The first worker sprayed white paint across the gas stripe.
Pip Daro screamed from the blue stairs.
"Gas."
The worker kept the nozzle down.
Yellow vanished under white in one wet pass. Mud turned pale. The cracked curb took the new color. A second worker rolled a stencil cart into the laundry court and locked its wheels.
```
CERTIFIED MUSTER ZONE
ROUTE 77-C
```
Lena Daro grabbed the railing.
"You are painting people onto a gas main."
The pale-coated interviewer raised her slate.
"The prior marking lacked registry verification. Ward Nine requires a visible approved route."
"The pipe ignores your verification."
That line reached every mirror before the registry muted her.
In the evidence room, Soma enlarged the paint can label until the letters broke into squares.
Elara tapped the table with two fingers.
He shifted the image lower.
A smaller code sat near the can seam.
```
CIVIC FLOW WHITE
MACHINE-READABLE ROUTE ADDITIVE
```
Kim's text arrived one line at a time.
