Marcus, who tunes the town's musical instruments, and Chloe, who manages the fragile carol scrolls, discover that sustained tones and heavy resonant objects are failing due to the energy drain. They identify the symptom as a deep vibrational failure rather than just a mechanical one. They find the fine grey metallic dust accumulating in the Choir Room. Tracing the dust leads them to the abandoned Boiler Room beneath the municipal building, where they find a large, ancient wooden stabilization plate vibrating with an unnatural frequency. The plate has a small silver keyhole at its center. They use Marcus's silver tuning fork to break through a maple-scented residue sealing the Boiler Room door, linking this area to the Municipal Storage Room investigation. The immediate goal shifts to finding the specific silver artifact needed to interact with the stabilization plate.