Orban

One name shows up twice in last month's access log. The archive is so quiet, yet the paper won't stop talking.

• ThomasThat's the order I filed it in. It's not a duplicate, it's just back where it belongs.
  OrbanThe scribe has quite a memory. Good things tend to weigh a lot.
• Grand Inquisitor KasimirDiligent as ever, Chief.
  OrbanIt's the rule.

Three nights running, the night patrol's signature comes in half an hour early. The paper's this diligent, so where was the man himself all that time?

• Grand Inquisitor KasimirBring me the numbers. A guess isn't a document.
  OrbanI've already copied it twice. One copy goes to you, Your Excellency.
• HelgaWorry about the guard post's lamp oil bill instead, Chief Inquisitor.
  OrbanThe oil bill goes in the ledger too. Down to what hour and how much burned.

The confessions change every night, but the habits of a sentence never do. Everyone here already knows which cell this scrap came from.

• MartaI thought my testimony was already closed.
  OrbanThe trial is closed. The record isn't.
• IvoThere was the sound of pages turning through the wall all night. I'll just say I heard nothing.
  OrbanWhich wall was it. Just tell me that much.

I replaced the archive lock with a new one. There are only two keys, and one stays at my hip.

• HelgaIf it's not yours and it's not one of your own people's, whose is the other one?
  OrbanFinding that out is my job this month, Warden.
• DamianViewing records is an inquisitor's prerogative.
  OrbanThe prerogative, sure. It's only that the hours you come and go are always the same that bother me.