The final business of the emergency deployment took place across the heavy pine deal table at the center of the staging shed. Corvin Hest sat on an ash bench, his dark overcoat unbuttoned and his brass seal-stamp resting beside a portable two-pan apothecary’s balance. On the table before him lay three small drawstring pouches of bleached linen, alongside the official Municipal Emergency Payroll Ledger, its calfskin binding open to Folio 88.
Around the table stood Pella Rook, Eren Tal, Ada Morland, Jo Saye, and Imran Bell. On the wall above them, the three Courtesy Bridge countdown slates were glowing with their final numbers: Imran at 03m 15s, Jo at 05m 42s, and Ada at 07m 18s. The room was fully quiet save for the crackle of the coke fire bowls and the soft, distant murmur of the Gray Rush passing through the open gates below.
Corvin picked up a polished horn spatula and placed a small stack of gleaming silver coins onto the right-hand pan of the balance. The coins clinked with the clear, musical ring of pure, pure silver. Along the rim of the balance beam. There, the brass was exposed to the damp river air, a faint film of green copper green rust showed against the tuned notches.
