It was ninety minutes until the band would move from the green room to stage-ready positions. If there were any last-minute disruptions, such as a headset malfunction or the needfor altering staging, someone might suggest a band member choose a different route backstage.
Alone.
I messaged Eamon
Griffin:Venue layout changed without documentation. Service corridor active without cameras. Need verification.
His response came thirty seconds later.
Eamon:On it. Stay visible.
An incident unfolded as I'd expected. Rune readied himself to exit the green room and take his stage-ready position in twelve minutes. His assigned escort, a junior security officer, stood outside the door, checking his radio.
A production coordinator appeared, moving fast. "Headset issue. Main comms are down. Kang needs you at monitor control right now."
The security officer hesitated. "I'm on detail—"
"Thirty seconds. He's not moving yet. Kang said now."
The officer opened the green room door and called to Rune. "I'll be right back."
He left. The coverage was gone.
I'd positioned myself about twenty feet away, technically outside Rune's immediate detail but close enough to maintain visual contact.
Ten seconds passed. The green room door opened.
Rune stepped out, looking left first, where his escort should have been, then right. He paused and then began walking toward the main corridor.
Alone.
A handler appeared from the opposite direction, clipboard in hand. She gestured toward the temporary space, where there were no cameras. "It's a shortcut," I heard her say.
Rune nodded, and I acted. I reached him before he changed direction.
"Different route," I whispered.
He stopped and understood immediately.
"Okay."
The handler frowned. "The main corridor's backed up with—"
"This way." I kept my voice level and professional.
I guided Rune toward a permanent service corridor on the opposite side. It was narrower and uglier, but it bustled with staff and crew. They would remember having seen us.
I walked with Rune toward the stage. A lighting technician nodded as we passed. Someone rolled a cable cart past us.
They were witnesses.
The security officer reappeared, slightly out of breath. "Comms are fine. False alarm."
Rune glanced at me for a beat. Then he moved toward his mark, stepping into the pre-show staging area where the rest of the band gathered. Everything was back to normal.
My phone buzzed.
Eamon:Service corridor you flagged wasn't on active event plan. Someone overrode lockout protocols. No approval documented.
