Case: GC–FIR–003 – Brassveil Railway Station Fatalities
Report by: Insp. Tomas Reed
Interrogating Officer: Inspector Roger Huckelbee
Status: Preliminary, pre-charge
Locations: Brassveil Railway Station / Gearcross Administrative Offices
Role: Platform Dispatcher
Location: Passenger Platform Office
Huckelbee: State your name and duty.
Krail: Edwin Krail. Passenger platform dispatch.
H: You cleared the platform.
Krail: At the reported time.
H: Which was?
Krail: The time provided.
H: Provided by whom?
Krail: Station internal relay.
H: Did you check the master clock?
Krail: That’s not required.
H: Why not?
Krail: Because the system already has.
H: Fourteen people died.
Krail: Because the train arrived early.
H: Or because the platform was cleared late.
Krail: Same thing.
H: Was the time wrong?
Krail: It was adjusted.
H: Incorrectly?
Krail: Temporarily.
(Subject calm. Uses institutional phrasing. No emotional response.)
Role: Ticket Counter Clerk
Location: Ticket Counter
H: You announced boarding.
Holt: When the bell indicated.
H: Which bell?
Holt: The official one.
H: Was it synced?
Holt: It rang.
H: Was the time correct?
Holt: It was the time we had.
H: Did anyone question it?
Holt: That’s not my role.
H: People trusted that announcement.
Holt: People trust schedules.
(Subject appears confused by implication of fault.)
Role: Senior Route Planner
Location: Train Charting and Timing Office
H: Your office issued the arrival window.
Talvek: Based on confirmed data.
H: From where?
Talvek: Pneumatic confirmation.
H: Did you verify against the clock?
Talvek: That’s redundant.
H: Why?
Talvek: Because redundancy creates delay.
H: And delay causes harm?
Talvek: Statistically, yes.
H: Fourteen people died.
Talvek: That’s outside routing scope.
(Subject polite, disengaged.)
Role: Junior Chronographer
Location: Train Charting Office
H: You noticed discrepancies.
Fen: Minor ones.
H: Three minutes.
Fen: Within tolerance.
H: You didn’t correct them.
Fen: I flagged them.
H: To whom?
Fen: The queue.
H: Was there time to act?
Fen: There’s never time to interrupt a schedule.
(Subject distressed but compliant.)
Role: Tube Regulator
Location: Pneumatic Message Exchange
H: You handled the confirmation canister.
Voss: I regulated pressure.
H: The message content was wrong.
Voss: I don’t read content.
H: Did you delay it?
Voss: Within acceptable limits.
H: What limits?
Voss: The ones that prevent congestion.
H: Did you alter it?
Voss: No.
H: Could delay change meaning?
Voss: Time always changes meaning.
(Subject uncooperative, technically accurate.)
Role: Courier Supervisor
Location: Pneumatic Message Exchange
H: Who routed the canister?
Quell: The system.
H: You assign routes.
Quell: I optimize flow.
H: For what priority?
Quell: Overall stability.
H: Fourteen people died.
Quell: Instability kills more.
H: So this was acceptable?
Quell: It was unavoidable.
(Subject confident. No remorse.)
Role: Communications Clerk
Location: Grand Timing Exchange – Communications Office
H: You broadcast official time.
Fike: Correct.
H: Was it accurate?
Fike: Yes.
H: Then how did this happen?
Fike: People didn’t follow it.
H: Or they were told differently.
Fike: That’s outside our broadcast.
H: The clock was never wrong.
Fike: Of course not.
(Subject relieved, almost defensive.)
Role: Temporal Safety Officer
Location: Grand Timing Exchange – Safety Room
H: Any irregularities?
Malveen: None beyond expected variance.
H: Fourteen fatalities.
Malveen: Human factors.
H: Preventable?
Malveen: Everything is preventable in theory.
H: In practice?
Malveen: This was an accident.
(Statement delivered from memorized phrasing.)
Role: Waiting Room Attendant
Location: Railway Waiting Room
H: You calmed passengers.
Rune: As trained.
H: Did anyone question the delay?
Rune: No one panics if you speak slowly.
H: Did you know the train was coming?
Rune: I knew what I was told.
H: And that was wrong.
Rune: It was official.
(Subject genuinely confused why this is an interrogation.)
No witness admits error.
No witness disputes the timeline.
No system reports malfunction.
The clock was correct.
The message was correct when sent.
The announcement was correct when made.
The error exists only in transit.
All parties followed procedure.
All outcomes were unintended.
The incident meets the criteria for an accident.
Everyone agrees this was an accident.
No one agrees what went wrong.
The clock is blamed.
The clock is innocent.
Fourteen people trusted the city to tell them when it was safe to stand still.
The city told them a time that did not exist.
End of Initial Interrogations.