A Registry messenger arrived at the north wall with Wuchen’s order to reconnect the disconnected node and restore the compulsory central feed. The page carried a command seal but no current pressure readings or inspection report.
Wei asked the messenger to wait while the local engineer checked the frame. The engineer found a split in the outer housing and pointed to the bowed support. Reconnecting now would direct current into damaged machinery.
Wei asked the wall crew whether the shelter route was clear. They confirmed that families remained behind the stone shelter and the workshop tools had been moved.
“Then the release stays open,” Wei said.
The messenger warned that the order came from the Registry. Wei signed the local status beside it and wrote the gauge reading in the margin. He did not burn or tear the document; it became evidence that Wuchen had demanded reconnection without a current inspection.
The messenger said the Registry might punish the crew. Wei answered that the release would stay open until engineers certified the station safe. He asked the messenger to carry the local reading back along with the order.
A few soldiers hesitated. Their enlistment oath named the Registry. Wei showed them the inspection mark and explained that the station procedure was part of their duty. They chose to stay with the local crew. No one was compelled to disconnect a neighboring node.
