Halden tapped the plastic container against the floor. The creature lifted its head beneath the filtration cabinet.
Once. Twice. Then silence.
Sera held up three fingers, counting the beats between the animal’s movements. The stronger mana current shifted toward the open passage, then settled back beneath the cabinet. Eli could see the edge of its ridged back through a gap in the pipes.
“It’s listening,” Orrin whispered.
“Or watching us,” Valea said.
Halden tapped again, this time from a point farther from the controls. The creature crept forward until its nose reached the edge of the cabinet. Its tail remained beside the partly closed bypass valve.
Eli felt the opening. If he activated Anchor now, he might hold the animal before it moved. Valea could throw the net, and Davin could end the fight in seconds.
He pictured the tail striking the valve as the hold took effect. He remembered the crate shifting when the talent released and Kellan’s warning that the force had to go somewhere. The creature might stop; it might twist; the hold might fail before Valea reached it. A single violent movement could damage the control system.
“Not yet,” he said.
Davin looked at him. “I didn’t give an order.”
“I was about to use my ability. The tail is still against the valve.”
“Can you hold it?”
“I haven’t tested it on a living target. I can brace the barrier briefly, but I can’t promise how the animal will move.”
“Then don’t use it until it’s clear.”
The answer surprised Eli. Davin had wanted a fast attack, but he had listened to the limitation. Eli stepped back behind the panel and checked the wedge. Kellan tightened the rope to the rail and placed a second block behind the other foot.
“It’s a redirect, not a wall,” he said. “If it hits hard, move clear.”
Halden tapped again. The creature’s head emerged, followed by one shoulder. Its skin was dark gray with a faint green line along the spine. Water dripped from its jaw onto the concrete. It sniffed toward the sound, then turned toward a loose cable hanging from the cabinet.
“It’s chewing that,” Orrin said.
“Not now,” Sera replied. “It’s touching it. Watch the valve.”
The animal took the cable between its teeth and pulled. A small indicator light on the cabinet flickered. Halden moved forward before Tessa caught his sleeve.
“If you reach in, it may bite,” she said.
“If that cable comes free, the alarm stops reporting the bypass.”
“Can you shut the system down?”
“Not without affecting the line. I can disconnect the alarm from the other side, but I need two minutes.”
Davin signaled Valea. She moved to cover Halden while he went around the cabinet by a protected service route. Sera tracked the creature; its current stayed close to the cable. Halden opened a small panel, checked the labels and isolated the alarm circuit. The light went out.
“The bypass is still partly closed,” he said. “The gauge is mechanical. I’ll watch it directly.”
The creature released the cable and shuffled toward the sound of his voice. Eli raised a hand, ready to anchor the barrier if it charged. It stopped at the edge of the cabinet and scratched the floor.
“Try the container again,” Sera said.
Halden tapped it once, then set it down and stepped away. The animal advanced another pace. Its tail cleared the valve but remained close to the pipe support. Eli let the breath he had been holding out slowly.
Davin raised two fingers. Valea shifted the net in her hands. Orrin moved toward the maintenance exit, where he could close the door if the animal ran past the barrier. Tessa stood with the medical kit outside the immediate path, watching the workers as well as the hunters.
The creature took another step and froze. Sera sensed a fluctuation, but could not tell whether it came from the animal or the machinery behind it. She lifted her hand.
“Pause. Another current, or interference. I can’t separate it.”
Davin’s fingers closed. “We don’t have time for every fluctuation.”
“We have a second exit because she noticed the first route wasn’t enough,” Kellan said. “Let her check.”
Sera moved along the marked line to a position where the cabinet blocked less of the machinery. The stronger current remained near the animal. The weaker pressure came from behind the wall and did not move when the creature shifted.
“Probably equipment,” she said. “I can’t guarantee there isn’t another source, but I can track the one in front of us.”
Davin checked the gauge with Halden. The needle remained stable. He gave her another minute.
Sera tapped a metal washer against the floor farther down the open passage. The creature turned toward the sharper sound. Its claws made a dry clicking noise on the concrete as it took two steps away from the cabinet.
Orrin’s radio crackled. A voice from the city desk said the other registered team had arrived at the outer gate and was asking whether the bounty remained available.
Davin swore softly. “Tell them we’re in the middle of the inspection.”
The voice asked for an estimated completion time. Davin gave none. He looked at Eli.
“If they enter and finish it first, your share may be nothing.”
“Our inspection fee is still due,” Kellan said.
“The larger payment depends on the result.”
Eli knew the numbers. The guaranteed fee would cover some of their preparation, not the equipment and time they had hoped to earn back. Kellan had Theo’s next appointment to pay for. Sera needed training time. The clinic’s transport fund remained thin.
“If we lose the share, we lose it,” Eli said. “Breaking the line could cost the neighborhood more.”
Orrin relayed that the team was working and requested that the other group wait outside the active area. The city desk said it would pass on the request. No one could promise the other team would agree.
Halden moved the container farther down the passage. This time he opened it. Inside were scraps of filter material and a small piece of food from the staff kitchen. He set it beyond the barrier’s intended line, then retreated.
