The council hall filled after the replacement pylon passed its smaller-load test. Eri stood by the report and read it aloud from the first page. She named the burned unit, the reversed diagram, the two-day wait for new parts, and the crew’s corrected test. She did not call the first trial a success.
“The local release worked,” she read. “The pylon failed under an overload before the hour ended. The neighboring nodes stayed lit. The corrected valve passed a smaller-load test. We have not tested a full storm load.”
A resident near the back raised a hand. “If the new test passes, can we leave it on overnight?”
“Not from these readings,” Qinghe said. “The load was controlled. It doesn’t establish how the system behaves for a whole night or in a storm.”
Eri left the report open on the table. Joram stood beside the miller’s receipt. Ning had brought the payment record, and he checked it against the agreement he had signed. The amount included the lost week of work and wages for both employees. The funds had cleared.
Joram looked at his workers. One nodded. “We were paid,” he said. “The mill is running again. I don’t want the next trial to begin with someone pretending the first one cost us nothing.”
