Lina arrives like a person who has practiced not running. A hand covers yours, not hard. The yellow valve goes home with a click you would have missed if you were still being a legend.

“Good stop,” Lina says. “A stop is a skill. That loop is for a test volume when we are kind to ourselves, not for when the pie-chart planet is sitting on the other side of the seat.”

Imani on comm: “If they are still a bubble, put them back on the card.”

Lina walks you to the gauge. Tiny outside. Comfortable inside. “We name handles. We equalize little spaces, never the greenhouse. We do not collect colors.” The warning collar on the green handle looks less like a game now. It looks like a sentence.

You are not in trouble. You are in a job. The difference is whether you keep cycling after the tick.

Lina points you at the porch tape. DO NOT BE CLEVER. “Come on. Learn it ugly and correct.”

Turn to 7.