Neri carried the first ceramic sleeve into the baths herself.
It had come from the gallery that morning, one of the five sound pieces still assigned there after the early trials. The transfer sheet named two sleeves for the baths’ three-shift trial, leaving three at the gallery. Their numbers matched the marks Fara had put on them.
The pieces broken at the pattern yard belonged to a different batch.
Neri had written that twice because someone would otherwise add them together and create a reassuring number that existed nowhere.
Belen opened the padded carrier.
“Still whole.”
“Encouraging beginning.”
“Shall I tell the customer?”
