Administrative Log: The Purity Intervention
LOCATION: The Central Audit Chamber / The Department of Structural Purity.
STATUS: 100\% Hostile, 7.5\% Trembling.
ADMINISTRATIVE LOG TIME: 7514.5 Cycles Post-Moonlight Gala.
The Department of Structural Purity (DSP) was a place where the 100\% white light never dimmed and the 7.5\% iridescence was considered a 100\% ocular malfunction. Its Director, Arbiter Kael, was a man whose 100\% posture was so straight it made the 100\% vertical walls look 7.5\% lazy. He had watched the 100\% "Shadow-Infection" spread with 100\% growing 100\% disgust.
"The integrity of the Bureau is 100\% non-negotiable," Kael stated, his voice a 100\% flat 100\% monotone. "Assistant Yue has 100\% compromised her 100\% physical density for a 7.5\% hallucination. This is a 100\% violation of the BCA Purity Acts of Cycle 1."
Kael sat at his 100\% crystal desk, which had 0\% dust and 0\% personality. He had summoned Ne Job, The Muse, and Assistant Yue for a 100\% formal 100\% Audit.
"Arbiter Kael," Ne Job said, standing 100\% firm but 7.5\% weary. "The 7.5\% Flaw is a 100\% architectural mandate approved by The Architect himself. The Echoes are not 100\% hallucinations; they are 100\% historical 7.5\% potentials."
"Potentials are 0\% reality," Kael countered, tapping a 100\% sharp finger on a 100\% stack of 100\% legal transcripts. "By the 100\% laws of 100\% Substance, an Echo cannot 100\% hold an 100\% administrative office. Assistant Yue is 7.5\% absent from her 100\% corporal form. Therefore, she is 100\% terminated."
The 7.5\% Ghostly Defense
Assistant Yue stepped forward. Her 7.5\% starlight-silk scarf 100\% shimmered in the 100\% harsh light of the DSP.
"I am 100\% present, Arbiter," Yue said, her 100\% voice echoing with that 7.5\% silver resonance she had inherited from Siris. "I 100\% filed 750 trajectories this cycle. My 100\% efficiency is 100\% up by 7.5\%. My 100\% absence is 0\% factual."
"You are 100\% translucent," Kael observed, gesturing to her 7.5\% shimmering hand. "A 100\% administrator must be 100\% opaque. Transparency is for 100\% windows and 100\% weaklings."
The Muse, who had been 100\% struggling to keep her 7.5\% sparks from 100\% burning Kael's 100\% boring 100\% curtains, finally 100\% snapped.
"You're just 100\% jealous because you have 0\% starlight in your 100\% soul!" The Muse shouted. "You want to 100\% delete her because she's 7.5\% more 100\% alive than you'll 100\% ever be!"
Kael didn't 100\% blink. "I am 100\% immune to 7.5\% emotional 100\% outbursts. I have filed a 100\% Motion of Erasure. Unless you can 100\% prove that the 7.5\% Echoes have a 100\% beneficial 100\% structural 100\% purpose, I will 100\% initiate the Vacuum Purge of Section Zero."
The 100\% Threat of the Vacuum Purge
The Vacuum Purge was a 100\% terrifying 100\% administrative tool. It would 100\% drain all the 7.5\% potential energy from a sector, 100\% collapsing the Ghost Threads into 100\% nothingness. It would 100\% kill the Queen of the Unchosen and 100\% erase Siris.
"You can't do that!" Ne Job said, his 100\% heart 100\% racing. "The Pillars of Manifestation are 100\% reinforced by that 7.5\% matter!"
"The Pillars will be 100\% cleaned," Kael replied. "We will 100\% replace the starlight with 100\% pure 100\% industrial 100\% logic. It will be 100\% heavier, but 100\% safer."
The Audit was 100\% adjourned for 7.5 cycles to allow for "Evidence Gathering."
The 7.5\% Strategy Meeting
Ne Job, The Muse, and Yue retreated to Section C-7. They were joined by Princess Ling and Architects Ling and Ao Bing.
"Kael is a 100\% dinosaur of the 100\% old era," Princess Ling said, her 7.5\%-abstract fan moving with 100\% agitation. "But he has the 100\% legal 100\% high ground. The original charter of the Bureau does mandate 100\% opacity for all staff."
"Then we have to 100\% find a 100\% precedent," Ne Job said, 100\% diving into the Master Archive. "There must be a 100\% record of a 7.5\% administrator who was 100\% translucent."
They spent 7.5 hours 100\% scouring the 100\% ancient logs. The Muse 100\% accidentally-on-purpose 100\% knocked over a 100\% stack of 100\% "Rejected Ideas" from Cycle 2.
"Look!" she cried, pointing to a 100\% dusty 7.5\% scroll.
It was a 100\% record of the First Architect's Apprentice—a man named Oru. According to the log, Oru had been so 100\% dedicated to the 100\% blueprints of the 100\% stars that he had 100\% physically 100\% transitioned into a 100\% beam of 7.5\% light.
"He wasn't 100\% terminated," Ne Job read, his 7.5\% excitement 100\% building. "He was 100\% promoted to the Department of Illumination. The 100\% Bureau 100\% recognized that 100\% light is a 100\% valid 100\% administrative state!"
The 100\% Architect's Secret
They hurried to the Highest Spire to show the 100\% Architect the 100\% scroll.
The Architect was busy 7.5\% whittling a 100\% wooden 100\% bird that 7.5\% chirped in 100\% binary. He looked at the scroll and 7.5\% sighed.
