Yan met Wuchen again the next morning. At the reception desk, Bai surrendered his trade knife and received a numbered token. Yan brought Qinghe and Gu into the chamber with him; the contract remained unsigned in his coat.
“Can the appointment be separated from the archive seal?” he asked.
Wuchen shook his head. “The Registry cannot release restricted defense records to an unaffiliated traveler. I can narrow the appointment. You would inspect selected pages with a clerk present. Public medical records and Ning’s grant would remain outside the contract.”
“Could I end the appointment after the field inspection?”
“You can resign from the appointment,” Wuchen said. “The archive seal would still run for the full year.”
“Then leaving the position doesn’t free the pages.”
“No.” Wuchen did not pretend otherwise.
Gu asked whether the Registry would fund Qiao’s local pilot if the trial succeeded.
