Wuchen spoke from behind the sealed partition. “Restore the old command wire and I will reopen every gate. The city’s barrier needs one authority directing it.”
Yan stood in the map room approach with Wei and Gu. The western and river gates were open, and local keepers controlled their lamps. Ning’s runner had brought a copy of the evacuation ledger. The families’ names were no longer hidden behind the Registry command.
“The gates are open,” Yan said. “Let the registered families choose where they go. Permit an independent test of the central controls.”
Wuchen refused. He ordered the guards to seal the inner door. Wei’s team held the side corridor so the guards could not reach the upper switch.
Yan used Three-Step Ash Run to cross the room before the bolt dropped. He struck the bolt precisely, breaking it without damaging the door or partition. The Registry guards lowered their weapons when they saw the clerks and evacuation ledger in the adjoining alcove. They had been ordered to protect the hall, not harm its workers.
A heavy map cabinet tipped as the door jolted. It began to fall toward a clerk. Yan caught the cabinet and set it against the wall. The impact bruised the clerk’s arm. Ning’s runner brought a cold wrap and wrote down the injury before the clerk returned to the safe room.
