settled-reach/docs/design/spatial-layout-smuggling-corridors-v01.md

title, description, type, status, ticket, decision_refs, author, created, updated

title	description	type	status	ticket	decision_refs	author	created	updated
Spatial Layout: Smuggling Spaces and Transition Corridors	Ring operational footprint overlay covering restricted storage, maintenance corridors, dead-drops, and transition corridor	design	active	#313		Araminta	2026-02-19	2026-02-19

Spatial Layout: Smuggling Spaces and Transition Corridors

Ticket: #313 Date: 2026-02-19 Author: Araminta (Visual Designer) Status: v0.1 — wireframe quality, unblocks copy #192

Grid: 1 cell = 1m visual tile. Transition corridor is shown at reduced scale (1 cell = 2m) due to 40m length. Zone palette: Neutral dark, dim irregular lighting (visual grammar §1.4, Zone 3 — Transition Corridors)

Cross-reference: This document overlays on #311 (Terminal layout) and #312 (Bar layout). Read both before this document.

---

Design Principle: Invisible Infrastructure

The smuggling ring has no dedicated space. This is the core spatial insight: every ring location serves a mundane purpose, and the criminal function is only apparent if you know what to look for. The player (smuggler PC) knows. The detective PC can learn. An NPC observing in isolation sees nothing unusual.

This means the spatial layouts here are interpretive layers on top of existing spaces, not new spaces. The restricted storage is officially overflow cargo. The maintenance corridors are officially maintenance corridors. The dead-drops are officially: a locker, a junction box, a shelf marker.

Same physical space. Different player understanding.

---

Overview: The Ring's Operational Footprint

The smuggling operation spans four categories of space:

Category	Location	Function	Discovery vector
Restricted storage	Terminal, south zone (S of cargo floor)	Primary staging — contraband lives here	Restricted access; manifest discrepancy; visual observation of access pattern
Maintenance corridors	Behind both major buildings; east service spine	Transit — ring members move goods and exchange information here without crossing public zones	Physical discovery (hatch access); sound detection (movement behind walls); NPC behavior pattern
Dead-drops	3 fixed locations (see §3)	Information and small-item exchange; no person-to-person contact	Insert observation; pattern recognition; monologue flagging
Transition corridor	~40m link between Terminal and bar district	Physical transit; unavoidable chokepoint for ring members moving between locations	Observation of NPC pattern; insert tracking; time-of-day analysis

---

1. Restricted Storage (Embedded in Terminal Layout)

Location: Terminal, rows 27–30 (south of cargo floor). Access via single coded door from cargo floor.

From Terminal layout (#311), zoomed:

         [C][C][C][C][C]    <- cargo floor (rows 24-26)
              |
         [D](CODED)         <- row 26, center — the access door
              |
#############################   row 27
# RESTRICTED STORAGE        #   row 28
# [RS][RS][RS][RS][RS][RS]  #   row 29  <- Rack A (east side)
# . . . . . . . . . . . .  #   row 30  <- staging floor (center)
# [RS][RS][RS][RS][RS][RS]  #   row 31  <- Rack B (west side)
#            [DD-1]         #   row 32  <- DEAD-DROP LOCATION 1 (see §3)
#############################   row 33

Official function: High-value or flagged cargo overflow. Access restricted to authorized hub personnel. Ring function: Primary staging point. Contraband enters as mislabeled standard cargo, moves here under cover of a legitimate manifest entry for the rack slot. LOS exposure: The coded entry door is visible from the cargo floor AND from the supervisor's window (see Terminal sightline analysis). Any approach to the door can be observed by Voss if he's at his desk. The door itself has no window — once inside, you're not visible from outside. Operational risk: The access code is held by Voss and a small list of authorized personnel. A ring member with legitimate access (one of them has a work reason to occasionally enter) must make the access pattern look normal. Frequency, timing, and duration all create anomalies detectable by the detective's analytical lattice.

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2. Maintenance Corridors

The maintenance corridors are the ring's secondary movement network. They are the spatial infrastructure that makes the operation functionally invisible: a ring member moving goods from the Terminal to the bar district via the public transit corridor is observable. Via the maintenance corridor, they're not.

2.1 Corridor Network Map (schematic, not to visual-grid scale)

[TERMINAL BUILDING]
    |
    M-HATCH-T (maintenance hatch, east wall of restricted storage)
    |
    EAST SERVICE SPINE (maintenance corridor)
    |  <- narrow, 2m wide, dim lighting, Era 1 original construction
    |
    JUNCTION-1 (4-way junction: terminal, span gate service, district spine, Velen depot access)
    |
    DISTRICT SPINE (maintenance corridor)
    |  <- runs parallel to transit corridor, ~40m, grating floor
    |
    M-HATCH-B (maintenance hatch, north wall of bar's bathroom corridor)
    |
[BAR BUILDING]

2.2 Maintenance Corridor Layout (section view)

Scale: 1 cell = 1m visual tile. Corridor width: 2m (2 cells).
N = Terminal side. S = Bar side.

