The instructions on the board were almost diagrammatic, no unnecessary context, designed with the economy of someone who had written this kind of instruction enough times to know exactly which information was needed and which wasn't.
What to watch for from position seventeen. When the shift changed and what the handoff looked like. What to do if the pressure exceeded the manageable threshold before the next rotation arrived.
The soldier also reading the new board at the same time as Ren had the age of someone who was also new but had been in the sector long enough for it to have become familiar, someone who had passed through the first year and come out on the other side with a working knowledge of how things ran.
His name was Dunn.
What Dunn knew about Ren was exactly what Vehn knew about Ren: that he was a weird name on the third shift list for position seventeen.
"First week?" asked Dunn, without taking his eyes off the board.
"First week," Ren confirmed.
