Just like my last time here before the battle, I start off by heading down the stairs to get my clothing. I'm a bit worried about scaring the women who work down here to clean the clothes, but I don't really feel comfortable walking around naked, so I head down the stairs at the side of the hall, into the much smaller hall beneath, and walk until I reach the room where the women are all moving around quickly as they work.

Of course, they spot me as I approach. Some of them freeze, but others don't. One of them comes forward, responding a lot like they did the last time. "Little miss, what are you doing-" But she cuts short when another woman grabs her arm and tries to pull her back. She fights it for a moment, but the fear on the other womens' faces stops her, confused as she looks around. Some of the others do the same.

"Excuse me, I'm just getting dressed." I have to fight to keep a straight face in front of them as I spot my robe, folded up in the same spot as last time. I grab it and throw it on, before quickly beginning to walk away. Only when I'm a little distance away from them so I hopefully don't scare them so much, I turn back around. "Thank you for washing my clothes."

Then I keep going, quickly leaving the women behind. Once I'm back up the stairs, I sigh a little. The next thing I want to do is go explore some of those rooms from last time. I remember that office had a lot of paperwork in it. Now that I can sort of read, maybe I can learn something?

I glance back toward the baths, spotting rail units quickly moving into this hall as they get out. Right, since they aren't getting haircuts, they'll be getting back faster. Looking the other way, the door to the office room is in plain sight all the way down this hall.

"Hmm, I'm a little worried about the handlers seeing me leave," I mutter. It would make them even more suspicious of me. Which... knowing more about them now, I don't know if that makes me less worried, or more. Shaking myself and swallowing my fear, I decide to do this as inconspicuously as I can. Rather than the metal door straight across from the hall, once I reach the entrance room, I turn right instead, to the big blank wall of white stone.

This wall has an invisible door that leads into that strange room with the spiral of white metal. Unless it only opens from the other side, there should be a little spot somewhere... Walking along the wall, searching up and down, until I find it. Just a little above my head, a tiny indent, not much larger than my thumb.

I reach up for it, hesitating for a few moments to throw a glance back at the hall with the rail units, the few in line of sight from here aren't looking at me, and I can't see any handlers, so I slide my thumb into the little slot and push some mana through. As expected, the door swishes open. Surprisingly, it's nearly silent, even to my extremely sensitive ears. I take a fast step through, just before it slides shut again a moment later.

"Haa," I let out a small breath, relieved that went well. I'm in one of those tiny rooms with nothing but doors in each side, and the little pointy lights in the walls. "Hmm..." When I notice the light, I stare up at it. I'm alone now, no one would question me messing with them. Except...

"I'm too short..." I grumble. Even when I go up on my toes and stretch up as far as I can reach, I don't even come close to reaching them. "Maybe I can stand on something in a different room," I mumble, a little annoyed now, dropping back down and moving toward the other door.

I push it open, picking up the light scrape as it swings at my touch, and enter the room with the spiral and manastones again. Glancing around, it looks just like last time. In fact...

Squinting a little at the table all the way off in the corner toward my right, are the manastones still sitting in that holder? They were definitely lying out on the table last time. Has no one touched them since I was here? I guess they don't use this room that often... Since I don't have anything I want to do in here, I turn to the left, remembering that the next room had all that glass in it. Maybe I can read some of that now too?

Then I suddenly get a really good idea. I can ask Reena about this stuff now! Sure, a lot of it has to do with magic so she can't help with that, but I'm sure there's other stuff about the program she can tell me, right? Since it would take more mana to use telepathy, I channel my mark instead.

Reena comes forward, taking a moment to connect to my soul, and asks, "Where are you?" her attention clearly turned to my strange surroundings.

"In some rail unit program place, it's where they bathe us before we go to battle," I answer silently.

"Oh, yes, that's right... Yes, I think I remember this place. What are you doing here though? How did you even get back here?" she questions uncertainly.

"They have invisible doors that connect the rooms," I answer, "like this one." I walk up and push it open, passing through the little room that leads into that second office with the huge floor the ceiling glass sheets with all the writing, while Reena balks. "What's so surprising?" I ask uncertainly.

"That you're so unfazed by hidden doors," she answers, amused by this for some reason.

"Well, I figured that even if I couldn't see them, they must be there, right?"

Laughing at this point, she asks, "Why would you just 'figure' that?" Since I'm heading to the first office, I push through the door that leads to the small tunnel that will get me back there. Down a few stairs, then back up, as I think back to Reena again.

"Look, this door here?" I think, reaching the door in the floor of the office room. "We have a door just like it that goes down to our cellar. So I figured since the office doesn't have any doors in the walls, there must be one in the floor." I can feel Reena smirking awkwardly at that comment, so I add, "Alright, that was before I found out they had doors I couldn't see."

As I push the door open, wiggling up out from under it since it still doesn't open all the way with the carpet and desk on top of it, I get the distinct feeling of Reena laughing hysterically.

It's not that funny, is it...?

By the time she calms down, I'm looking around at the desks, wondering where to start. That's when she speaks up again, still chuckling mentally. "Aria, you're perfect," she comments. The compliment is so weird and exaggerated, I blush a little and don't answer. "So, what are you looking for?" she asks. She can already tell the basics from what I'm thinking, but I explain anyway.

"I noticed a lot of papers in this room the last time I was here, but I couldn't read, so now I want to see if I can learn anything."

