Two plumes of heat rose from Austin’s shoulders. Xuan Ming saw divine wings. Austin saw wasted power and a burned work shirt.
Tie Kuang built two magnetic chokes from star-jade rings and copper foil. Dara checked the design before anyone mounted them. The coils would catch the escaping heat and feed it into an isolated bus.
“Your spine is not a public substation,” she said. “The test stays disconnected from the habitats.”
“Agreed,” Austin said.
They tightened the bolts to eighty foot-pounds. “About eighty-five megawatts of lost revenue every minute,” Austin said. “That is pure profit floating up into the ceiling.” The plumes bent into the coils, and the heat became usable current.
The first power from the chokes ran a water heater in the rescue ward. It was a small benefit compared with a star-blast, but the medics noticed. So did the Concordat patients.
Sera entered with an outer-line diagram. “The timing fault on Trunk Line Four matches Vael’s beacon. Wu Ji’s Shadow crews will use the same trigger.”
Tie spread the diagram beside the choke plans. “Can we isolate the line?”
