Sera found him on the ground floor two hours into the materials run, her axe in her hand and suspicion in her gaze. Clearly, she had been watching the two groups from somewhere and had formed an opinion.

"Damon’s group is good," she said quietly.

"Yes."

"Cole’s group is better."

"Yes."

She looked at him sideways. "Gareth’s going to notice that."

"Gareth’s already noticed that," Michael said. "He saw it the moment they came through the gate yesterday."

Sera was quiet for a second. "And?"

"And that’s Gareth’s problem," Michael said. "Not ours."

She looked at the materials stacked along the north exterior — steel panels and anchor bolts that Cole’s men had moved quickly and accurately, matching Damon’s group but only just. She then looked at the wall sections already rising on the east face, and nodded.

"The wall changes things," she said.

"That’s the point."

"I mean for everyone who can see it from the street," she said. "Right now, we’re a building with a good gate. When that wall goes up, we’re something else."

Michael looked at the east face rising — three panels up already, the anchor system secure in the pavement, the overhang bracket on the first panel in place. "We were already something else," he said. "The wall just makes it visible."

Sera looked at him, her eyes steady. "You want it visible."

"I want it done," he said. "Visible is a side effect."

She held his gaze briefly, then looked back at the wall. Something shifted in her jaw. "There’s something out there you’re not telling anyone about," she said.

He looked at her and she looked back at him, her eyes direct and clear. She wasn’t asking casually; she already saw it and wanted to know if he would tell her or make her pull it out.

He finally did.

The signature from the night of the horde, how it had been sitting still for two days at the range’s edge, how the remaining Rotters avoided the area, and how Cole had identified it from the watchtower in three minutes without using the pulse.

Sera listened with her eyes on his face. When he finished, she was silent for a moment.

"How long before it moves?" she asked.

"I don’t know," he said. "I don’t even know what it is yet."

"But it will move."

"Everything moves eventually," he replied.

She looked at the wall rising on the east face, then at the materials waiting on the north side, and finally at him. "We better be ready when it does," she said, turning toward the building entrance. He watched her go, then turned back to the wall.

---

Maya came by at lunchtime with food for everyone working outside.

She carried a bag over one shoulder and went through the gate, moving quickly through Cole’s group to hand out ration packs. She did this smoothly, as if she’d decided it was a good thing to do and just went ahead without asking anyone.

Cole’s men took the food with a quick, genuine thank you—surprised but grateful. Maya nodded at each of them and kept walking, not making a big deal out of it.

She stopped beside Michael and handed him two packs.

"Eat," she said.

"I’ll eat later," he replied.

"You said that at breakfast," she pointed out. "Eat now."

He took the packs.

She looked at the east wall, glancing at it like she always did with buildings, reading from the outside. "The overhang on the third panel is a bit off," she said.

He checked it. She was right—maybe two degrees. It was not structural, but not neat either.

"I’ll fix it," he said.

"I know you will." She looked at the corner position where the east and south faces would eventually meet. "The corner bracket needs to go in before you start the south face or the anchor geometry won’t line up."

He looked at the blueprint in his vision and checked her assessment against the sequence he’d planned.

She was right about that too.

He looked at her. She looked back with a focused expression, her eyes returning to the corner bracket position. "Architecture student," she said simply.

"Second year," he replied.

"I know buildings," she added.

"Yes, you do," he acknowledged.

She almost smiled and glanced back at the wall. "The south face is the most exposed," she said. "Main street frontage. You’ll want the panels on that face to be the heaviest gauge available."

"Already planned for it," he confirmed.

"Good." She looked at the corner bracket once more. "Fix that angle," she instructs, then walks back toward the building with her shoulder bag. He watches her go, then adjusts the third panel’s bracket.

She was right. It looked better.

[Bond Event — Side by Side Work: Maya. +1 Bond Point. Current BP: 5 — Maya.]

---

Anya came out in the afternoon.

She didn’t come to help with the wall; she brought a clipboard she’d found and a pen. She walked slowly around the building’s exterior while work continued around her, jotting notes as her eyes shifted between the facade and her paper.

Michael observed her from the east side for a while before approaching.

She held out the clipboard without being asked—the inventory was cross-referenced against the building’s infrastructure needs, organized by priority and usage estimates, with a separate column for items that could be scavenged versus purchased.

He examined it closely.

It was excellent—better than just good. Seeing it laid out made three issues clear: two supply gaps he’d overlooked and a redundant system costing SP unnecessarily.

"The medical supplies usage rate is going to go up," she said, looking at the building. "More people, more incidents, more wear and tear. Dr. Kang’s current stock covers what we had a week ago, not now." She pointed to the relevant column. "That gap needs to be addressed before a crisis arises."

He looked at the column. She was right.

"The redundancy on the third line," he noted.

"Water collection," she explained. "You’re operating two systems for the same floor. One would suffice. The SP spent on both could go toward the medical supplies."

He visualized the blueprint in his mind. She had a point there, too.

He returned the clipboard. "This is good," he said.

She accepted it and reviewed the columns carefully. "I can keep it updated," she offered. "Daily, if you want."

"I want," he affirmed.

She nodded, making a note on the clipboard, then returned to her walk-around. Michael watched her for a moment before returning to the wall.

[Bond Event — Real Contribution: Anya. +1 Bond Point. Current BP: 6 — Anya.]

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