Reeve ran the change-of-address slip through Filing History while I held the loosened cuff clear of the scanner. It had been filed years after all three worker numbers were declared absent.
The audit trail was complete: received, countersigned seven minutes later and marked delivered. Its destination was locker 12-43, Station Twelve. Reeve said an intact history was more suspicious than a missing one, but easier to certify.
The registry validates a change by the custody of the document, not the people named on it. Reeve entered all three absent statuses. Three amber warnings appeared, but the destination remained legally current.
The slip carried no sender's name. Its return field contained the coat's alterations reference, written in the same narrow hand. I copied it. Reeve sealed the original before the paper acquired another duty.
We requested access to the locker. Station Twelve accepted the number and asked for the visiting party's transit classification. The coat's visitor badge passed. Mine returned DECEASED - MOVEMENT BASIS REQUIRED.
Reeve tried professional escort, estate claimant and unsolicited assistance. The route clerk rejected all three because none described something permitted to board a train. This was accurate in ways the form did not intend.
The locker remains sealed at Station Twelve. Tomorrow I must obtain a valid transit classification, travel with the coat and present the change-of-address evidence at the locker.
An official Sanctuary Serial