##  M-HATCH-T  ##   <- entry from restricted storage (locked hatch)
## . . . . . . ##   row 01  <- 2m wide; grating floor
## . . . . . . ##   row 02  ACCESS: PRIVATE
## . . [JB-1]. ##   row 03  <- [JB-1] = junction box (DEAD-DROP 2, see §3)
## . . . . . . ##   row 04
## [JUNC-1]    ##   row 05  <- 4-way junction. Branching maintained here.
## . . . . . . ##   row 06
## . . . . . . ##   row 07
## . . [SH-1]. ##   row 08  <- [SH-1] = shelf marker (DEAD-DROP 3, see §3)
## . . . . . . ##   row 09
## . . . . . . ##   row 10
## . . . . . . ##   row 11
##  M-HATCH-B  ##   <- exit into bar's bathroom corridor (locked hatch, key-based)

(Grating underfoot. Dim cold-white maintenance-grade lighting. D-046 reference:
 maintenance lighting is sparse, uneven; gaps between light pools are wider.)

Official function: Station infrastructure maintenance access. Utility routing (power, climate, comms). Ring function: Personnel transit. Small-item movement (packages that fit in a standard duffel). Not large cargo — restricted storage-to-terminal is the cargo staging point; the corridor handles distribution of smaller items for personal delivery. LOS exposure: Zero. No windows. No cameras (era 1 construction, never upgraded). The only way to know someone is in the maintenance corridor is: (a) hear them (footsteps carry differently on grating — detectable as distinct sound signature from outside if you're listening in an adjacent space), or (b) witness them entering or exiting a hatch. Hatch visibility:

• M-HATCH-T opens inside restricted storage. Access visible only to someone in restricted storage.
• M-HATCH-B opens inside the bathroom corridor. Access visible only to someone in the bathroom corridor at that moment.

Critical insight for investigation: The detective cannot observe the maintenance corridor interior without entering it. All evidence is inferential: hearing footsteps behind walls, observing the hatch-T entry from restricted storage, or timing Kael's movements to when maintenance corridor transit would explain his presence pattern.

---

3. Dead-Drop Locations

Three fixed dead-drops in v0.1. Each serves as an information-only exchange point — no in-person meeting required. Ring members leave items or encoded data; ring members retrieve them. There is no face-to-face contact at a dead-drop by design.

Dead-Drop 1 — "The Shelf" (Restricted Storage, Terminal)

Location: Restricted storage, south wall, specific rack position (row 32, center of south wall as marked in §1 layout). Mundane appearance: A standard cargo rack position. A specific physical marker (a cargo tag with a non-standard orientation) signals to ring members that something is there. Ring use: Small items. Encoded instructions. The only dead-drop that requires access to restricted storage — the highest-security location. Discovery vector: The detective with the analytical lattice can flag an anomalous tag orientation as "pattern mismatch" if they've spent time in the storage area. Monologue: "That tag's rotated 90 degrees. The others aren't. Could be nothing." Knowledge graph flag: Suspects confidence on "dead-drop usage" topic. NPC who uses it: Kael (delivery side). Voss has visual access to the room but doesn't know what to look for in the rack (he's not ring-aware at this level).

Dead-Drop 2 — "The Box" (Maintenance Corridor, Junction 1 area)

Location: Junction box JB-1 on the corridor east wall, row 03 of the maintenance corridor section (roughly 15m from the Terminal hatch). Mundane appearance: A standard maintenance utility junction. These boxes line every maintenance corridor on Station Sova — this one has a specific compartment that's not documented in the station maintenance schema. Ring use: Information transfer. Small data chips. No physical bulk. Discovery vector: Physical discovery (the detective finds this junction box while traversing the corridor; insert observation flags "this junction is not in the station maintenance schema"). Or: sound model approach — close-range audio places the player near the box when a ring member accesses it. NPC who uses it: Drin (Triangle 2 — the connection between Drin's worried knowledge and the ring's operation runs through what Drin knows about this drop location).

