Tower keeper Sula reported that the stormfront was accelerating. The north tower’s bells rang the outer pattern twice in the time expected, and the pressure readings confirmed the change.
Wei ordered his teams to their stations but left local keepers in control of their release cords. Ning opened the nearest shelter and sent clinic workers toward the river road with color-coded route strips. At each door, a volunteer held a lantern beside the posted route so families could distinguish the east road from the higher school lane.
The north tower’s bell crank jammed before it could sound the second pattern clearly. Sula pulled the cord. The first bell rang, but the next note came out as a dull scrape. She stopped the sequence before the gear could seize.
Yan climbed the narrow stair with her. The gusts shook the tower, and dust fell through the slats. Sula opened the gear cover and found a bent iron tooth wedged between the wheel and its housing. Yan held the wheel steady while she pulled the tooth free. It came loose with a snap and clattered against the floor.
“Spare tooth,” she said. “Box below the landing.”
Yan went down three steps, retrieved the repair box, and brought it back without letting the ladder swing. Sula fit the spare into the gear. Before testing, they tied the ladder to the central rail and checked the knot from both sides. The tower shifted in another gust, but the ladder held.
