The water plant had been retired without telling the water. Pipes still sighed under the concrete, and the tanks wore a thin skin of regret. The second relay lived where filters used to learn patience.
Kael cut the chain on a side gate with a bolt cutter that didn't brag. Amara slipped through first and vanished into shadow the way good news does. Callum held the gate for Olli's case, then closed it soft as a secret. Arden paused under the eave and let the building introduce itself. The air was bleach and rust and wet paper. It wanted to be left alone. So did most things.
"North tank," Olli said, low. "Signal squints there."
"Eyes up," Kael said. "Audience likes roofs."
They moved across a yard buckled by roots. The access door had been painted shut years ago by a man with a steady wrist and a grudge. Kael leaned and the paint remembered how to crack. Inside, their footsteps turned into the sound of coins being counted in another room.
