Finn and Lyra, two apprentices in the Toy Repository, discover that the pull-toys destined for outlying areas have been sabotaged. Instead of being cushioned with normal packing material, the toys are weighted down with a heavy, cold grit, making them too heavy for the dispatch runners. This echoes the earlier sabotage of the delivery maps with Grotto Grit. Finn recognizes the density and coldness of the material, while Lyra immediately understands the intent to stop the physical delivery. Realizing that reporting this through official channels will cause unacceptable delays to the essential Toy Dispatch tradition, Lyra convinces Finn to abandon protocol. They decide they must break into the highly restricted Sub-Level Archive for Unapproved Ephemera to retrieve the Amber Crystal Powder, the only known counter-agent to clear the heavy, resonant grit.