Darius entered carrying a dark folder, not the body camera itself. He wore a plain jacket over his uniform shirt and looked older than he had on Tuesday, the strain of the week visible around his eyes. Nadine introduced herself and explained that the conversation would focus on what he had personally witnessed and the existence of the recording, not on persuading him to surrender company property improperly. Darius nodded, grateful that someone had considered the legal consequences for him instead of treating him as a convenient source. He placed a copy of his preservation request on the table and described the recording system's routine retention process.
"It has your name at the reception desk," he said to Mariah. "It has you asking for Graham Whitlock. It has Elliot Vance deciding you were a threat before anyone verified anything. And it has me doing something I knew I shouldn't have done."
He held her gaze instead of looking away. "I'm sorry for putting my hand on you. I should have slowed the situation down, even if it meant standing up to him in front of the whole building."
Mariah had spent enough time hearing corporate apologies to recognize when one was intended to obtain forgiveness and when it was simply an acknowledgment of harm. Darius asked for nothing in return. She told him she accepted his account but that his decision to cooperate would matter more than any phrase he could say across the table. He agreed, then described the false reports he had been asked to sign and the benefits that David Park had used as a threat. Nadine recorded the details and advised him to preserve the messages and avoid direct arguments with management.
Talia arrived ten minutes later, accompanied by her own employment attorney. She looked exhausted, carrying a folder that seemed much heavier than the paper inside it. For a moment she stared at Darius, surprised to see the man who had been ordered to remove Mariah now sitting beside her lawyer. Darius apologized for his role in the lobby and told her that watching her escorted out had forced him to recognize the pattern of intimidation he had tried to excuse in himself. Talia nodded, unable to offer immediate reassurance, but she moved her chair closer to the table.
The meeting lasted nearly two hours. Talia identified the employment records she had handled, named witnesses who might confirm alterations, and provided preserved correspondence through her attorney rather than a loose collection of screenshots. Darius supplied the incident report number, his formal preservation request, and a detailed statement identifying specific lines removed from the public video. Nadine made clear that the original camera files would need to be obtained and authenticated through an authorized process. Mariah listened to both of them, struck by the fact that people with far less financial security than she possessed were willing to risk their livelihoods to defend a truth they had no obligation to protect for her sake.