdraw the complaint?” Jalen asked.
“The agreement says the matter would be closed after the document is returned.”
“That’s not an answer,” Priya said. “Does it require withdrawal?”
Farah examined the paragraph. “It would resolve the issue privately.”
“Can he keep his statement with the investigator?”
“I’d need to ask.”
Jalen pushed the folder back. “I want the card first.”
“We can arrange that.”
“When?”
“Today.”
“Where is it now?”
“At the workplace office, as I understand it.”
Eli’s hands tightened around his cup. The complaint had barely been filed, yet an Aegis representative had found them and brought a settlement. It suggested a fast reporting channel between the contractor and the guild. It did not tell him whether Rook, Bram or anyone else had ordered the card held.
“Why does Aegis get involved before the investigator?” he asked.
“We oversee the contractor’s compliance with our agreements,” Farah said.
“Do you oversee how it treats its workers?”
“We respond to concerns brought to us.”
“Jalen asked for the card several times before today.”
“I wasn’t aware of those requests.”
Priya asked Farah to provide written terms that did not require Jalen to withdraw or remain silent as a condition of receiving his own identification. Farah said she would take the request back. She also asked whether Jalen would agree to meet an Aegis representative at the community office later that afternoon.
“Who?” he asked.
“I’ll confirm the name.”
“I want Priya there.”
“That’s fine.”
After Farah left, Eli said, “We should reject the settlement.”
Jalen looked at him. “I haven’t accepted it.”
“They’re trying to close the complaint before anyone sees the cabinet.”
“Maybe. I still need my card.”
Tessa rested her hand on the table. “Getting the card back and deciding what to do about the complaint are separate. Jalen can accept one without giving up the other if the terms allow it.”
Eli looked at the folder. “I don’t trust them.”
“I didn’t ask you to,” Jalen said. “I asked you not to answer for me.”
Eli apologized. Priya kept the proposed agreement and photographed it before returning the original to Farah’s office by the method Farah had provided. She marked the silence provision and the ambiguous closure language in her notes. Jalen kept his own copy of the complaint.
They had time before the proposed meeting. Jalen needed to call the workplace about his shift. He stepped outside with his phone while Tessa and Eli waited by the window. The call lasted less than a minute. When he came back, his face was tight.
“They put me on leave while they review the complaint.”
“Paid?” Priya asked.
“They didn’t say. I asked them to send it in writing.”
Priya called the housing adviser with Jalen’s permission. The adviser asked for the leave notice as soon as it arrived and offered to contact the workers’ fund. Jalen sat with his hands clasped between his knees while they spoke.
“I should have waited,” he said.
“You could have waited,” Tessa replied. “You made the decision after asking what it might cost. That doesn’t make this easy.”
Jalen looked at her. “You don’t have to make me feel brave.”
“I wasn’t trying to.”
“Good. I don’t feel brave.”
The written leave notice arrived by message. It said his next shift was canceled pending review but did not state whether the time would be paid. Priya asked for clarification in writing. Jalen sent the message himself, then forwarded the notice to the housing adviser.
While they waited for the meeting, Priya asked Jalen to make a practical plan for the next forty-eight hours. He resisted at first.
“Every time I make a plan, someone moves me to another building.”
“Then let’s plan around the things you control. Where will you stay tonight? Can you get to your appointment? Who can help you if your phone is locked away again?”
“My sister can drive me. I can stay at home unless the rent becomes a problem.”
“And if the employer calls?”
“I can answer. I don’t have to agree to anything on the phone.”
“Exactly. You can ask for an instruction in writing and call me before signing a new agreement.”
Jalen took out his notebook. He wrote his sister’s number, Priya’s number and the date of his next rent payment. Then he added the amount in his account. Eli looked away while he did the arithmetic.
“You can look,” Jalen said. “It’s not a secret. It’s just not enough.”
Eli studied the figure. His own spare money would cover part of the gap, not the whole amount. He wanted to offer it, but Jalen had just arranged a conversation with the workers’ fund and had not asked him to pay.
“If transport becomes a problem,” Eli said, “I can contribute toward that. No conditions.”
Jalen considered. “I’ll tell you after I hear from the fund. I don’t want to take money for a bus if my sister can drive me.”
“Fair.”
A message arrived from the housing adviser asking for the leave notice. Priya helped Jalen attach it without sending unrelated medical information. He checked the recipient twice and pressed send himself. The adviser replied with an appointment for the next morning and a list of documents to bring.
“One of those is the identification they kept,” Jalen said.
Priya called the adviser back. A photograph and the complaint reference would be accepted for the initial conversation; the original could follow when it was returned. Jalen wrote that beside the appointment. The list was growing, but now it included a route through the next day rather than only a series of things he might lose.
A reply came from Farah: an Aegis representative would bring the original identification to the community office at four. Jalen asked Priya whether he should go.
“You can. Don’t sign anything you haven’t read. Check the document before acknowledging receipt. I’ll be there.”
“Will Eli?”
“If you want,” Eli said.
Jalen considered. “Yes. But let me speak.”
“I will.”
Tessa returned to the clinic for an afternoon patient. Eli stayed with Jalen and Priya. They used the waiting time to call the clinician about his leg, but the office could not move the telephone appointment earlier. Jalen put his phone face down on the table and stared at the door.
A boy outside chased a paper cup across the pavement. His mother called him back before he reached the road. The cup rolled into the gutter and stopped against a grate. Eli watched the boy return to his mother, angry at being stopped and relieved when she took his hand.
At four, a car stopped outside. A man in an Aegis coat stepped out carrying a sealed envelope. Eli recognized him before he reached the entrance.
Bram Holt.
Jalen saw Eli’s expression. “Do you know him?”
“I’ve spoken to him once.”
“Can you keep listening while I talk?”
“Yes.”
Bram opened the door and approached the table. The envelope in his hand could contain the identification Jalen needed. It could also carry another set of conditions. Jalen moved his complaint copy beside him and waited for Bram to sit down.