Battery Crate purred like a courthouse with clean floors. The LED stripe wrote a patient horizon across the ledger. Kael woke with ink on his palm and weather at the edge of his ear. Mira stood in the seam and listened to the building the way a medic listens to breath. Nox rolled his weight onto heels made of stubborn kindness. Renn counted corners in the dim, eyes half-closed, to make sure geometry had survived the night intact. Eli wound copper into a modest S that meant spare. Liana stacked gauze, wrote WASH HANDS ANYWAY on a card, and pinned it where hands cannot pretend they did not see. Jori, Marla, and Pavel stood alert and sleepy at once; the recruits were becoming fixtures, and the fixtures were becoming proud of that.
"We do not need to be brave," Kael said.
"We need to be correct," Mira answered.
Nox: "And heavier than storms."
Renn: "And on the dots."
Eli: "And grounded."
Liana: "And clean."
Marla: "And fed on time."
Pavel: "And square."
Jori: "And signed."
[System: Day Plan]
- Mission A: Energy T1: Lamp Shop v0.2 (diffusers + spare heads + rain seals); test under weather.
- Mission B: Engineering T1: Door Hardening v0.2 (through-bolt kit) - stubborn jamb at A1; demo at west stair.
- Mission C: Bio/Chem T1: Clinic Sterility v0.2 (zone lines + wet hand policy).
- Mission D: Info T1: Public Works v0.2 (work queues + stamps); rotate reading voices.
- Mission E: Culture: Courtesy shifts run by recruits; Foundry Receipts public demo.
- Contingency: Blue "fake witness" gambit on Public Works; require function-only signatures with stamps.
- Reward: +1 PC lamp v0.2, +1 PC hardening v0.2, +1 PC sterility v0.2, +1 PC public works v0.2, +1 PC culture shift, +1 PC doctrine handled.
PC available: 122.5.
[System: Knowledge Acquired]
Energy T1: Lamp Shop v0.2 installed.
Effects: +clip-on diffusers, +spare head policy, +rain seal checks, +cleaning cadence.
[System: Knowledge Acquired]
Engineering T1: Door Hardening v0.2 installed.
Effects: +through-bolt kit, +backer plate spec, +torque honesty.
[System: Knowledge Acquired]
Bio/Chem T1: Clinic Sterility v0.2 installed.
Effects: +zone tape, +wet/dry sinks, +glove receipt discipline.
[System: Knowledge Acquired]
Info T1: Public Works v0.2 installed.
Effects: +work queues, +stamp set (DOOR/LANE/CLINIC/BREAD), +voice rotation.
PC remaining: 116.5.
---
Lamp Shop v0.2 - kind light under weather
Eli laid out clip-on diffusers cut from milky plastic and ring seals that had decided to grow up. He and Pavel standardized two spare heads and stamped their crates with RN-6 and RN-7. A rule on the box: CLEAN LENS -> CLIP DIFFUSER -> CHECK SEAL -> SIGN. Jori cleaned lenses with a cloth that knows it is important. Liana posted WET HAND POLICY by the lamp crate because electricity has feelings too.
They mounted one diffuser on RN-6 and one on RN-7, then waited for the sky to keep its threat.
[System: Energy]
Lamp Shop v0.2 active; diffusers clipped; spares staged; seals checked. Effect: +visibility in rain, +calm.
+1 PC.
---
Door Hardening v0.2 - through-bolts with manners
The A1 stair had a jamb that remembered a fight from before Kael moved in. Kael and Nox drilled pilot honesty, set a backer plate, and ran through-bolts with torque that respected wood. Mira listened to the door while it learned to be proud again. It settled into a dignity you can lean on.
Then they walked west and did a quick demo at a neighbor's stair: one bolt, one backer, one witness by function. The neighbor offered scrap. Kael asked for witness signatures instead and got DOOR in pencil from a man whose hands said DUST. Better.
[System: Build]
Through-bolt kit used at A1; west demo complete. Effect: +denial reliability, +ally trust.
+1 PC.
