Battery Crate purred like a small, responsible city hall. The LED stripe drew a horizon across the ledger that looked almost smug. Kael woke with the sense that the block wanted to act like a district. Mira stood where seams become work. Nox rolled weight onto his heels as if promising the day he would be heavier where it mattered. Renn counted corners with his eyes closed and got the same number as yesterday, which was reassuring. Eli wound copper into a loop that meant standard. Liana stacked gauze and wrote QUIET SAVES MORE than HERO on a card and pinned it to the nurse board. Jori, Marla, and Pavel stood straighter than sleep recommended.
"We do not need to be brave," Kael said.
"We need to be correct," Mira answered.
Nox: "And heavier than thieves with late ideas."
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: Info T1: Public Works Ledger v0.1 - city-facing receipts for doors, lanes, bread, clinic; public reading.
- Mission B: Engineering T1: Door Hardening Plates v0.1; standard plate cut; teach-pile decoys; A4/A5 priority.
- Mission C: Energy T1: Lamp Shop v0.1 - standard head pattern; tags; rest windows integrated.
- Mission D: Bio/Chem T1: Field Dressings v0.2 (adhesive tricks, anchor wraps); clinic training.
- Mission E: Recruit promotions; Jori to Tier 3, Marla to Tier 4, Pavel to Tier 5 (foundry basic).
- Contingency: hinge theft at night without clipboards; deploy decoy hinge box; Courtesy chairs ready; pin press hidden.
- Reward: +1 PC public works, +1 PC hardening plates, +1 PC lamp shop, +1 PC dressings v0.2, +1 PC promotions live, +1 PC doctrine handled.
PC available: 116.5.
[System: Knowledge Acquired]
Info T1: Public Works Ledger v0.1 installed.
Effects: +category receipts (doors/lanes/clinic/bread), +reading cadence, +witness-by-function policy.
[System: Knowledge Acquired]
Engineering T1: Door Hardening Plates v0.1 installed.
Effects: +template cut for strike/jamb plates; +screw plan; +paint quietly.
[System: Knowledge Acquired]
Energy T1: Lamp Shop v0.1 installed.
Effects: +standard lamp head pattern; +lens cleaning habit; +tag schema.
[System: Knowledge Acquired]
Bio/Chem T1: Field Dressings v0.2 installed.
Effects: +adhesive strip tricks; +anchor wraps; +sweat-proofing; +remove-without-swearing.
PC remaining: 110.5.
---
Public Works Ledger v0.1 - receipts that face outward
Kael chalked four columns on the big board beneath the heliograph: DOORS, LANES, CLINIC, BREAD. Under each, small lines that expected nouns to behave.
- DOORS: hinge date, sleeve set, bar cache, next audit.
- LANES: RN-6/7/8 hours, merges trained, beacons placed, ring tuned.
- CLINIC: swab times, boil buckets, dressings v0.2, pen-string wash.
- BREAD: grain/knead/bake/carry, windows served, waste logged.
A rule across the top: WITNESS BY FUNCTION, NOT NAME.
At the 09:00 window, Kael, Mira, and Liana read yesterday's entries aloud. People listened the way dry wood listens to rain. A boy clapped once and then stopped because you do not clap for plumbing; you just love it quietly.
[System: Governance]
Public Works Ledger posted; first reading complete; witnesses signed by function. Effect: +trust, +civic spine.
+1 PC.
---
Door Hardening Plates v0.1 - quiet armor
On A3's bench: scrap steel, a paper template, chalk, and a promise. Eli cut strike and jamb plates to spec. Nox filed edges until they would not cut fingers that paid attention. Mira painted them dull as thoughtfulness. They installed at A4 and A5 first, screws sunk through sleeves into timber that had remembered its job.
A decoy hinge box appeared in the lobby: teach-plates stamped TEACH in big letters, visible through the lid. The real pin press slept under a blanket that looked like a retired towel. If Blue came to steal nouns, they would carry away lessons instead.
[System: Build]
Hardening plates cut/installed A4/A5; decoy hinge box staged; pin press hidden. Effect: +denial, +misdirection.
+1 PC.
