Page 146 of Pocket Wife

Not formal this time.

No one corrects him.

The line in the cap begins to glow.

I look at the field, the clinic tower beyond it, the pipe singing under the earth, and the live red light in my hand.

Helix buried a hand on the valley’s throat.

And now it is starting to squeeze.

My hand hovers over the cap.

The glow beneath its seam brightens by a fraction.

“Lucy,” Nara’s voice reaches me through the slate, thin and terrified. “The clinic flow just dropped.”

I feel the words like a blow to my chest.

I look from the cap to the pipe beneath the earth. Somewhere under my feet, the water that keeps my valley alive is being stolen, diverted, squeezed by a device Helix planted months ago.

“Torren,” I say.

“I see it. The node is cycling. It’s not fully open yet, but if it reaches full activation⁠—”

“The clinic loses pressure.”

“Yes.”

I eye the cap.

Rethan’s voice reaches me over the feed. “Miss Hartwell, do not attempt removal. The node may be connected to a triggering mechanism.”

Salo adds, “Specialist Veyr is correct. Tampering without full knowledge could accelerate activation.”

My fingers curl at my sides. “Then what do we do?”

No one answers fast enough.

The glow beneath the cap brightens again.

I make a decision before I can talk myself out of it.

“I’m opening it.”

“Lucy—”

“I’m not removing it. I’m exposing it. If Helix already knows this node exists, hiding from the wiring is just helping them.”

I kneel in the soil and begin to clear the earth around the cap with my bare hands. The dirt is loose near the top, packed tight beneath. I dig until my fingers ache.

The cap extends deeper than I expected.

And beneath it, a small display panel glows with a single number.

32:14.

A countdown.