He found Neral at the branch archive's reading room, still at the table with the corrected Stage 5 design. He had been reading the builders' documentation—not Kai's notes, the original Vael's Crossing folder from Arveth's Archive. He looked up when Kai came in.
"Stage 4," Neral said. A statement, not a question. He had felt the activation through whatever he used to feel such things. He had not said what that was yet.
"I need to understand what you corrected in the design," Kai said. "Before I build on it."
Neral looked at the corrected sketch. "I can help with Stage 5. I know the architecture."
"How?"
Neral was quiet for a moment. Not the theatrical pause he used when building toward a statement. Something more considered.
"I'll show you while we work," he said. "The explanation is easier to follow after you've seen what the correction does."
