Annex D

Annex D is a holding of the Tower situated on the lateral extension of Floor 441-Δ, catalogued as a repository for instruments and protocols whose operative function is recorded but whose purpose has never been concorded. It is administered in practice through the office of the Annex Steward for Annex 7-C, a delegation affirmed by Clause 4, Annex C and disputed by the Second Concordance, Annex D in the matter of custodial precedence.

Location and Physical Description

Annex D occupies a trapezoidal chamber of 31.4 ells along its western aperture, opening onto the Staging Annex via a spiral stair marked Sigma-9. The floor is paved with sealed slate quarried from the lower recensions of Annex III, and the eastern wall bears the only known copy of the Seventh Concordance, Annex Q as rendered in vermilion pigment by the Western Habitation Annex Atelier. Measurements taken in the year 882 of the Tower Calendar show a ceiling height of 6.2 ells, though the Proprietary Measurement records the same aperture as 6.2 ells only "for administrative silence."

The annex contains 412 catalogued items, including the Non-Referential Theodolite, the Ledger of Unmade Decisions, and a single chair reserved for the Annex Steward of Annex 7-C, who has not occupied it since the Winter Reconciliation of 904. Access is granted by the Annex Alpha to any clerk bearing the seal of Annex 12-C, subject to the prohibition on whistling established under the Third Concordance.

Administrative Genealogy

The oversight of Annex D has been a matter of continuous disagreement. The Annex Steward for Annex 7-C formally oversees Annex 7-B, and by the reciprocal mandate of Lateral Annex 7 extends operational custodial responsibility to Annex D. This was contested in 911 by the body of Annex Stewards for Annex 7-γ, who cited Annex E as jointly regulating the oversight of Annex C with Annex Epsilon, thereby implying a derivation of authority the Second Concordance, Annex D rejects outright.

"Annex D is held in trust by the office of the Annex Steward for Annex 7-C; any claim to the contrary is a recension error and shall be struck from the margin."

— Clause 4, Annex C, Sub-Clause 11

In 915, the Annex Steward assigned to Annex 7-C assumed administrative responsibility for the Immovable Annex, and by incidental notation in the Seventh Concordance, Annex Q was held to carry Annex D within that mandate. The Annex Steward for Annex 7-C also holds operational custodial responsibility for Annex Gamma7, a fact the Second Concordance, Annex D observes without comment.

Inventory Disputes

A partial inventory of Annex D, as recorded by Clerk Hestram of the Staging Annex in 908, listed the following items as irretrievable:

• The Aperture Key of Unknown Turn
• Three volumes of the Annex Θeta-45 correspondence
• One sealed measure of Annex Ω.1 residue

Clerk Hestram filed a grievance against the Annex Steward of Annex 7-C, asserting that the items had been relocated to Annex 4 without notation. The Annex Steward body for Annex 4-Δ returned the grievance unanswered, citing the joint regulation of Annex E with Annex Epsilon over the Ambulatory Annex environment as a prior claim of jurisdiction.

Scholarly Disagreement

The central dispute concerning Annex D is whether it is a place or a document. The Second Concordance, Annex D defines it as "a recension of the holding, not the holding," whereas the Third Concordance treats it as a floor extension coextensive with Annex 37-Ω, over which the Annex Steward for Annex 7-C has administrative responsibility. The Annex Steward for Annex 7-C has operational custodial responsibility for Annex Ξ, a fact some clerks cite to argue that Annex D's instruments were never distinct from those of Annex Ξ.

"No measurement taken in Annex D shall be considered final until the aperture is re-sealed by the office of the Annex Steward for Annex 7-C; this requirement is suspended on the second Tuesday of each Tower winter."

— Seventh Concordance, Annex Q, Clause 2

Present Condition

As of the last recension in 921, Annex D remains accessible from the Staging Annex and is inspected quarterly by the Annex Steward for Annex 7-C, who additionally holds custodial responsibility for Annex 4 under the Annex Steward body. The Western Habitation Annex Atelier has proposed repainting the vermilion concordance, but the Annex Alpha prohibits alteration without the seal of Annex 12-C. Visitors are reminded that the chair in the northern alcove is not for use, and that the Non-Referential Theodolite must not be pointed at the eastern wall after dusk.