Nessa drew a circle around the waterworks gate and immediately smeared it with the side of her hand.
“That’s the part I can see from the road,” she said. “The rest is inside the filtration building.”
Her injured arm was still supported, so she had used the other hand to sketch. Sera slid a clean sheet beneath it while the ink dried. Nessa held the corner down with the uninjured hand until the breeze from the shop door stopped lifting the paper. Kellan leaned over the map, recognizing the roads and the old service lane behind the facility.
“Who hired your guild?” he asked.
“The city. Small bounty for an inspection and removal if there’s a creature. The official rating is low.”
“What does the briefing say about the water system?” Tessa asked.
“Stay clear of the controls.” Nessa grimaced. “That’s most of it.”
Eli looked at her sling. “Are you going in?”
“Not as a fighter. My clinician hasn’t cleared me for that. I can help with the briefing and point out what the team needs.”
“Why bring it to us?”
“Because you pulled us out of the warehouse, and because you ask annoying questions before people go inside.” She looked at Kellan. “I mean that as a compliment.”
“I’ll write it down,” Kellan said.
Nessa explained that the gate had opened near a filtration annex. Workers had reported unusual movement around the machinery, but no one had confirmed damage. The city wanted the source identified before it affected the neighborhood’s water supply. The bounty was modest, and the guild team assigned to it expected a quick job.
“Who leads them?” Eli asked.
“Davin. He was not at the warehouse. He knows I spoke to you, but he hasn’t offered you a contract.”
“Does he know what happened there?”
“He knows the part I told him. He doesn’t know who changed the rating, because I don’t.”
Eli read the note she had brought. The assignment named the waterworks, an inspection period and a low threat rating. It did not include a pipe plan or a description of the reported movement. A short clause gave the official team control of the operation; it did not explain whether another group could call a stop.
“This could be a way to draw us into another job someone else controls,” he said.
“Or it could be a small gate near a water supply,” Tessa replied. “We can find out which parts of the offer are real.”
“A guild is involved.”
“Several guild workers were trapped in the warehouse. Nessa was one of them.”
“I know.”
“Then don’t make her prove she isn’t Rook every time she comes through the door.”
Nessa looked between them. “I’m not asking you to trust Davin because you trust me. Ask him what he’s bringing and what he’d let you do.”
Kellan unfolded the city’s public waterworks plan on the counter. The map showed a main filtration building, a pumping annex and service routes. The older pipe lines were drawn in pale blue, newer additions in black. A gap near the annex was labeled MAINTENANCE ACCESS, but the map did not show whether the exit remained usable.
“The plan is eight years old,” he said. “We need the current one.”
“I can ask the facility engineer,” Nessa said. “I don’t know whether they’ll give it to me.”
Sera asked about mana readings. Nessa had a short report from a scout: one active signature near the annex and background currents from equipment. The scout had not entered the control room. Sera read it twice.
“Did they take a second reading?”
“Not on my copy.”
“Can I speak to the scout?”
“I’ll ask.”
The clinic phone rang. Leah passed Tessa a message from Mrs. Patel, who had noticed the water from her kitchen tap turning cloudy for a few seconds that morning. Tessa called her back. Mrs. Patel said the water cleared quickly and she had not noticed a smell. She wanted to know whether it was connected to the gate.
“I don’t know,” Tessa said. “Have you contacted the water service?”
“I tried. The line was busy.”
“Try again and report what you saw. If you have a medical concern, contact your clinician. I won’t tell you it’s safe or unsafe without information.”
After the call, Tessa told Nessa about the report without naming Mrs. Patel. Nessa wrote down the street and time to pass to the facility, with Tessa’s confirmation that the patient had agreed to share that limited information.
Eli looked at the waterworks map again. The clinic used water to clean equipment and wash hands. Mrs. Ortega lived above the shop. Leah’s son Noah filled paper boats in the sink when she let him. A small creature near the wrong control could affect all of them, even if the bounty was too low to interest a stronger team.
“What would you need us to do?” he asked.
“That’s what we need to negotiate. Davin wants someone who can check the structure and a scout who can work around the machinery. He also needs a medic available if a worker or hunter is hurt.”
“And a porter?”
“He didn’t ask for one. I told him about your rescue work.”
Eli felt the old irritation at being described by a rank and a role. He could now anchor a load for a few seconds and see strain in damaged structures, but neither ability made him the obvious person to lead the waterworks job. Nessa had brought the offer to the team, not to him alone.
Kellan asked for the equipment list. Nessa had not seen one. Tessa asked who would pay for a medic and whether the team could withdraw if the plant’s infrastructure was endangered. Nessa wrote both questions down.
“I’m going to run out of paper,” she said.
Leah handed her a notebook. “Return it if you don’t use all the pages.” Nessa turned to the first clean sheet and found Noah had drawn a boat in the corner. She asked whether he would mind sharing the page. Leah said he would be delighted to have his boat travel to a waterworks, provided she did not draw a monster on it.