The creature sniffed. It moved forward, paused at a strip of reflected light and tapped the floor with its tail. Its body was now clear of the valve, but the pipe support remained beside it.
“Another two steps,” Kellan said.
“Don’t count on it understanding you,” Valea murmured.
The animal turned abruptly toward Orrin’s radio. He muted it. The creature remained still, then resumed moving toward the container.
A worker at the far end of the corridor dropped a metal tool. The clang rang through the annex. The creature spun and bolted toward the control cabinet.
“Stop!” Sera shouted.
Valea lowered the net instead of throwing. Eli caught the barrier as the animal struck its edge. He did not use Anchor; the panel was not yet set and braced in its blocking position, and a sudden hold might trap it against the pipe. Kellan pulled the panel back half a step, opening a route away from the cabinet.
The creature skidded, claws scratching concrete. It struck the open panel lightly, changed direction and disappeared beneath a different housing. The gauge needle trembled but did not cross the marked limit.
The worker who had dropped the tool stood rigid. “I’m sorry.”
Halden sent him to the outer room and closed the door behind him. “He was checking the sample valve. I should have told him to wait.”
Davin stared at the empty space where the animal had been. “We had it.”
“We had it near the pipe,” Valea said. “The panel kept it from going back under the cabinet.”
Sera closed her eyes. The strong current had moved to the left side of the passage. The weaker signal remained behind the wall. She pointed to the new hiding place.
“It hasn’t reached the controls again.”
Kellan reset the panel and inspected the wedge. The light impact had shifted it an inch. He added a brace from the equipment case and asked Eli to test the rope’s tension. Eli pulled until the rail took the load.
Tessa checked the worker who had dropped the tool. His hand was shaking, but he was not injured. He explained that he had been sent to open a sampling point and had not heard the call to wait. Tessa asked Halden to use one person to relay instructions to all facility staff. Halden chose Nessa, who was outside the active area and already coordinating messages.
Nessa called from the outer room. “The technician has the first sample. The second team is waiting at the gate for the city desk’s answer.”
“Tell them the route is active and the maintenance exit must remain clear,” Davin said.
While Halden prepared the second attempt, Kellan took Eli aside for a quick test of the barrier. They stood outside the creature’s view. Kellan pushed against the panel with a padded pole while Eli held its edge by hand. The first push moved the panel despite the wedge.
“Angle is wrong,” Kellan said. He shifted the brace so the force ran toward the fixed rail rather than across the floor. “Try again.”
Eli pressed down on the frame. Kellan pushed; the panel moved less, but one foot lifted. They added a sandbag from the facility’s flood supplies. On the third push, the panel held long enough for Valea to close the net around the empty space in front of it.
“That took four seconds,” Sera said, checking her watch.
Eli could usually hold Anchor for only a few seconds under a light, controlled load. A struggling creature might demand more. “I’ll call before I release. Don’t assume the panel stays still afterward.”
Valea practiced opening the net without a high throw. She and Orrin held opposite edges, stepped around the imaginary animal and drew them together. The first attempt tangled on Orrin’s bandage. Tessa retaped the loose end, and they repeated the movement until it cleared his hand.
Davin watched the exercise. “If it escapes past the panel?”
“Maintenance exit stays open for us,” Kellan said. “The facility fence gate beyond the yard stays closed so the animal doesn’t reach the street.”
“And if it goes back to the controls?”
“We stop and reassess,” Halden replied. “I can isolate the annex, but I need warning before anyone strikes the valve.”
Davin looked at the clock again. The other team was waiting outside. He could have ended the discussion and ordered a direct attack. Instead he crouched beside the net, checked the knots and moved one weight farther from the edge so it would not swing into the pipe.
“Once it’s in the open, don’t hesitate because you’re worried about the bounty,” he told Valea. “We finish the trap together.”
She gave him a short nod. The instruction had a purpose and a place: the open section, after the animal cleared the controls. Eli returned to the barrier and set his feet where Kellan had marked them.
The creature emerged from its new hiding place when Halden tapped the container again. It moved more cautiously now, staying close to the wall. Sera tracked each change and gave short directions: left, stopped, forward. Valea stood with the net gathered, waiting until the animal reached the wider section.
Eli watched the tail clear the pipe support. He could use Anchor on the barrier once the animal passed it, holding the panel in place for the few seconds the others needed to close the trap. He could not safely hold the animal and the panel at once, and he would not test that limit in a room full of fragile equipment.
The creature reached the container. It nudged the food, then dragged the container toward the open passage. Halden tapped the floor farther away with another piece of plastic. The animal followed, taking the bait and the container with it.
“It’s moving,” Sera said.
The current crossed the line she had marked as clear of the controls. Kellan braced the panel with his shoulder, then stepped back when Eli took position. Valea moved toward the net’s throwing mark. Orrin held the maintenance door open and kept his staff low.
Davin raised his hand. “No strike near the pipe. We close the trap in the open.”
The creature took another step. Its tail was fully clear of the vulnerable support. Eli felt Anchor gather, ready to hold the barrier when the team needed it. The lure had not won the bounty yet, and the second team still waited outside. For the first time since entering, however, the animal was moving away from the waterworks rather than deeper into it.