The third field held long enough for Eli to notice the dust.
A pale thread of it drifted from the workshop lintel. He looked up, then toward Bram at the open approach. No warning had reached them. The field remained clear above its cradle, the new collar dark and dry, both instruments recording the same measured draw.
The observer announced the next interval.
Nobody moved to celebrate. The previous trial had taught them what a near success could conceal. Tessa stood where she could see the contributors’ faces. The woman in the apron watched from outside the boundary with her own empty hands folded over one another.
Another line of dust fell.
Eli turned toward the custodian.
She had seen it too.
Then the floor moved beneath them.
