by Wolf_Gao
Tarin Vey wakes beneath a dead control desk with two lives in his head: one belonging to a junior foundry clerk killed in the bombardment, the other to Lin Wei, a production-systems engineer from another world. Above him, Cinderwake—the last mobile foundry beyond the Ash Crown’s control—is failing piece by piece. Its heart furnace is cold. The most honest water estimate gives it thirty-one hours. Thousands remain aboard, while hundreds of refugees wait outside a sealed gate. The ancient Continuance Steward offers Tarin no combat class, miraculous blueprints, or experience for killing. It recognizes only what the foundry can sustain: reliable production, trained crews, working infrastructure, defensible territory, and the people he accepts responsibility for. An improvement counts only after workers can repeat it and keep it running. Taking in another citizen means owing them water, shelter, and protection; a shortcut that hides those costs is only another failure deferred. An Ash Crown reclamation column is advancing somewhere beyond the horizon. Tarin must rebuild Cinderwake from stripped machines, rival guilds, exhausted guards, and frightened refugees. To survive, they need more than repairs. They need a city that can produce, defend itself, and keep its promises. If the last foundry moves at all, it will move at dawn.
