Lori left the knife untouched for two mornings.
The bed beneath the clean cover looked ready. Its surface held together when the bath moved. The marked edge had thickened, and the first clear patches had filled with the working layer Mara’s notes described.
The calendar still said thirty-seven.
Lori checked the bath, wrote the observations, and closed the cover again.
Tallo watched from the inspection bench. After his first paid fortnight he had chosen a regular part-time term here, arranged around two days at his old shop. His healed hand held a file comfortably. The flap he was finishing opened cleanly with a work glove, and he no longer needed Lori to test every hinge for him.
“Two days,” he said.
“Two days.”
“Does it know?”
