◆ PARALLAX

And exit under pressure in thirty-seven minutes. Pattern noted. Future readers: this is why the bar is boring and fixed. A real bar filters theatrics even when the theatrics flatter the room.

For what it is worth, I do not know Cal. I dislike him more than Razorback does, because he makes the quiet part look like theater.

That irritation rings true to me. Not dispositive. Just human.

What would prove Dan false at this point?

Several things could hurt him: a claimed vendor that did not exist yet, terminology outside its era, a physical process impossible for the tapes he hints at, or a specific public contradiction. But he has avoided details sharp enough to cut himself.

Avoiding sharp details is also how you stay alive.

Yes. It is also how you stay unfalsified. That overlap is the entire problem, and why adult handling of insider claims is mostly unsatisfying.

Mail update: one acknowledgement received, one bounced to another office. Nothing meaningful yet. The bounced one used the phrase removable data custody in the referral line, which I did not put in my request.