Eli did not change his talents beside the ambulance.
He did it in the staging interval, sitting on a low bench with both boots on the floor and Sera watching the deliberate release sequence. Quiet Field came off slowly. He waited through the interval that made impatience feel like a physical itch, then identified the remaining equipped set aloud before preparing Nara’s movement imprint.
Sight. Anchor. Movement.
Three. The stadium defense remained benched with Quiet Field. Five talents stored did not mean five available at once, and an ambulance waiting outside did not create a fourth safe channel.
Tessa checked his acknowledgment before leaving for the patient briefing. His old memory gaps remained where they were. The narrow physical allowance after independent assessment had not become a cure because another emergency needed him. Juno had the ordinary supports and the timing arrangement ready for any brief supervised structural assistance. No sustained sole load. Release to mechanical support. Stop for a new symptom.
Sera checked the completed rotation against the monitoring record.
“Don’t try to make up the waiting time later,” she said.
“I won’t.”
