Department Notice: Downward Filing in Warehouse 7

Following earlier correspondence (NOTICE F&D/7-118), in which the Ministry acknowledged that it had begun to lose staff in Warehouse 7, Facilities & Disappearances is pleased to report that the staff have been located and are productively assigned.

They are assigned to the Vertical Inventory, a project also referred to in older paperwork as Downward Filing. The warehouse is empty because its contents have been moved to where they are now kept: down.

The Ministry confirms the following, in order:

• A shaft is being excavated in the floor of Warehouse 7. This is intentional.
• The shaft is, at last measurement, approaching one statute mile in depth. Measurement is taken irregularly and trends in a single direction.
• The detail at the face is voluntary, in the sense that no one has been observed declining.
• A green luminance rises from the lower portion of the shaft. It brightens and dims on a cycle far too long and too even for the eye to register as movement. Instruments confirm the pulse. No instrument has identified its source, its purpose, or what it is counting toward.

Staff have asked what is at the bottom. The Ministry’s position is that the question is premature, as the bottom has not been reached and may not be a feature of the shaft. Digging continues on that understanding.

Staff have also asked how the detail may return to the surface. This is an operational matter and has been referred to the appropriate office, which is itself below grade and difficult to reach.

— Facilities & Disappearances