The archive opened into a chamber lined with sealed shelves. Each row stood behind a low stone rail marked with a different family seal or council title. Salt had whitened the lower edges of the wood, but the papers inside remained dry.
Muo held his bronze token against the entry mark. The light traced the shelves nearest the door, then stopped. Daro read the council order again: pylon manual, attached maintenance notices, and the family pages requested by Yao and Jian. The formation dimmed once he finished.
“No other shelf is open,” he said. “If a label is missing, we return to the council order before moving on.”
Yan and Qinghe followed Han toward the west aisle. Bai, Yao, and Jian waited by Lian’s table, where she set out the archive list and blank copying sheets. The separation felt deliberate and fair. The technical search would not become a reason to inspect family pages, and the family search would not expose the pylon notes.
The pylon shelf was marked with an old copper tag. It held three manuals, each bound in dark cloth. Daro checked the title before handing the first one to Qinghe. She opened it on the reading stand, leaving its spine supported by a shaped block.