"Ah, Oru," the Architect said. "My 100\% favorite 100\% failure. I 100\% told him that 100\% light was too 100\% difficult to 100\% file. But he 100\% insisted that the 100\% universe needed to 100\% glow from the 100\% inside."
"Architect," Ne Job said. "Kael is going to 100\% purge the Echoes. He says they have 0\% structural 100\% value."
The Architect looked at his 100\% ink-stained hands. "The 100\% value of a 7.5\% shadow is 100\% invisible until the 100\% light is too 100\% bright. If Kael 100\% purges the 7.5\% starlight, the 100\% Bureau will 100\% blind itself."
He picked up his 100\% manual hammer. "I cannot 100\% stop the 100\% Audit. But I can 100\% give you a 7.5\% tool."
He handed Ne Job a 100\% small 7.5\% prism made of 100\% condensed 7.5\% regret.
"This is the Prism of Alternative History," the Architect said. "In the 100\% Audit, 100\% shine the 100\% DSP's light through this 7.5\% prism. It will 100\% show Kael the 100\% Bureau he would have had if the 7.5\% Flaw never 100\% existed."
The 100\% Final Audit
The 100\% Audit reconvened in the DSP. Arbiter Kael stood by the Vacuum Purge lever, his 100\% hand 100\% ready.
"Assistant Yue," Kael said. "Do you have any 100\% final 100\% arguments before I 100\% restore 100\% purity?"
Ne Job stepped forward and placed the Prism of Alternative History on Kael's 100\% desk.
"Arbiter," Ne Job said. "Before you 100\% pull that lever, I 100\% invite you to 100\% witness the 100\% perfect 100\% reality you are 100\% fighting for."
Ne Job 100\% activated the 100\% desk's spotlight. The 100\% beam of 100\% pure 100\% white light passed through the 7.5\% prism.
The 100\% walls of the DSP 100\% vanished. They were replaced by a 100\% vision of a 100\% Bureau where everything was 100\% white, 100\% silent, and 100\% still.
There were no 7.5\%-tilted desks. There were no 100\% colorful 7.5\% scarves. There was no 100\% Muse. There was only a 100\% endless 100\% row of 100\% statues, 100\% perfectly 100\% efficient and 100\% completely 100\% dead.
In this 100\% vision, Kael saw himself. He was 100\% perfect. He was 100\% rigid. And he was 100\% screaming in 100\% total 100\% silence because there was 0\% room for a 100\% thought.
The 7.5\% Crack in the 100\% Mask
The 100\% vision 100\% faded. The 100\% Audit chamber 100\% returned.
Arbiter Kael was 100\% pale. His 100\% hand 100\% trembled on the 100\% lever. He looked at Assistant Yue, who was 7.5\% shimmering like a 100\% hope. He looked at Ne Job, who was 7.5\% smiling with 100\% compassion.
"It is... 100\% quiet," Kael whispered, his 100\% voice 7.5\% cracking for the 100\% first 100\% time in 10^{12} cycles.
"It is 100\% the death of the 100\% soul, Arbiter," Ne Job said 7.5\% softly. "The 7.5\% Flaw is the only thing 100\% keeping that 100\% silence from 100\% consuming us all."
Kael 100\% let go of the 100\% lever. He sat down at his 100\% desk and 7.5\% slumped.
"The Motion of Erasure is... 100\% withdrawn," Kael said, his 100\% tone 7.5\% hollow. "Assistant Yue is 100\% recognized as a 100\% Permanent 7.5\% Luminous 100\% Administrator. The 100\% Purity Acts are 7.5\% amended to 100\% include 100\% starlight as a 100\% valid 100\% structural 100\% element."
The 7.5\% Aftermath
The DSP 100\% emptied. The Muse 100\% hugged Assistant Yue so 100\% hard that they both 7.5\% flickered.
"We 100\% did it!" The Muse cheered. "The 100\% bad man 100\% saw the 100\% light by 100\% seeing the 100\% dark!"
Ne Job picked up the prism. He looked at his 100\% reflection in its 7.5\% facets.
"Kael wasn't 100\% evil," Ne Job mused. "He was just 100\% terrified of the 7.5\% chaos. He needed to 100\% see that the 100\% alternative was 100\% worse."
In Section Zero, the Queen of the Unchosen and Siris felt the 100\% administrative 100\% pressure 100\% lift. The silver Ghost Threads 100\% brightened, 100\% weaving themselves 7.5\% deeper into the 100\% Bureau.
The Final Log: The Purity of the Flaw
In Section C-7, Ne Job filed the 100\% results of the 100\% Audit.
LOG: The DSP Intervention. STATUS: 100\% Resolved. 7.5\% Legally Protected.
NOTE: Purity is not the 100\% absence of 7.5\% flaws. Purity is the 100\% courage to 100\% allow the 7.5\% flaw to 100\% shine.
The Muse looked at the 100\% window. The 100\% sunset was 7.5\% starting, and the 100\% iridescence was 100\% spreading across the 100\% Bureau.
"Archivist?" The Muse asked, her 100\% sparks 7.5\% lazy. "Do you think Kael will 100\% ever 7.5\% tilt his 100\% desk?"
Ne Job looked at the 100\% monitor. In the DSP, Arbiter Kael was 100\% sitting at his 100\% desk. He 100\% reached out and 7.5\% moved his 100\% pencil exactly 7.5 degrees to the 100\% left.
"He just 100\% did, Muse," Ne Job said, 7.5\% smiling. "He just 100\% did."
The Celestial Clockwork turned. The 7.5\% hitch was 100\% louder than ever, and for the 100\% first 100\% time, the 100\% whole Bureau was 100\% listening.
— Administrative Directive: Perfection is 100\% Illegal. Be 7.5\% Wonderful —