The independent operator confirmed the line only after the outside barrier’s reading held through a full comparison.
Juno gave the worker the physical tag’s description and had him read it back. The local disconnect beside his hand would interrupt the defense crossing the low console. The adjacent line, left untouched, supported an occupied exterior barrier. Their closeness had made the wrong choice easy enough that she would remember it after the crisis, if they lived to remember anything slowly.
“Eli. Position.”
“Protected edge. Bram with the line. Receiving space clear.”
“The technician?”
“Cooler recess, not moving.”
Juno asked the worker to operate the tagged disconnect.
Ordinary metal moved. The field fell.
