Flicker and Zephyr, apprentices responsible for the aesthetic Ice Sculpture Garden, discover that the Grand Ice Stag is suffering from internal structural clouding caused by the resonance drain, a threat more insidious than simple surface icing. Recognizing the immediate danger to the main viewing paths, Flicker recalls the archival solution: the resin-treated Tannery Linen stored in the highly restricted Oversized Display Archive. Zephyr agrees to bypass protocol. Using a borrowed thermal applicator, they force open the archive door, bypassing security measures. While searching for the linen, Zephyr hears a slow, heavy scraping sound originating from deeper within the warm, sealed archive, suggesting an unseen, massive object is being moved directly beneath the town's core infrastructure, raising new concerns about the localized heat anomaly.