The Evidence Trail Tightens

The investigation moves from suspicion about corrupted records to a physical test that establishes who introduced the sabotage into Illyan’s office.

increasingBearing stren­gth in each eventdecreasing

An Implausible Entry

A Record Conflicts with Memory The logbook claim Miles finds an entry placing him in the evidence room on the day he came back from his mission. He knows he walked home and did not visit the storage rooms. A deliberate discrepancy The exit log has been altered too, while the room’s video cartridge is missing. The coordinated changes suggest someone has constructed a trail rather than merely made an isolated error.

An Impossible Audit Team

Trust Must Be Rebuilt External witnesses Miles asks Ivan to lead a physical inventory with officers who have never worked for ImpSec. This protects the search from depending wholly on the same organization whose records may have been tampered with. Institutional compromise He and Haroche arrange a three-person review of internal systems to reduce the risk of collusion. The investigation now has to examine not only the sabotage but the reliability of its own tools.

A Misfiled Sample

The Source Is Found The wrong shelf Ivan finds capsules labeled as a Komarran virus in a weapons room. Weddell identifies them as the exact kind of organism that destroyed Illyan’s chip. History becomes evidence The sample connects the present attack to an old case involving Ser Galen’s network. Its presence in ImpSec storage makes an inside actor with knowledge of the archive increasingly likely.

Filters as Witnesses

Finding the Delivery Route A physical test Weddell creates a solution that reveals the organisms’ delivery particles under ultraviolet light. The team tests ventilation filters, first establishing a positive sample in the evidence room. A negative result matters Galeni’s office filter is clear, weakening the theory that he released the material there. The result shifts attention toward locations Illyan used, especially the chief’s own workspace.

Haroche’s Filter Switch

The Culprit Returns to the Vent A hurried movement Haroche leaves the group after hearing that Miles will inspect more locations. A subordinate later tells Miles that Haroche sent him to the evidence room, revealing that the general is not where he claimed to be. Caught with the evidence Miles returns to Haroche’s former office and finds him trying to exchange a contaminated filter. The sabotage’s physical route and the suspect’s conduct converge in a public, witnessed confrontation.

Late at night during Miles’s Evidence Rooms inspection

Before dawn on the same day

Two hours before dawn

During Miles’s later inspection of headquarters

Minutes after Miles announces a broader filter search