The expo plans were almost complete when a freight alarm sounded on Floor 3.
A loaded cage had stopped between floors. Its safety wedges had locked correctly, so nobody had fallen. At the same time, the cooling temperature on Floor 2 began to rise.
Austin, Tie, and Xiaoyao rode the service stairs to the cooling chamber.
The main display offered one message:
Austin reached for the isolation handle, then stopped. Tie and Xiaoyao had spent two weeks learning the plant. If he solved every fault himself, they would never be ready to run it.
“You two take lead,” he said. “I will hold the safety watch.”
Tie straightened. “I have led armies.”
“This is smaller and better maintained.”
Xiaoyao opened the maintenance sheets. The cooling section listed symptoms in plain language: low flow, rising furnace temperature, normal reservoir level, and a freight cage drawing more power than usual.
They checked the reservoir first. It was normal. The return pressure was normal too. A pump near Floor 3 was running hot, but its motor had not tripped.
Tie read the electrical log. “The freight cage stopped at the same time the pump current changed.”
Xiaoyao compared the wire diagram with the pipes. “They share the lower service cabinet.”
Austin said nothing. He simply kept his hand near the emergency disconnect.
Tie and Xiaoyao found the cabinet warm to the touch. They locked out its power and opened the cover. A vibration-damaged terminal had overheated. The pump controller had reduced flow, while a stuck relay had halted the freight lift.
“The cooling fault and the freight fault have one cause,” Xiaoyao said.
Tie nodded. “Not a demon in the pipes.”
“That was one time,” Austin said.
They replaced the terminal from the spares cabinet and reset the relay by hand. Xiaoyao checked the wire numbers against the sheet. Tie torqued the connection and marked the screw with inspection paint.
Before restoring power, Xiaoyao read each step aloud. Austin confirmed that the furnace was still below its heat limit and the workers were clear.
Tie closed the cabinet.
“Ready.”
Austin pointed to the switch. “Your call.”
Tie restored power. The pump came up smoothly, and the freight cage moved to the next landing. Cooling flow returned to its normal band.
The repair had taken twenty-three minutes. No pipe had burst, no worker had been hurt, and Austin had not touched a single component.
He signed the fault report under Safety watch only.
Tie tried not to look pleased. He failed.
Xiaoyao added a new weekly task: check the service-cabinet terminals for loose screws and heat marks.
“Good,” Austin said. “Now write what we changed, not just that it works. The next crew needs the reason.”
For the first time, he believed the base could handle trouble without him.