GC–FIR–003 (Rail Incident)
Compiled by: Insp. Tomas Reed
Status: Incomplete / Abandoned
Purpose: Trace how incorrect time reached victims despite correct master clock
Method: Start with the dead. Move backward only through statements, procedures, and systems that claim correctness.
Passenger Platform, Brassveil Railway Station
Passengers standing in designated waiting zones
Platform cleared under official announcement
No alarms, no panic, no deviation
Known Truth:
Passengers acted correctly according to information received.
⬆️ Information source relied upon by passengers
Platform Announcements & Bells
Actors:
Platform Dispatcher
Ticket Counter Clerks
Waiting Room Attendants
Claimed Inputs:
“Official station time”
“Confirmed arrival window”
Key Notes:
No one checked the master clock directly
Bells rang on schedule
Announcements were synchronized to internal relay, not clock face
Conclusion:
Passengers trusted human voices repeating system output.
⬆️ Information source relied upon by station staff
Brassveil Railway Station Operations
Actors:
Internal Scheduling Desk
Platform Coordination Office
Claimed Inputs:
Time confirmation received via pneumatic canister
Routing tables from Train Charting Office
Observed Behavior:
No independent verification
Relay treated as authoritative once stamped
Conclusion:
Station relied on received confirmation, not origin accuracy.
⬆️ Information source relied upon by station operations
Route Planning & Arrival Scheduling
Actors:
Senior Route Planner
Junior Chronographers
Claimed Inputs:
Pneumatic confirmation of arrival time
Predictive routing tables
Observed Behavior:
Minor discrepancies flagged but queued
Clock verification deemed “redundant”
Priority placed on avoiding delay
Conclusion:
Office trusted confirmation over correction.
⬆️ Information source relied upon by route planners
Time Confirmation Transit
Actors:
Tube Regulators
Courier Supervisors
Claimed Inputs:
Time packet marked “Priority – Schedule Confirmation”
Observed Behavior:
Content not read
Pressure regulation caused minor delay
Delay logged as “within tolerance”
Key Uncertainty:
Message content correct at origin
Arrival time altered meaning without altering text
Conclusion:
Message integrity preserved. Context integrity degraded.
⬆️ Information source relied upon by pneumatic system
Master Time Authority
Actors:
Communications Clerks
Clock Adjustment Laborers
Temporal Safety Officers
Verified Facts:
Master clock accurate
No unauthorized adjustment
No mechanical fault
Broadcast time correct
Confirmed Statement:
“The clock was never wrong.”
Conclusion:
Time source is clean.
⬇️ No further upstream source
Clock correct
Message correct when sent
Procedures followed
Announcements accurate to received data
Passengers compliant
Yet:
Fourteen people stood in front of a train.
Time was not changed.
Permission was.
Somewhere between:
Correct time
And allowed action
…the city created a false present.
Not an error.
Not a malfunction.
A window.
“If I keep tracing this backward,
I stop finding mistakes
and start finding decisions
that no one remembers making.”
Chart discontinued at 80% completion.
Inspector instructed to finalize closure report shortly after.