---
Lamp Shop v0.1 - one head to rule your corridor
Eli spread lenses, reflectors, seals, and honest screws. He and Pavel built a standard head: same beam, same mount, same label. Tags: RN-6, RN-7, CLINIC, SLEEP. He wrote a small sign: CLEAN LENS = KIND LIGHT. REST WINDOWS: painted in pencil above the crate, quiet and clear. Jori cleaned lenses with the care of a boy polishing a badge. Liana wrote: DO NOT LICK LEDS on a card and pretended it was a joke.
[System: Energy]
Lamp Shop v0.1 running; standard heads tagged; rest windows integrated. Effect: +reliability, +training speed.
+1 PC.
---
Field Dressings v0.2 - adhesive manners
Liana taught adhesive tricks: fold tabs so removal does not become swearing; anchor wraps that ignore sweat; bridge strips that keep movement honest. She wrote on the board:
DRESSINGS v0.2
- Anchor before you cross.
- Tabs are future mercy.
- If the skin argues, listen.
Marla practiced on Nox's forearm again because Nox enjoys being a polite canvas. He pretended to swoon; everyone laughed; then everyone trained.
[System: Care]
Field Dressings v0.2 implemented; clinic taught; tabs anchored; sweat-proofing used. Effect: +comfort, +compliance.
+1 PC.
---
Promotions - badges made of minutes
At noon, Kael read the Recruit Ledger and signed three lines that felt better than speeches.
- Jori -> Tier 3: corridor pointer; Mobile Bar assist; pin press apprentice.
- Marla -> Tier 4: clinic assist and Bread Receipt witness; liaison continues.
- Pavel -> Tier 5: foundry basic plus watch captain (half-hour).
They did not cheer; they nodded like adults. Jori stood taller and then remembered to be small again because small learns faster.
[System: Cohort]
Promotions posted; ledger updated; watch scheduled. Effect: +capacity, +retention.
+1 PC.
---
Convoy window - the district inhales
At the 11:00 shoulder, two standard-head lamps went up like banners that refuse poetry. Convoys moved on RN-6 and RN-7 with gap beacons fluttering like soft commandments. A man tried to argue with a merge; Jori pointed at the beacon and the Public Works board. The man looked at the board and found his temper silly. He apologized to the lane with his feet.
The west flashed back: PUBLIC LEDGER COPIED; WE WILL READ TOO. Kael allowed himself to like another roof proudly again.
---
Afternoon - hinge rumor and a quiet visitor
Rumor: Blue will come for hinges at night "without paperwork." Kael staged the decoy box nearer the door, teach-plates shining like bad taste. He tucked the pin press under A3 with a blanket and a label that said DO NOT WAKE ME I AM A TOWEL.
A quiet visitor arrived: the boy with the confiscation cart from yesterday, without the cart, without the men. He stood by the Public Works board and read the CLINIC column for a long time. He asked Liana if pen strings really get washed. She said yes and handed him a string to wash. He did, very carefully, like he did not want to fail at being allowed to help.
Kael wrote: PUBLIC WORKS MAKES RECRUITS OUT OF PEOPLE WHO THINK THEY ARE SPECTATORS.
---
Evening - ambulants learn beacons, people learn patience
Two ambulants drifted toward the RN-7 merge during the bread handoff. Beacons taught people where to stand. People obeyed the beacons instead of screaming, and the ambulants missed throats because throats were not where throats usually are. Mira's shin line disagreed with their ankles politely but decisively. Nox placed pipe where arithmetic ends the argument.
Liana checked wrists after. Small bruises, little shame. Dressings v0.2 made removal boring later, which is a victory.
---
Dusk - Blue returns without clipboards
Three men, no armbands, night clothes, empty pockets that were lying, eyes that had learned to love shortcuts. They headed for A4 like gravity. The decoy hinge box was a candle to their moths. They lifted it with reverence reserved for nouns. They did not notice the bar v0.2 already set or the pin press asleep under its towel life. They carried the teach-plates into the dark like a lesson about to grade them.
