The regulator’s independent reading rose, slowed and settled beside the local meter. The two instruments now measured the same feed. Their agreement did not erase the earlier movement; it made the shape of that movement visible.
The surface engineer read the recorded stages against the regulator’s response. It had settled under the split contribution introduced by the revised power arrangement. The actual rise remained within the range tested for that stage. No central isolation had caused it, because the central handles had stayed untouched throughout.
Juno requested one more steady interval at the accepted contribution. The crews checked their remaining time and agreed. At its end the two readings still held together.
“Ready to resume preparation,” she said. “No claim beyond this check.”
Eli heard how much effort it took to keep that small sentence small. Everyone in the room wanted the test to announce something larger: a sound network, a correct decision, an end to the succession of faults. It announced a regulator whose behavior they had measured.
Tessa leaned toward the contact operator. The captive had been told why they paused. Now she needed the result and the remaining window, not merely a signal that work was starting again.
