"Good. Use good materials. I don't want to pay for repairs again in a few months."
The carpenter accepted the money and nodded.
"Don't worry. I know my craft."
"Then we understand each other."
Heena left the details in the carpenter's hands.
She had spent enough time worrying about every coin she parted with. There was no point in saving money on materials only to spend twice as much fixing the damage later.
Besides, the shop wasn't just a place to earn money anymore.
It was becoming the foundation of her future.
By the time Heena left Carpenters' Alley, the system's earlier behavior had begun bothering her again.
The emergency alert. The missing hosts. The systems that had supposedly been killed. The sudden recall to headquarters.
The system had tried to reassure her, but Heena wasn't an idiot.
She had spent too many lifetimes navigating dangerous situations to accept a vague explanation when the available evidence pointed toward something far worse.
