Elena pushed through the glass door of Dr. Watson's office. The room held steel filing cabinets, a large drafting table, and a wall-mounted document scanner. She dropped a thick folder on the table. Dust from the warehouse collapse coated the corners of the pages. The maintenance logs sat open on top.
"Sterling compliance delayed the safety audit," she said. "Forty-three days. The approval queue sat blank. Thomas signed the hold. I need the routing path. I need the original maintenance schedule. I need the approval chain."
Watson pulled a pair of reading glasses from her coat pocket. Opened the folder. Flipped through the maintenance logs. Checked the timestamps. Cross-referenced the approval codes. She pulled a second file from a locked drawer. Set it beside the first. The cover read: Sterling Logistics Network. Original Draft. Dated seven years prior.
