Chapter 4
Chapter 4
Starla brings the metal cylinder to work and enlists Leo's help to open it. After solving a puzzle involving the etched symbols and a hidden mechanism, they extract a folded map and a small data disc. Leo's questions force Starla to reveal the glass photograph. Shocked but loyal, he agrees to help her decipher the bio-synthetic disc and the strange symbols.
The next morning, Starla arrived at Lyle & Associates with the metal cylinder tucked into her satchel, the weight of it pulling at her shoulder. She had not slept. Her mother had stayed up with her, both of them staring at the open lockbox, reading Arthur Miller's journals by lamplight until the words blurred. But the cylinder had refused to yield its secret. No matter how Starla twisted or pressed, it remained sealed, as if waiting for a specific hand or a particular moment.
Leo was already at his desk when she slipped through the archival room door, a stack of intake forms teetering beside his elbow. He looked up and immediately frowned.
"You look like you slept in a dumpster," he said, pushing a cup of coffee toward her. "Rough night?"
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