"Anything about... what, exactly?" she asks uncertainly.

"Honestly, I have no idea. I don't know what they do here, so I can't even guess what their paperwork might have to do with." That's why I'm looking now.

"Curiosity is always good," she compliments me again, and this time I can actually accept it.

Without anything to go on, I choose one of the desks at random and climb up into the chair in front of it. I have to go up on my knees and lean onto the desk to reach the stacks of paperwork. I don't want to mess any of it up, so I start by taking one sheet off the top of the tallest stack.

"Ahem," I clear my throat a little, then read it to myself. I stumble as I go over the long and unfamiliar words, but now, I can sort of manage it.

Requisition Order 8-6-123

Bread Rations - x6528 - 652,800 barr

Training Sword - x2 - 10,000 barr

Training Staff - x1 - 3,000 barr

Approved - Quint Varish

At first I'm not sure what 'requisition' means, but the rest of it gives me an idea. "Yes," Reena confirms my thoughts. "It looks like a form for ordering supplies."

Thinking about that, I'm baffled briefly. Over six hundred thousand barr? For bread? That awful hard bread I couldn't even bite through?

However, the form says that's for over six thousand pieces. Scowling, I do the math. That's just one hundred barr for each. Which... isn't that expensive I guess. I'm not sure exactly how much a loaf of normal bread costs, but I think it's a few hundred barr.

But why that number? Two meals a day means three thousand two hundred sixty four rolls. How many rail units is that for? And how long is it supposed to feed them?

"At the top, that looks like a date," Reena tells me, thinking that might give me a hint. But wait, it does? I tilt my head a little, trying to work the numbers together. One hundred twenty three is probably the year, but in relation to what? And then there's eight and five. They could match months and days, so... either Filar eighth, or Bora sixth.

Grabbing the next paper on the pile, I see it's the same sort of form, the date reading 7-1-123. The next is 6-3-123. There's the pattern. Month, day, year. One form per month, but the rations aren't divisible by thirty.

After a little more math, I figure it out. "Each form was made on the first Arcaday of the month. So this last one will feed ninety six rail units for thirty four days." Meaning the next form will be written tomorrow.

Still, one thing sticks with me. Even if they're hardly spending that much on our food, feeding so many rail units is expensive!

I shake my head a little and turn my attention to the remainder of the form. Just a few training weapons. Forms for other months have a handful of weapons listed as well, because we always wear them down and they eventually break from all our sparring.

And then there's the last line, where it says 'approved,' in different handwriting, and has something I can't read too well written after it. It's all round and curvy. "That's a signature," Reena explains.

"Signature?"

"It's how you sign documents, like how Eryk and Claire signed your education contract," she explains. Right, I've never had a chance to actually look at the signed contracts since it's always Mister Fredricson that has to sign them...

Looking closer, I squint at it. I think it says... Quint Varish? I immediately recognize the name, thinking back to the handlers' conversation. They said he was in charge. Of the rail unit program I guess, if he's the one signing their paperwork? I nod to myself a little, trying to keep that name in mind.

Then I put the papers back, making sure to stack them back in the proper order. I move to another stack, and after reading some, I frown. I don't know any of these words. At a glance, they don't even look like Ternian words... That's when Reena says, "It looks like a staffing form."

"Staffing?"

"It includes the names of all the staff, the people working for the rail unit program," she explains.

"Oh, right." Looking over the form one more time, I realize all the words here are actually names. I have to sound them out since I'm not familiar with reading names, but it isn't too hard. Immediately, I start noticing patterns.

Of course, they all have two names, since they're nobles. But more importantly, a lot of them have the same second names.

"They're called 'last' names, or 'family' names," Reena corrects me. "They indicate which noble family that person belongs to." Nodding silently, I look over it some more. I wonder...

I look down the first sheet, but I don't spot the name. It's connected to the next sheet in the stack with something sticky along the top, so I fold it up and over where they're attached to look at the next page. There it is, Jeff... Liffan. That's one of the names they mentioned, the one that followed Effy out into the city.

Huh, he's one of the Liffans. There are a number of others listed too, like Qitch Liffan and Veck Liffan. I search a little more, finding the other names that came up earlier. Zell Lark, and Kurt Ordlyn. Oddly, they don't have any other family members listed among the remaining names.

The other main pattern I spot is that the names are all men. Are there no female handlers?

Moving on, I take a quick count and find fifty names in total. There are almost half as many handlers as we have rail units?

"I doubt they all work as handlers," Reena points out. "They would need some for other things, like filing all this paperwork, for instance."

"Huh, they would, wouldn't they..." I nod a little and put those papers back too.

I search through the papers for a little longer, but can't find anything else of interest right away. It's all just paperwork about how the program runs. It's only vaguely similar to the business, like the basics Claire taught me, with some paperwork going over expenses, some about staff performance, and others that don't really stand out either. There are still more papers scattered across the various desks, but I don't have nearly enough time to look through all of it.

I put everything back, deciding that I'm done here. It's hard to say for sure, but right now, it feels like there isn't much more for me to learn through these. I want to check the other room too, while I have time. I've already been at this for over fifty ticks, and I doubt I have as much time as before, since the rail units don't need haircuts.

Slipping back through the floor door, which Reena tells me is called a 'trap door,' I quickly go back to the glass room.