07. Restoration

Eight faces occupy a nine-square grid on the monitor.

Some look down as they work on something. Some chat. Others stare up at the ceiling.

In one square is a face that should be familiar, yet feels faintly wrong.

The longer I stare at it, the less certain I become of who it belongs to.

“...But do we really need to examine everything this rigorously?”

“I admit it would be difficult to argue if someone called the process a mere formality by now.”

“We're about eighty percent done with the critical material, aren't we? Couldn't we meet less often?”

Several members are discussing the future of the committee.

With a clearing of the throat, a white-bearded face appears in the empty square at the upper left.

“My apologies. Old age makes the intervals shorter, you know.”

“Now then, our final object for today,” says the woman in the neighboring square with a polite, practiced smile.

“Please review items GLP-J-01 through 24.”

Twenty-four orderly yet somehow peculiar letter-like objects appear on the terminal in front of me.

Everyone lowers their gaze. The longest silence of the day follows.

“Are these... runes?”

“Systems of meaningful symbols with this general appearance seem to have existed from around the second century.”

“However, as far as we can currently determine, these do not correspond to any known system.”

“Could they be related to something that has yet to be restored?”

“No. ...Or rather, probably not.”

“The primary recording media of that earlier period were stone, wood, bone, and the like. It is difficult to imagine anyone creating something like this with primitive intent after digital data had become widespread.”

“Hmm. Just an artwork, then? The file extension is .ai, after all.”

“Shall we classify it as ‘General,’ then?”

“I see no problem with that.”

For some reason, its public-access status is settled by majority vote without any real debate.

The meeting is adjourned. Faces disappear from the screen one by one, while I continue staring at the terminal in my hands.