Nessa laughed and clipped the pen to the cover. She wrote her questions around the little boat, leaving the drawing untouched in its corner. She called Davin from the clinic after asking whether he could speak. He answered on the fourth ring. She explained that the independent team wanted a written briefing and a meeting before accepting any role.
Davin’s reply was loud enough for Eli to hear through the receiver: “We don’t have a week.”
“We’re asking for a meeting today,” Nessa said. “Not a week.”
He agreed to meet at the waterworks visitor entrance that afternoon. He would bring the available rating, the scout’s report and the proposed contract. He would not promise a current pipe plan; that belonged to the facility.
After the call, Kellan went to see Theo before the appointment they had moved earlier. Theo was sitting on the edge of his bed tying a shoe when Kellan arrived. The laces had tangled, and he was frowning at them.
“Want help?” Kellan asked.
“Not yet.” Theo pulled one loop free and looked up. “Did the independent team get rich?”
“Not yet.”
“Then we’re both waiting.”
Kellan sat beside him. He explained the waterworks offer, the small bounty and the need to verify the conditions. Theo listened while working at the knot.
“Are you going because the water matters or because you want another job?”
“Both.”
“Can both fit in the contract?”
“I hope so.”
Theo finally freed the lace and tied it again. “If the water stops, my building’s stairs are going to be full of people carrying buckets. I’d prefer you keep the pipes in one piece.”
“I’ll put that in the plan.”
At the appointment, the clinician discussed the next step in Theo’s care and gave him a written schedule. Kellan asked about transport and the cost of the follow-up. The answer was still more than their current savings could comfortably cover. Theo asked the clinician to address the medical questions to him, then asked Kellan to write down the date because he was already trying to remember the instructions.
Afterward, Theo took the bus home with a neighbor who had offered a ride from the stop. Kellan called the team: the waterworks meeting conflicted with the afternoon practice they had arranged, and everyone agreed to postpone it. He went to the waterworks entrance. He found Eli and Sera waiting near the fence. Tessa arrived moments later, carrying a folder and a small medical bag.
“Is the bag for the meeting?” Eli asked.
“It stays with me. A meeting doesn’t stop other things happening.”
Davin came from the visitor entrance with Nessa and a facility employee in a blue uniform. He was a compact man with a square case under one arm. He greeted the group, introduced the employee as engineer Halden, and placed the case on a bench.
“I have a team ready to enter tomorrow,” Davin said. “I don’t have a large budget for outside help.”
“What is the guaranteed fee?” Kellan asked.
Davin named an amount lower than the warehouse collection had paid. There was a separate share if the creature was removed and the city accepted the report.
“Paid when?” Kellan asked.
“The guaranteed fee after inspection. The share after acceptance.”
Tessa asked about injury coverage. Davin said his guild covered its registered members; independent workers would need their own arrangements unless the city extended its policy. He had requested clarification and expected it before entry.
Sera asked for the scout’s readings. Davin handed over the report. It recorded one strong current near the filtration controls but noted interference from active machinery. The reading had been taken from the doorway, not the full room.
“That’s not a count of creatures,” Sera said.
“No,” Davin replied. “It’s what we have.”
Engineer Halden opened a current facility plan. The gate had appeared beside a service passage connected to the annex. Several pipes passed close to the reported signature. He pointed to a control cabinet and a narrow maintenance exit partly blocked by stored equipment.
“If one of those pipes breaks,” he said, “we can isolate part of the system. That doesn’t mean the district keeps normal service while we repair it.”
Davin looked at the plan. “My fighters can handle a low-rated creature.”
“Can they guarantee every strike misses the pipes?” Kellan asked.
“We’ll position them.”
“Show me where.”
Davin moved a finger along the proposed route. It passed between two pipe runs and a control cabinet. There was little room for a person to turn with a long weapon.
“We’ll discuss the route tomorrow,” he said. “Today I need to know whether you’re interested.”
Tessa looked at the team. “Interested in inspecting. Not committed to entering until we have the terms and equipment list.”
Davin’s jaw tightened, but Nessa spoke before he could answer. “That’s what I told you they’d say.”
He handed Kellan a copy of the proposed contract and agreed to send the insurance answer. The group arranged to meet at the entrance the next morning. Halden promised to check whether the maintenance exit could be cleared and whether any workers had reported symptoms.
As they left, Eli asked Nessa why she had stayed with the guild after the warehouse.
“Because my coworkers are there. Because the medical coverage matters. Because leaving would cost me a wage while my arm heals.” She adjusted the sling. “And because I can still ask Davin questions he doesn’t like.”
Eli nodded. He had nearly treated the guild label as the whole answer. Nessa had given him a list of reasons, each connected to a person or a bill.
At the clinic, Leah had placed a jug of water on the counter with the time it was filled. The water looked clear. Tessa called the public service line again and obtained a notice saying the facility was being inspected; it did not confirm contamination or advise a change in use. She posted the notice beside the phone number so patients could check for updates.
The team had not accepted the job. They had a low rating, a thin briefing, a route close to fragile pipes and a meeting where Davin would need to answer for the people he expected to send inside. Eli put the contract in the folder Nora would review and set an alarm for the morning.