The second validation returned the same result.
The closure order was genuine network output. It named the right exit, carried the current time, and appeared on more than one guard’s display. Rook’s direct instruction to keep that exit available remained in the commander’s hand. Neither message had changed into the other while she waited.
She ordered the copies retained with their receipt times and asked the chamber for a decision again.
“I am holding the exit open temporarily,” she said. “There is a medical handcar and a civilian group waiting. I need an answer before I put people under a moving door.”
The operator inside repeated her report. Beyond him she heard other voices, none clear enough to interpret. She kept her own voice level. The guards closest to her watched the hand near her contact unit as if her stillness might tell them which order she would ultimately obey.
On the outer approach, the waiting residents saw only armed people hesitate.
A rumor ran back that the gate had been closed already. Another said Mira was about to be arrested and everyone nearby would be held with her. A man turned his small cart against the flow, caught its wheel beneath the handcar’s trailing support, and began shouting when the medic told him to stop.
