Vaela Kurose crossed the High Chamber with a sealed tablet clutched in both hands, its signal straining against her restrictions. Beyond the terrace rail, the Grand Loom turned through concentric rings, drawing light from thirty-six bound realms into its machinery.
She stopped where the observation floor rose toward Jion and waited for him to notice the broken protocol.
Four centuries serving the Directorate taught her which failures belonged below this terrace and which deserved a breach of protocol. This signal defeated every attempt to isolate its origin, leaving her responsible for the tablet she carried through forbidden doors.
Jion kept his hands clasped behind his back while a thread entering the Loom thinned and vanished.
"The terrace is closed during observation," he said, tracking the gap left by that thread without bothering to turn.
"Your department knows where to send its ordinary reports."