Dead-Drop 3 — "The Mark" (Maintenance Corridor, District Spine)

Location: Shelf marker SH-1, row 08 of the maintenance corridor section (roughly 28m from Terminal hatch, 12m from bar hatch). A small painted mark at eye-height on the west wall, positioned at a shelf bracket that holds nothing. Mundane appearance: A maintenance alignment mark. Dozens exist in maintenance corridors for spatial orientation. This one has a secondary mark (a barely visible secondary line) that ring members read as a go/no-go signal. Ring use: Status signal. "Go" = operation is running tonight. "No-go" = abort, someone is watching. Changed by the ring coordinator. No item exchange. Discovery vector: Monologue (the smuggler PC notices the mark and recognizes its meaning; the detective PC sees it and can't read it — but the insert can flag "mark has been altered in the past N hours" if they have lattice scanning active). This is an information asymmetry showcase: the smuggler reads meaning; the detective reads only an anomaly. NPC who uses it: The ring coordinator (unnamed, off-stage in v0.1). Kael and Drin are users but not setters of this signal.

---

4. Transition Corridor

The ~40m corridor connecting the Terminal district to the bar district is the ring's unavoidable exposure zone. There is no maintenance corridor equivalent for this stretch — the public transit corridor is the only route between the two buildings.

4.1 Corridor Layout

Scale: 1 cell = 2m (corridor is ~40m; shown at half scale = 20 cells long).
Width: 6m wide (3 cells at this scale).

[TERMINAL DISTRICT]
      |
      ↓ south
#############   T = 0m
# . . . . . #
# . . . . . #   <- Zone A: Terminal-side (near scanner bay exit)
# . . . . . #
# . . . . . #
#####[D]#####   T = 10m  <- Service alcove (maintenance access door, one side)
# . . . . . #
# [BENCH]   #   <- seating alcove (mid-corridor), Zone B: mid-corridor
# . . . . . #
# . . . . . #
# . . . . . #   T = 20m
# . . . . . #
#####[SV]####   T = 24m  <- Surveillance camera (station security, visible)
# . . . . . #
# . . . . . #   <- Zone C: bar-side
# . . . . . #
# . . . [NT]#   T = 32m  <- News ticker relay (same feed as bar's ticker)
# . . . . . #
# . . . . . #
# . . . . . #   T = 40m
      |
      ↓ south
[BAR DISTRICT]

4.2 Zone Breakdown

Zone	Distance	Character	Notes
Zone A (Terminal side)	0–12m	Industrial. Well-lit functional lighting. Near scanner bay traffic.	NPCs emerging from Terminal work zone pass through here.
Mid-corridor	12–28m	Transitional. Seating alcove used by workers waiting for shift transport.	The camera at T=24m covers this stretch.
Zone C (Bar side)	28–40m	Warmer ambient at far end as bar lighting bleeds around the corner.	Most relaxed zone — "off shift" feeling begins here.

4.3 The Surveillance Camera

The station security camera at T=24m is a key plot element. It is:

• Visible to the player (rendered as a mounted fixture, z-layer 4)
• Known to the ring — ring members do not exchange goods or signals in this corridor
• Accessible to the detective — with the right lattice query, the detective can pull the camera feed (perception mode: camera feeds, D-017)
• Gameable — camera feeds can be looped or spoofed. The ring doesn't currently loop this camera (that would itself be an anomaly), but the possibility exists.

Investigation note: The camera's timestamp data can establish when ring members used this corridor. Pattern analysis across days reveals the ring's operational schedule. This is the detective's primary hard evidence vector for the transition corridor.

4.4 Traffic Density

    TERMINAL → BAR direction (south)    BAR → TERMINAL direction (north)

Dawn (05-07)       very sparse                  very sparse
Morning shift (07-09) busy (workers leaving Terminal)  sparse
Mid-morning (09-12)  moderate                   moderate
Lunch (12-13)        moderate (bar-going)       moderate
Afternoon (13-17)    sparse                     sparse
Evening shift (17-19) busy (shift end)           busy (new arrivals)
Evening social (19-23) moderate (bar-goers)      moderate (early leavers)
Late night (23-02)   sparse                     sparse
Deep night (02-05)   VERY SPARSE                VERY SPARSE

Ring window: Deep night (23-02) southbound, for ring members heading to bar-side handoffs. Very sparse traffic means a ring member in the corridor is conspicuous if observed by anyone else. The camera cannot be avoided.

Investigative implication: At night, the corridor is so sparse that any NPC on camera is worth noting. The detective PC who reviews camera logs from deep night windows has a short list of suspects.

