Marta De Leon did not answer his calls for two days.
Joneb tried contacting the former administrative officer who had given him her number.
The response was brief.
“She does not want to be involved.”
Joneb understood.
He also understood that the matter was becoming more dangerous.
At work, he searched the archived files for the original administrative review involving Armand Velasco and Rafael Valdez.
The document was still available.
But the name of the person who received Armand's report had disappeared.
The routing slip he had photographed previously was now different.
Instead of Marta De Leon, it showed:
RECEIVED BY: UNIDENTIFIED PERSONNEL.
He opened the photograph on his phone.
The old image still showed Marta's name.
He compared the two.
The physical record had changed.
The photograph had not.
He felt a chill.
The changes were becoming more aggressive.
He opened the digital archive again.
This time, he searched for Marta's personnel number.
No result.
He searched her full name.
Nothing.
He searched her surname.
Several employees appeared, but none matched her.
He sat quietly.
Marta had once been part of the office.
She had worked with Armand.
She had received his report.
Yet the records were beginning to deny her existence.
Joneb took the metal seal from his pocket.
He placed it near the computer.
A faint symbol appeared on the screen.
Then a new line emerged beneath the search results.
SECOND DELETION CONFIRMED.
He quickly took a photograph.
A co-worker approached.
“What are you looking at?”
Joneb closed the window.
The employee glanced at the screen.
“Whose record?”
“Someone who used to work here.”
“Name?”
“Marta De Leon.”
The employee frowned.
“Who?”
Joneb looked at him.
“Marta De Leon. She worked in the records section.”
The employee shook his head.
“I don't know anyone by that name.”
Joneb said nothing.
The employee returned to his desk.
Joneb leaned back.
It was happening again.
The name was disappearing from people's memories.
That evening, he entered Educatia.
He found Elyra standing beside a large book.
“You have discovered the second deletion,” she said.
“Yes. Marta's name is disappearing.”
“Not just her name. The memories connected to her are also being weakened.”
“Can we stop it?”
“Not unless we find what she preserved.”
“Her testimony?”
Elyra nodded.
“Armand entrusted something to her before he disappeared.”
“What was it?”
“A record that cannot be altered without destroying the memory of the person who created it.”
Joneb thought for a moment.
“Why would someone keep such a dangerous document?”
“Because Armand believed the truth should survive even when the official record did not.”
“Where is it?”
Elyra opened a drawer.
Inside was a small envelope.
It bore the name of Marta De Leon.
“This is the last trace we have of her connection to Armand.”
Joneb examined it.
There was a handwritten sentence on the back.
IF THE RECORD DISAPPEARS, LOOK FOR THE PERSON WHO RECEIVED IT.
He looked at Elyra.
“Then we have to find Marta.”
“But how?”
Elyra pointed toward a wall.
A map appeared.
It showed a building in Luzonia.
Joneb recognized it immediately.
The old municipal building.
“The place where I met Armand,” he said.
Elyra nodded.
“Someone returned there after you left.”
“Who?”
“We do not know.”
The map changed.
A small red mark appeared near the lower portion of the building.
Beneath it was a date.
The date was the same as the day Marta had agreed to meet him.
Joneb stared at it.
“Was she there?”
Elyra looked at him.
“Someone was.”
The room became quiet.
Then the lights dimmed.
A voice came from behind the shelves.
“Do not go there.”
Joneb turned.
Orven emerged from the darkness.
“You must not search for Marta in the old building,” he said.
“Why?”
“Because the place is no longer what you remember.”
“What happened?”
Orven looked at Elyra.
“Someone has turned it into a false archive.”
Joneb felt a chill.
“A false archive?”
“A place where records are copied, altered, and made to appear authentic.”
He looked at the map again.
The red mark began to move.
It slowly approached the center of the building.
Then it stopped.
A new name appeared.
JONEB.