Han posted the revised furnace schedule in the yard. Yan’s name appeared beside one controlled cycle a day while the repaired regulator was monitored. No worker was assigned to attend him.
A gray-bearded operator asked who would decide if a name should change. Han pointed to the representatives the crew had chosen. “They can challenge an assignment. Sella calls whether the machinery is safe.”
“And Yan?”
Yan turned from the board. “I can power a cycle without paying its usual cost. That doesn’t make the schedule mine.”
The operator nodded and returned to his crew. The schedule was a tool, not a rank.
Gu compared the west-post readings with his old channel notes. The cable’s timing matched an auxiliary design meant to send power to lower lamps during storms. The original route should have included a shutoff valve.
“The line may have been changed to feed another facility,” he said. “My drawing stops before the western ridge.”
Han asked the survey team to map the cable from both ends. Yan wanted to follow it immediately, but they needed daylight and support ropes. The inspection would wait until morning.
