Episode 28 - Routine, Redefined

The next morning, Olivia arrived fifteen minutes early.

Not because she needed the time.

Because she wanted it.

She liked the station before it fully woke up—when the hallways were quiet, the static on Monitor 6B hadn’t aligned yet, and the tea kettle was just starting its slow mechanical stretch.

She walked past the Vault and didn’t look at it.

She felt it watching.

She didn’t flinch.

The front desk had a small stack of envelopes. One hummed slightly. One smelled like rain on old VHS tape. One had no return address and a postmark dated next week.

She sorted them all.

She signed for a delivery from “Room 7C, Between.”

She answered three phone calls—one in standard English, one in ambient hums, and one entirely in childhood memories.

Each time, she responded calmly.

Professionally.

No notes.

Bernard floated by mid-morning and dropped off a reel labeled “Important, But Not Urgent (Yet).” He offered her a tentacle and a nod. She returned both.

Miss LaDonna passed her a folded paper with tea leaves already inside. “When you’re ready,” she said, and nothing more.

Charles did not appear.

He was probably negotiating with the stairwell again.

Olivia sat down.

Breathed in.

Breathed out.

And opened her drawer.

Inside, tucked neatly between her notepad and a half-used packet of throat lozenges:

The projectionist photo.

She didn’t remember putting it there.

She didn’t remove it.

She closed the drawer gently.

And whispered:

“I’m still me.”

Somewhere far down the hallway, the Vault made a sound like an exhale.

Just once.

Just enough.