The control unit idles in its cradle, lights softened to a tired glow.

The control unit idles in its cradle, lights softened to a tired glow.

No reason to fiddle with it at this point.

Thank you for your service.

You step up to the archival unit once more.

How does this work?

This is a retrieval unit, standard issue in high-density archives. The buttons should let you operate the shelves.

Try to detach the shelves again.

At last, the shelves pull apart from each other.

The sound of grinding metal echoes throughout the silo, rising and expanding like the tolling of a great gong.

Much louder than you were expecting.

Careful. You are not alone.

Motors grind awake, and the shelves begin to move -- together.

The locking mechanism on those two shelves -- it's still in place.

Right. The locking mechanism needs to be released on both shelves.

The shelves come to a stop, still attached.

One seems to be pulling the other.

The two shelves settle. The control panel blinks green.

Are they attached somehow? Might be worth taking a look.

The archival shelf lurches to the left, pulling its partner with it.

Let's see... (Try to separate the paired shelves.)

Step away.

The screen keeps blinking, indifferent.

An old control unit, bolted to the wall. Below the screen, faded block text etched into a steel strip: 'DN-500 -- Archive Retrieval'.