Wei’s report reached Yan as he reached the first interior stair. Wuchen’s seals had ordered three villages to reconnect damaged nodes. The local crews checked their own gauges. Two communities opened their manual releases; a third held its cord while the engineer checked a rising pressure mark.
The first village’s station stood near the west gate. Residents came uphill carrying the release key and a small bundle of blankets. The engineer walked beside them, watching the frame rather than the command seal on the post.
A woman carried a sleeping child. She asked whether she could leave the key with the shelter keeper so she could take the child farther from the wall.
“The station needs it until the frame is inspected,” the engineer said. “The keeper can hold the spare.”
She looked through the window at the neighboring barrier. Its lamps were still on. She gave the key to the engineer and carried the child inside.
Yan heard the exchange as he passed. He did not order her to stay or leave. He told the group to follow the marked manual path and keep the station engineer with them. They had the route and the key; his job was to reach the Registry before the next order.
