Case Reference: GC–FIR–005
Incident: Aether Lift Tower Fatality
Report Compiled by: Insp. Tomas Reed
Interrogating Officer: Inspector Roger Huckelbee
Status: Preliminary / Jurisdictionally Limited
Locations: Gearcross Watch Offices / Aether Lift Towers – West Tower
Role: Clearance Assessor, Aether Lift Towers – West Tower
Location: West Tower Administrative Booth
Huckelbee: State your name and function.
Pryce: Aldwyn Pryce. I evaluate load clearance and vertical authorization.
H: The deceased accessed a lethal height.
P: According to your paperwork.
H: According to the body.
P: Bodies don’t have clearance.
H: Was Kerrin Doss authorized above Level 3?
P: No.
H: Then how did he fall from Level 6 or higher?
P: He didn’t.
H: He’s dead.
P: People die at approved levels all the time. Usually slower.
H: You’re dismissing medical findings.
P: I’m contextualizing them. Medicine doesn’t understand infrastructure.
H: Will you grant access for inspection?
P: That would imply a breach occurred. It didn’t.
H: You’re preventing investigation.
P: I’m preventing interference.
(Subject calm, faintly amused. Speaks as though correcting a misunderstanding.)
Role: Platform Operator
Location: West Tower Lift Control Alcove
H: You operated the lift that morning.
Solane: I operated several lifts.
H: Did you see the deceased above his level?
Solane: I don’t track individuals. I track flow.
H: Was there unusual flow?
Solane: No.
H: A man died.
Solane: Yes. That happens at altitude.
H: At unauthorized altitude.
Solane: Unauthorized for him. Not for the tower.
H: Did anyone override clearance?
Solane: Overrides leave noise.
H: Was there noise?
Solane: No.
H: So what happened?
Solane: Gravity performed as designed.
(Subject speaks gently, as if explaining a concept to a child.)
Role: Executive Flight Coordinator
Location: Airship Berths – Zone D
H: Was there airship activity requiring laborer access above Level 3?
Hale: No scheduled activity.
H: Unscheduled?
Hale: That’s not a contradiction. That’s a classification.
H: Did Kerrin Doss assist with ground handling?
Hale: Ground handling does not require altitude.
H: Someone went up.
Hale: Someone fell down.
H: You’re avoiding the question.
Hale: I’m answering the useful part.
H: Will you release berth access logs?
Hale: Those logs govern executive movement. You don’t.
(Subject courteous, patient, faintly indulgent.)
Represented by: Senior Liaison (Name Withheld)
Huckelbee: We require access to upper platforms.
Liaison: You want access.
H: For investigation.
L: For curiosity.
H: A man died.
L: A man exceeded his design limits.
H: With permission.
L: No permission was granted.
H: Then permission failed.
L: Permission does not fail. People misunderstand it.
H: Who decides access now?
L: The same authority that decided before.
H: And that is?
L: Not you.
(Statement delivered calmly, with rehearsed cadence.)
Role: Lift Rigger
Location: West Tower Maintenance Floor
H: You work near upper assemblies.
Bramm: Near. Not on.
H: Did you see Kerrin Doss above Level 3?
Bramm: I saw him working.
H: Where?
Bramm: Higher than usual.
H: How high?
Bramm: High enough I didn’t want to know.
H: Why not report it?
Bramm: Because reporting assumes you’re allowed to understand what you’re seeing.
H: Are we allowed?
Bramm: Apparently not.
(Subject cooperative but resigned.)
Role: Jurisdictional Liaison
Location: Gearcross Administrative Offices
Huckelbee: Our requests are being delayed.
Officer: Delayed is not denied.
H: How long?
Officer: Until review.
H: Review by whom?
Officer: Those who understand the risk.
H: Of what?
Officer: Of letting unqualified observers misinterpret complex systems.
H: We investigate deaths.
Officer: You investigate outcomes. Others investigate causes.
H: We need access.
Officer: You need patience.
(Tone instructional. Frames denial as protection.)
No witness denies the death.
No witness acknowledges unauthorized access.
All witnesses treat the height as real and the permission as abstract.
The body is evidence.
The system disagrees.
Access is withheld not to conceal facts,
but to prevent the wrong people from understanding them.
They are not afraid of us.
They are correcting us.
They speak as if height belongs to them
and death is what happens when someone forgets that.
We are not blocked by force.
We are blocked by confidence.
End of Initial Interrogations.