---
Clinic Sterility v0.2 - lines on the floor teach shoes to behave
Liana taped yellow zone lines: DIRTY IN, CLEAN OUT, WAIT HERE. She moved the gel to the correct side so hands would learn geography. She wrote GLOVES ARE PAPERWORK FOR SKIN and pinned it to the shelf. Wet-hand policy: towels in a stack that actually exists; a bucket labeled WET so the word can carry weight.
Marla ran the first minute audit: "gel - wash - dry - work." She stamped CLINIC in the Public Works queue, not with her name but with her function. She beamed like someone who had just promoted paperwork to religion and liked it.
[System: Care]
Sterility v0.2 live; zone tape, sinks, glove receipts. Effect: +compliance, +clarity.
+1 PC.
---
Public Works v0.2 - queues and stamps
Kael painted the stamp set: DOOR, LANE, CLINIC, BREAD. He wrote a queue board beside the ledger with small cards for jobs: SLEEVE ADJUST A5, LENS CLEAN RN-7, DIFFUSER SWAP RN-6, BREAD WINDOW 7:10, SWAB RAILS, BOIL BUCKET. People took a card, did the job, stamped the line, placed the card in DONE. No names, only functions. The board began to look like a city had decided to earn its breakfast.
They rotated reading voices: Liana read CLINIC, Mira read DOOR, Marla read BREAD, Pavel read LANE, Kael read less and watched more. Children listened because stamps sound like little hammers tapping truth into paper.
[System: Governance]
Public Works v0.2 queues and stamps posted; voice rotation adopted. Effect: +throughput, +ownership.
+1 PC.
---
Culture shift - Courtesy by recruits
Jori and Marla took the Courtesy line. Chair ready, Defer tickets pre-signed by function, a pitcher of water, a pen that would be washed after its performance. Tom stood back and tried not to look like a proud teacher. Liana did not try; she is proud loudly with a clean rag in her hand.
Kael let himself be unnecessary for a minute, which is how you know culture has happened.
[System: Culture]
Courtesy shifts run by recruits; line stable without seniors. Effect: +scaling, +resilience.
+1 PC.
---
11:00 shoulder - rain keeps its promise
The sky opened like a faucet that had found a budget. Diffusers turned the lane light into a soft sheet that loved faces without blinding them. Water ran along shin lines like respectful rivers. The beacons fluttered but did not confuse. People moved like a classroom that had waited for weather to test itself.
A runner splashed toward RN-6 with the courage rain gives to fools. The diffuser made its world honest. It hit the shin line exactly where math put it. Nox did not need to be dramatic. He tapped once. The runner agreed to sleep permanently somewhere else.
[System: Weather Test]
Diffusers effective; visibility calm; runner denied without theater. Effect: +confidence in rain.
---
Blue doctrine pivot - fake witnesses
Two men with clean hands and the emptiest eyes Kael had seen in weeks arrived with a plan: sign the Public Works board as BREAD and DOOR and thereby steal legitimacy for a later seizure. Jori offered the stamp and pointed to the rule: WITNESS BY FUNCTION, NOT NAME. "Which function are you?" he asked. They hesitated because their hands were not any function's hands.
"Bring bread," Marla said kindly, "or carry water. Then stamp."
They left. Courtesy had not even needed a chair. The board felt taller.
[System: Doctrine Handling]
Fake-witness gambit blocked by function-only stamp policy; no escalation. +discipline.
+1 PC.
---
Afternoon - Foundry Receipts in public
Kael rolled the Foundry Receipts demo to the lobby: hinge backs with dates and PP initials, a pin stock chart, the press asleep under its towel. Jori pressed a pin in front of a small crowd with the gravity of a man reading vows. The hinge sighed correct. A child clapped once and then put his hands in his pockets because he had learned the rule about plumbing yesterday.
A Blue from the water line watched without malice. "You date your metal," he said, not a question. "Yes," Kael answered. "Metal lies less when it has a birthday." The man nodded and carried a bucket to a sink that now had a WET sign and therefore a job.
---
Storm hour - convoy under rain
Pavel ran a two-cart convoy with gap beacons in the wet. Diffusers made faces kind; seals did not weep. A single cart waited at the merge because the beacons were as clear as law. Renn watched from the laundry hatch and drew a small map of water to see how it would talk to ankles later. The city inhaled; the city exhaled; the storm obeyed the board.
