The vault did not close all the way.
It settled instead into a waiting state, drawers easing inward until only the one with the witness card remained open by a finger's width. The black stone structure at the back of the room stayed ajar, its internal lamp throwing a thin bar of light across the floor like a deliberate line drawn in chalk.
Fang stood very still, the glass key in one hand, the letter in the other, and the black witness card tucked carefully beneath his thumb. The room felt different now. Not calmer. Not safer. But more legible, which in their line of work often meant more dangerous.
Ren was the first to speak.
"We need the witness record."
Pax nodded once. "Agreed. The card gave us names but not procedure. We need the last confirmed witness event, or we may be reading the wrong role entirely."
Wolf looked towards the dark structure at the back of the vault. "And I assume the room will keep being theatrical until then."
