The furnace warning lamps turned white while the first evacuation wagons were still on the upper road.
Sella ran from the regulator room, one hand pressed to her side. “The inner core is cracking. Pressure is building through the south channel.”
A white lamp flashed a second time. A station hand stopped with a crate in his arms. Sella told him to put it down and clear the passage. Another crew member closed the workshop doors to keep sparks away from the regulator room. The warning was not a bell; it was the light itself, steady and impossible to miss. Every person in the station knew that white meant the core had passed beyond its safe pressure.
Gu knelt and put his palm to the floor. The vibration came up through the stone in uneven pulses. He closed his eyes for a moment, then looked toward the lower town. “If they shut everything down at once, the pressure will blast back through the channel.”
Han sent the gate guards to clear the nearby sheds and keep the road open. The station crew moved crates from the regulator room while Sella checked the gauges. No one ran toward the town without an assignment. The wagons were still moving, and the lower road had to stay clear in case the pressure vented toward it.