Then the west flashed: RAIN; DIFFUSERS? Kael answered: YES; CLIP; CLEAN; STAMP. The west replied: COPY. He allowed himself to love roofs he did not own. It is safe when your doctrine travels better than your name.
---
A5 - quiet plus rain equals sleep
Suri's boy asked if rain makes Seers hungrier. Liana said, "Rain makes humans sloppy; that is enough." She stamped CLINIC on the queue and swabbed a rail that had learned to be smug. Dalen's grandmother listened to rain like an old song and slept for the first time without coughing in a week. Marla checked the hood for drip and found none. Pavel tightened a through-bolt with the kind of pride that leaves no fingerprints.
Renn watched a Seer stand by the curb and stare at the diffuser light. It did not like the way the light refused to cast dramatic edges. It left with the dignity of a priest denied a podium.
---
Dusk - Blue comes honest, for once
Three tired men with clipboards came at 20:30, when their own poster had said they would. Jori gave chairs. Marla poured water. They signed Defer tickets and asked to pay with buckets again. Tom counted minutes and said thank you. One man asked if he could read the board aloud at 09:00. Kael said yes if he stamped LANE after carrying. He did. The board grew another voice.
The preacher sent no horn. Storms are bad for theater.
---
Night - leaks, seals, and a little mercy
A seal wept on RN-7. Eli tightened it with fingers that have never lied. He wrote DIFFUSER CHECK: 2ND SHOULDER on the lamp crate. Jori cleaned a lens that had loved a fingerprint too much. Liana moved wet towels to the WET bucket like a queen demoting a duke. Mira set the bar once for practice and then unset it because practice should be quiet.
A woman arrived at the clinic with a child who had swallowed fear at the poster earlier. Liana measured, listened, wrapped, and wrote REST OWED 60. The child slept by the nurse corner for an hour. The mother cried once and then apologized to the floor. No one asked her to. The city will learn.
---
Quiet Court - rain becomes policy
- Lamp Shop v0.2 deployed: diffusers, spares, seals; rain test passed; runner denied calmly.
- Door Hardening v0.2: through-bolt kit at A1; west demo; torque honesty.
- Clinic Sterility v0.2: zone lines, wet/dry sinks, glove receipts; audits stamped.
- Public Works v0.2: queues + stamps + voice rotation; recruits read; board gained a voice from Blue.
- Courtesy run by recruits; line stable; culture scaling.
- Fake witnesses blocked by function stamps; no escalation.
- Foundry Receipts demo public; metal birthdays praised.
- Seer disliked diffuser light; left; A5 slept to rain.
- Doctrine: repeated.
[System: Audit Complete]
+1 PC (lamp v0.2), +1 PC (hardening v0.2), +1 PC (sterility v0.2), +1 PC (public works v0.2), +1 PC (culture), +1 PC (discipline), +1 PC (doctrine).
Total PC: 116.5 -> 123.5.
Advisory: With 123+ PC, candidates: Info T1 Work Queues v0.3 (priority weights), Engineering T1 Door Kits v0.3 (pre-cut sets), Energy T1 Pack Share v0.2 (charge rotate), Bio/Chem T1 Field Dressings v0.3 (splint quick-lock). Threat horizon: Blue may try "storm confiscations" elsewhere; Seer may learn diffuser patterns; ambulants tracking beacons by smell trails. Recommendations: rotate diffusers (avoid pattern), boil towels after storm, stamp west copy of queue set, pre-stage through-bolt kits x2, teach children the word WET as law.
Mira leaned her head against the wall for the legal breaths. "We made the rain boring," she said.
"We made the rain take a number," Kael said.
Nox patted the through-bolt like a dog that had learned sit. Eli labeled a spare head and pretended not to like giving names to objects that behave. Liana washed the pen, the string, the sink, the bucket, the sign. Marla stamped BREAD with a kind of joy that smells like yeast. Pavel squared a plate without singing about it. Jori flipped the pointer to night and whispered good night to the storm.
Kael placed his palm on the ledger. "We do not need to be brave," he said.
"We need to be correct," the city answered, and the rain agreed by becoming paperwork.
Outside, storms went where lanes let them. Inside, diffusers turned weather into a schedule.