// LOG// TRACE-08 // YEAR TWO // OPERATOR: J. TEMIN // // SITE: RUNG-4 COMMUTER NODE They say not to count the passengers. "That’s the door’s job," they say. "Doors count. Doors don’t doubt." Still, I count. TRACE-08 comes through every eighty-seven minutes. Quiet cycle, midline shuttle mostly. Eight to ten board at Junction B, another few down the route. Ride goes all the way to Outpost West and back. Easy. Routine. Except it isn’t. Last week, ten boarded at Junction B. I remember them. Two in industrial orange. Four Xenochem staff, badges still clipped on. Three in security grey. One in black, with no markings; probably from Olympus. Didn’t look at anyone. Took the seat facing the emergency hatch. We pulled into Rung-4. Nine got off. Doors reported ten. Maybe someone slipped past me. Maintenance crew access. Emergency exit use. Happens. That’s what I told myself. Next day: eleven on, ten off. Then: nine on, eight off. Every cycle, off by one. Told Dispatch. They ran checks. TRACE-08’s clean. Passenger metrics normal. Internal cameras show static, ninety seconds with a clean cut. Right after Tunnel Echo and Right before Rung-4. Same time. Every cycle. I keep a second log now. Paper. Personal. Today: thirteen boarded. I helped a woman with a dropped case. Saw the kid too, no badge, no clearance. Too young to be on-world, but no one blinked. Twelve stepped off. I checked my personal log. It reads: ENTRY: CYCLE 1710-B BOARDING: 12 DISEMBARKED: 12 But that’s wrong. That’s not what I wrote. Not what I remember writing. Not what happened.I don’t remember changing it. Doors don’t doubt. But maybe I do. TRACE-08 departs again in nine minutes. I’ll count again. I always do.
