The buffer had reached the least dignified part of its journey.
One assembly stood on transport supports halfway between a proper bench and the next isolated test position. Its careful fittings faced a low opening whose builders had apparently never expected anyone to move something useful through it.
Tamsin had measured the route anyway.
Jian stood at the assigned contact while the rested hauling crew waited for the far-side confirmation. The weight belonged to the mechanical supports. His small steady flow controlled the guide during movement.
Before the haul, the crew had walked the empty turn with the transport handle in its raised position.
At the bend, the handle cleared the wall only when the guide remained within its declared travel. Jian had marked that point in his own observation copy. If the movement stopped there, the nearest mechanical seat was behind the leading wheel, not somewhere he could invent with qi while somebody shouted.
The worker at that seat showed the support ready.
Jian checked the small contact and ended it once before the assembly moved. The crew confirmed the frame remained held by the proper equipment. His contribution could then begin and end without becoming a secret promise to carry the machine.
