They came off the lift into a room that had never once been confused about its job.
No glossy showroom here, just a wide, white bay with stenciled lanes and a draft like the building itself was inhaling and exhaling on schedule. Tools hung in tidy rows. Test rails ran like underlines. In the far corner, a wide shutter door wore hazard stripes like a smile that knew things would be fine and also not fine.
Alteea swept a hand. "Two left. Let's be civilized about it."
She pivoted to Ichiro first. "And by civilized, I mean: we're not letting you lift the city with rocks."
Ichiro had the decency to look almost sheepish. "I can float on them" he said. "Quite high. Controlled. It's… quiet."
"It's a path of minor earthquakes" Alteea said, friendly like a scalpel. "You'd tear tiles, jam vents, upset dampeners, and give the maintenance crews new reasons to unionize. Also: collateral. We like our walls."
He nodded once. "Alright, alright..."
