The escape passage existed on three plans and nowhere in the wall.
Eli stood beside Sera while the settlement engineer ran a gloved hand along the sealed fire partition. A newer repair had replaced the opening with a continuous face. On paper, a stretcher could pass through it and reach a refuge beyond the possible surge route. In stone, the patient would arrive at a dead end.
The resident who had challenged the plan stayed back from the inspection line, arms folded tightly.
“I told the organizer last month,” she said.
The engineer checked the repair mark. “You were right.”
“I didn’t need you to say I was right. I needed it off the plan.”
Sera drew a line through the assumed passage on the working copy and wrote the actual observation beside it. She did not alter the old drawing as though it had always shown the partition. Anyone comparing versions needed to know where the false route had come from.
They had come because Mira’s full readings arrived with their dates and limitations intact. Juno compared the map with the persistent quest links and found enough consistency to investigate the junction. She could not derive the chamber’s activation load from the lines they shared. The numbers did not say failure was certain. They said a specific occupied area deserved preparation before the question became urgent.
