Juno did not announce the first reading.
She stared at it long enough for Eli to know it was bad, then put a mark beside the number and called the dungeon engineer closer. The sensor on the old junction had produced a curve that fell faster than the coalition’s forecast. It had not yet been calibrated against the independent instruments. Urgency could make an unverified number feel like a fact simply because everyone feared it.
“Second method,” Juno said.
The engineer examined the physical pressure points accessible from their isolated position. She would compare their change with power flowing into the prison, rather than ask another instrument attached to the same old sensor whether it agreed. Sera recorded the positions and the times. Mira watched the defense boundary. Tessa kept the route clear and checked that the medical supplies were accessible from either side of Juno’s leads.
Eli stood by the independent line. He could do nothing to make the comparison finish sooner without making it less useful. The central captive channels remained closed. Somewhere beyond the measured structure, the woman who had asked to be let go was still held.
The first calibration changed the precise figure. It did not remove the downward trend.
