The limited-release function was visible in the documented menu and unavailable in the present state.
The local operator did not try it to see what would happen. She opened the read-only dependency view under joint observation, with the injured engineer confirming the menu reference from her supported seat. Juno watched the state fields. The independent engineer checked the source page against the display. The council observer recorded the path they had used to reach the information.
Before any release could be executed, a return channel had to be isolated.
That channel was carrying pressure to an occupied settlement barrier.
Juno asked for the second mechanical indication before accepting the display alone. Pela obtained the local gauge report from the safe maintenance point. Its current reading confirmed the return was live. The timing and connection identifier matched the dependency shown at the panel within the inspected arrangement.
“This isn’t only the caretaker refusing permission,” Juno said. “There is a present physical dependency.”
Eli looked from the menu to the occupied-barrier mark on the council’s sheet. It was a small symbol with people sleeping, waiting, and being treated somewhere beyond it. A test named limited could still move their protection if the wrong return was cut.
