Kael
Liora had brought the record of her lost semifinal to an equipment demonstration.
She was reading it while a keeper explained how a return guide worked.
I thought the keeper was being brave about it.
"You could put that away," I said.
"I could."
"He has reached the part about the lever for the second time."
She folded the sheet and looked up.
The keeper began the lever explanation again, possibly out of spite.
We stood in a marked viewing space beside a demonstration frame. A narrow carriage carried a blade along a guide, letting the operator show how different returns changed the load on a weapon's seat. Its cutting edge stayed behind a clear screen during the powered movement.
The frame used a separate manual release. Under Valeria's new restriction, that complete arrangement had been held, examined and tested before the demonstration was approved.
Its clearance tag hung where everyone could see it.
