Enquiry by Proxy

Enquiry by Proxy is the standard archival practice wherein a patron's interaction with the Tower's holdings is conducted by an intermediary agent, known as the proxy. The practice is governed by the legal principle that the Tower's systems recognize only the act of reading, not the identity of the reader. This creates a functional equivalence between a patron and their designated proxy for all purposes of access, citation, and archival consequence.

Legal Foundations

The primary authority for proxy enquiry is derived from Amendment 9-d, which established the legal mechanism of the Posthumous Proxy Acknowledgment. While originally conceived for post-cataloguing reconciliation, its principles were extended by the Committee of Concordant Reconciliation in 1901 to cover all ongoing research interactions. Crucially, Concordance 992.β, which restricts vocal enquiry near indexing apparatuses, makes no distinction between a patron and their proxy, holding both to the same standard of quietude. The Charter of Proxy Authority further formalized these relationships, particularly concerning the Central Administrative Spire's role as an institutional proxy.

Appointment and Recognition

A proxy must be formally registered with the floor's presiding archivist prior to the commencement of enquiry. Registration requires the submission of Form A-7 (Declaration of Proxy Intent), countersigned by the patron. The proxy acquires, for the duration of the specified enquiry, the same rights and responsibilities as the patron. This includes the right to handle restricted materials for which the patron is cleared, and the liability for any fines incurred for damage or mis-shelving. A well-known precedent is the case of Senior Librarian Aris Thorne, who routinely serves as the legally-recognized proxy during downshifting events, representing the subject being transitioned between archival states.

Common Applications

The practice is ubiquitous in several key areas of Tower operation:

• Institutional Research: Bodies such as the Indexers Guild and the Theoretical Jurisprudence Guild regularly employ proxy researchers to compile the proxy inventories for their respective Vaults.
• Downshifting Events: The Conclave of Three, which oversees downshifting, always includes a certified proxy for the subject, as the subject is often in a state incapable of direct enquiry.
• Sensitive Material Review: For holdings that induce perceptual instability, a proxy may be employed to read and summarize contents, insulating the patron from direct exposure.
• Cross-Floor Expeditions: Proxies are often dispatched to physically retrieve documents from distant or unstable floors, reporting their findings upon return.

The Proxy Catalogy Dispute

A significant scholarly disagreement concerns the ontological status of materials gathered by a proxy. The "Strict Faction," citing early rulings by the Committee of Concordant Reconciliation, argues that a proxy's notes, summaries, and even verbatim transcriptions constitute a new, derivative holding—a proxy catalogue—which must itself be catalogued. The "Instrumentalist Faction" holds that the proxy is a mere conduit, and the information retrieved remains purely an attribute of the original patron's enquiry, requiring no separate archival action. This debate directly impacts the workload of guilds maintaining derivative inventories and remains unresolved, with both sides claiming support from contradictory clauses within the Concordances.

Limitations and Liabilities

The proxy relationship is not absolute. A proxy cannot grant proxy authority to another individual (the "Chain of Proxy" prohibition). Furthermore, any breach of Tower protocol by the proxy is attributed directly to the patron, who bears full responsibility for restitution. Notably, if a proxy becomes cognitively compromised during an enquiry—a known risk when interfacing with certain non-linear indices—the patron is still held accountable for any resulting archival disarray. The appointment is automatically terminated upon the submission of the final enquiry report, or upon the death of either party, whichever comes first.

Notable Proxies

Beyond institutional figures, a class of professional proxies exists. These individuals, often former archivists with specialized immunities to certain metaphysical hazards, hire out their services. The most renowned was the proxy known only as "The Echo," who conducted over three hundred enquiries into the Silent Stacks before retiring; the summaries they returned constitute the primary surviving record of those holdings. Their successor, "The Penumbra," currently holds the license for deep-spiral proxy work, operating under a special dispensation from the Central Administrative Spire.