The final public meeting took place in the new archive on Sunset Peak.
One wall held the shoring drawings, including the design that failed. Another held the names of the injured, the records of lost worlds, and the open appeals against the old Tribunal. Children could read the repair manuals for free. Former judges could not remove the pages that accused them.
Tian Luo stood before a panel of people whose worlds he had condemned.
He answered questions for six hours.
Some answers were evidence. Some were apologies. None restored the dead. When the panel suspended his remaining authority and assigned him to the archive under public review, he accepted.
“Preservation does not excuse what came before,” he told Austin afterward.
“No,” Austin said. “It gives you something honest to do next.”
In the main hall, local leaders signed the handover agreement for the universal maintenance network. It was not a certificate declaring creation perfect. It listed who controlled each system, how disputes would be heard, and how help could be requested.