---

5. Spatial Overlay: Ring Operation Flow

How a standard shipment moves through the spatial system:

Inbound cargo (arrives via span gate)
    ↓
[Scanner Bay B — Kael scans and clears (SB-B, Terminal)]
    ↓ manifest entry routes contraband to restricted storage slot
[Restricted Storage — cargo staged (Terminal, rows 27-30)]
    ↓ when clear of Voss + ring-safe timing
[Dead-Drop 1 confirms go-signal (restricted storage, south wall)]
    ↓ maintenance hatch access
[Maintenance Corridor — ring carrier moves item (M-HATCH-T exit)]
    ↓ checks go/no-go signal
[Dead-Drop 3 — "The Mark" read mid-corridor]
    ↓ if GO:
[Maintenance Corridor continues to bar side (M-HATCH-B entry)]
    ↓ enters bathroom corridor
[Bathroom Corridor — brief transit through bar (Last Shift east zone)]
    ↓
[Back Room (Lera's space) — item transfer or staging for buyer pickup]

What makes this invisible: Each step has a mundane explanation:

• Kael scanning cargo = job
• Restricted storage access = authorized worker entering authorized space
• Someone in the maintenance corridor = maintenance worker
• Someone in the bathroom corridor = using the bathroom
• Someone in the back room = talking to Lera

Only the full pattern, observed across multiple instances, reveals the operation. No single observation is suspicious. This is asymmetric information as a spatial design.

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6. Discovery Path Design

For investigation design purposes, the spatial layout supports two discovery approaches for the detective PC:

Path A — Pattern Recognition (insert-heavy)

1. Corridor camera logs → Kael's deep-night transit pattern established
2. Manifest database access (Terminal, manifest processing) → anomalous cargo entries flagged
3. Restricted storage access pattern (timing) → anomalous frequency established
4. Full picture: regular person, regular location, abnormal schedule = ring member

Path B — Physical Traversal (exploration-heavy)

1. Break room conversation → floor worker mentions Kael's odd hours
2. Physical discovery of maintenance hatch (via break room adjacent) → access discovered
3. Maintenance corridor traversal → Dead-Drop 2 or 3 discovered
4. Dead-Drop 3 mark analysis → insert flags "recently altered"
5. Full picture: someone is using these corridors with intent

Both paths are equally valid. The detective PC's analytical lattice makes Path A faster; a detective playing with insert-off or minimal lattice activation discovers Path B organically. Neither path requires confrontation before late investigation stages.

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Dead-Drop Summary Table

Drop	Location	Container type	Ring function	Discovery route
DD-1 — "The Shelf"	Restricted storage, south rack	Cargo tag (physical marker)	Small item / instruction transfer	Restricted storage access + insert pattern flag
DD-2 — "The Box"	Maintenance corridor, near Terminal hatch	Junction box compartment	Data chip / information transfer	Physical discovery in corridor; or sound proximity
DD-3 — "The Mark"	Maintenance corridor, mid-run (28m)	Wall mark (go/no-go signal)	Status signal — operation go/no-go	Smuggler: reads meaning. Detective: insert flags alteration timestamp.

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Notes for Copy Team (#192 — Smuggling Ring Content Pack)

1. Ring communications are never explicit. NPCs don't say "this is a dead-drop" or "the operation moves tonight." The ring's operational knowledge is encoded spatially (the mark) and physically (the drop). Dialogue about ring operations is oblique — NPC lines should use the same mundane vocabulary: "the cargo," "the back section," "the late run."

2. The maintenance corridor has sensory character. Era 1 construction: grating underfoot (distinct resonant sound per D-074), cold maintenance-grade lighting with longer gaps between pools, the hum of station infrastructure (power conduits, climate ducting). Monologue lines set in the corridor should use sensory grounding — this is physically different from the Terminal or bar.

3. Dead-Drop 3 is the most narratively rich. It's the one where the two player characters have asymmetric understanding. The smuggler PC reads the mark and gets information; the detective PC sees an anomaly and must reason. Mellanie's lines for this location should fork hard on player character: smuggler lines are direct ("Go. Tonight."), detective lines are interpretive ("That secondary mark. Something changed it recently.").

4. The transition corridor is a tonal between-space. Moving through it is moving between two social temperatures — the Terminal's institutional cool to the bar's warm amber. Mellanie's monologue lines for corridor transit should reflect this transition: leaving one context, entering another, the 40m walk as a beat of reflection.

5. Voss's blind spot is spatial. His window looks south into the cargo floor. He cannot see the main corridor or the maintenance hatch. This spatial fact — not a character flaw, not a relationship — is what makes the ring's operation feasible. The player who understands the building layout understands why Kael chose this job.

6. The camera in the transition corridor is the ring's known constraint. Ring members know it's there and operate around it. Any NPC dialogue about moving goods or meeting times will contain an implicit reference to timing around the camera window — again, oblique. "We're better early" = "before the camera maintenance window." Mellanie should build this into Kael's dialogue without making it explicit.