Stripe stepped out of the clinic with a chair and a Defer ticket because Courtesy is not dependent on costumes. "Inspection at nine," she said kindly. They froze, because people who are stealing love to be treated like auditors in the middle of their wrong idea. They took the ticket to have something to do with their hands and left with a box that would only teach them metallurgy. Mira closed the door gently so it would not gloat.
[System: Doctrine Handling]
Hinge theft attempt redirected to decoys; Courtesy delivered without sarcasm; no blood. +discipline.
Kael logged: decoy boxes should always contain lessons, never trash.
---
Lamp Shop night - standard heads earn their tag
A storm threatened nothing and delivered wind anyway. One standard head failed; Pack Guard cut it out with elegance. The second head kept the lane honest. People moved like they trusted the light. Eli wrote a small note: LENS CLEAN = HEART RATE CALM. He stuck it to the lamp crate because poetry gets away with everything if it has screws nearby.
---
A5 - quiet deepens into confidence
Suri's boy slept without fever. Dalen's grandmother debated the window hood with a cough and lost because the hood does not attend debates. Marla sketched the rules board on a scrap for a neighbor who wanted to copy it. Pavel adjusted a hinge and stamped the back with PP because hinges with dates make sleep taste better.
Renn stood on the roof and watched a Seer at the far curb try patience again. It waited longer tonight. The board did not flash. The veil stayed boring. The Seer left with a posture that said it would tell on them to someone who cared. The city did not care. The city was reading out loud to itself on a board.
---
Night - water line becomes politics
Two Blue came back with chairs of their own like penance. They signed Defer tickets and asked to pay with water. Tom put them in the line, counted minutes, and said thank you the same as to anyone else. A neighbor watched and whispered, "They can help?"
"Anyone can help," Aunt Mara said. "We do not reject hands. We train them."
The neighbor joined the line. That is how public works becomes a party.
---
Quiet Court - receipts that face the world
- Public Works Ledger v0.1 posted and read; witnesses signed by function; neighbors copied it.
- Door Hardening Plates v0.1 cut/installed (A4/A5); decoy hinge box staged; pin press hidden.
- Lamp Shop v0.1 standardized heads; tags + rest windows; Pack Guard saved a failure gracefully.
- Field Dressings v0.2 taught; tabs/anchors; sweat-proofing; less swearing at removal.
- Promotions: Jori Tier 3, Marla Tier 4, Pavel Tier 5; watch and clinic roles expanded.
- Hinge theft attempt diverted to teach-plates; Courtesy chairs worked on thieves too.
- Ambulants tested beacons; denied; small bruises, big confidence.
- Seer waited longer; left bored; A5 slept.
- Doctrine: repeated.
[System: Audit Complete]
+1 PC (public works), +1 PC (hardening plates), +1 PC (lamp shop), +1 PC (dressings v0.2), +1 PC (promotions), +1 PC (discipline), +1 PC (doctrine).
Total PC: 116.5 -> 122.5.
Advisory: With 122+ PC, available next: Engineering T1 Door Hardening v0.2 (through-bolt kit), Energy T1 Lamp Shop v0.2 (spares & diffusers), Bio/Chem T1 Clinic Sterility v0.2 (zone lines), Info T1 Public Works v0.2 (work queues). Threat horizon: Blue to test "public works" with fake witnesses; Seer to wait for storm; ambulants to learn beacons by smell. Recommendations: rotate reading voices; ink stamps for witnesses; diffuser trial in RN-6; through-bolt a stubborn jamb; set "lesson boxes" in two more lobbies; teach west to read their board out loud.
Mira leaned her head to the wall for the legal breaths. "We are turning chores into a constitution," she said.
"We are turning receipts into foreign policy," Kael said.
Nox patted a hardening plate like it could purr. Eli stacked standard heads until they looked like a choir of sensible moons. Liana washed the pen, the string, the board, the bucket, the idea. Marla folded a dressing tab into a promise. Pavel wrote PP with quiet pride and did not smile because smiles are for after sleep. Jori flipped the pointer to night and said good night to lanes.
Kael placed his palm on the ledger. "We do not need to be brave," he said.
"We need to be correct," the city answered, because by now the city had learned how.
Outside, decoy hinges educated thieves. Inside, public works educated everyone else.