Cerberus Pug did not care about failed dampers.
He cared that the new lookout shelter at thirty thousand feet had a heated floor, three hard-hat hooks, and a bed large enough for all of him.
Austin checked the door seal while Pug tested the bed. The left head went to sleep first. The right head kept a dinosaur bone between its paws. The center head watched Austin fill the water bowl.
“Stay inside when the hoist is moving,” Austin said.
Pug answered with a low snore.
Outside, the tower’s wind dampers reduced the slow sway. The faster core vibration still traveled through the deck. Austin felt it in the door handle and made another note before taking the hoist down.
At the base, Bai Ze was finishing his first safety class.
He had expected a lecture on obedience. Instead, the instructor spent an hour on how to refuse unsafe work. Any worker could stop a lift. A supervisor who punished a truthful report lost his post.
