Joneb stared at Roderick.
For several seconds, neither man spoke.
Roderick looked calm.
His clothes were neat, and his expression was almost friendly.
But Joneb could not forget the hidden signature.
R. Valdez.
The second seal.
The false archive.
“Why are you here?” Joneb asked.
Roderick glanced at the document in Joneb's hand.
“I could ask you the same thing.”
“This is an old record.”
“I can see that.”
“Do you know Armand Velasco?”
Roderick smiled.
“Should I?”
Joneb stepped backward.
“Your name appeared on a hidden signature.”
“Did it?”
“R. Valdez.”
Roderick's smile disappeared.
Then he laughed.
“That's an interesting discovery.”
“Who is Rafael Valdez?”
Roderick walked toward the table.
“Someone who understood that records are more powerful than people.”
“Did you alter my promotion documents?”
Roderick ignored the question.
Instead, he examined the old testimony.
“Armand was always troublesome.”
“You knew him?”
“Not personally.”
“Then how do you know?”
Roderick looked at him.
“Because I have read his record.”
Joneb held the document tightly.
“What did he discover?”
Roderick shrugged.
“An arrangement between people who wanted to preserve their positions.”
“An agreement of silence?”
The man nodded.
“Something like that.”
“Who signed it?”
“People who believed they were protecting the institution.”
“By erasing someone?”
Joneb felt anger rising.
“Armand was a person.”
Roderick smiled.
“Everyone is a person, Joneb. But not everyone becomes important enough to be remembered.”
The words reminded Joneb of the figure in the archive.
The same coldness.
The same belief that ordinary people could be discarded.
He looked at Roderick's hand.
The second seal was still there.
“Why do you have that?”
Roderick raised it.
“Because someone has to maintain balance.”
“By hiding the truth?”
“By preventing unnecessary chaos.”
Joneb shook his head.
“You're using the same excuse as everyone else.”
Roderick laughed.
“Perhaps. But unlike them, I understand the rules.”
He approached the table.
“Give me the testimony.”
“No.”
“You don't understand what it contains.”
“Then explain it.”
Roderick's expression became serious.
“The document is not merely evidence. It is the last memory of Armand's original identity. If you remove it from this place, you may destroy what remains of him.”
Joneb looked at the paper.
“Is that true?”
“Ask Elyra.”
Joneb hesitated.
Roderick continued.
“You are trying to save a man who may no longer exist. Meanwhile, you have a family, a career, and an opportunity waiting for you.”
Joneb felt his stomach tighten.
“Don't involve my family.”
“I'm not involving them. I'm reminding you what matters.”
Roderick placed the second seal on the table.
“You can have the promotion. Your service record will be corrected. The appointment will be finalized. Everything you have been waiting for.”
Joneb stared at him.
“What do you want?”
“Nothing complicated.”
Roderick pointed to the document.
“Leave it here.”
Joneb looked at the testimony.
He thought about Armand.
Marta.
The missing records.
His family.
The promotion.
Then he remembered Amira's words.
Would you rather get promoted and spend every night worrying about a signature?
He looked at Roderick.
“I won't give it to you.”
Roderick sighed.
“Then you have made your choice.”
The second seal began to glow.
The room darkened.
Joneb felt the document grow warm in his hand.
He quickly took out the original seal.
The two objects responded to each other.
A sudden burst of light filled the corridor.
The table cracked.
Roderick stepped backward.
“You don't know what you're doing!”
Joneb raised the seal.
The hidden symbols on the walls began to appear.
Names.
Dates.
Signatures.
Records that had been concealed for years.
Then the document in Joneb's hand opened by itself.
A final paragraph appeared.
THE AGREEMENT WAS SIGNED BY THE KEEPERS OF THE ARCHIVE, THE COUNCIL OF SEALS, AND THE REPRESENTATIVES OF THE OUTER WORLD.
Joneb read the words.
“The representatives of the outer world?”
Roderick's expression changed.
He looked genuinely alarmed.
“Give me that document!”
Joneb stepped away.
“Who were they?”
Roderick moved toward him.
But before he could reach the table, the corridor split open.
A doorway appeared.
Elyra stood on the other side.
“Joneb!”
He ran toward her.
Roderick shouted something, but the words were swallowed by the collapsing room.
Elyra pulled Joneb through the doorway.
The false archive disappeared.
Joneb woke on the floor of his bedroom.
The original testimony was still in his hand.
The brass key lay beside him.
And the metal seal had developed a small crack.