Dream d3050-s: Bare Wire, Red Rust

I had a dream where...

I had a dream where the gate of Irongreen rose at the edge of the surveyed ground, two iron beams meeting at a joint wrapped in wire by someone's hand and left to rust. The Relic-Watcher stopped before passing through and turned a small lamp toward the armature's shoulder. The joint had been rewired more than once; older loops lay flattened beneath the new, the rust colors layered in distinct bands. I noted the count of rewirings without settling it as a fact.

Lano circled the base of the armature, nose close to the iron, ears pressed flat. She had carried a pebble for several streets and set it down now at the foot of the beam, then sat and watched the Relic-Watcher work.

Rurik had gone ahead. His amber eyes caught the lamp from between two struts higher up, where he had found a ledge wide enough to crouch on. He watched the road beyond the gate. His tail moved once.

The Bedrock-Reader pressed a palm against the base stone of the left post and said nothing for a long time. The Tally-Reader stood behind her with an open record and made a mark. One entrance. Two beams. The count of wired joints was disputed and left open.

The Warden of the Deep Stratum walked through the gate without pausing and stood on the far side. The road beyond it was unpaved and pale, a different color from the road we had come in on. None of it appeared in the surveyed sheet.

The Anomaly-Hand swept a hand along the right beam's lower face. A pale line ran there, faint and continuous. It left no warmth on the fingers. She did not name it. She drew a line in the record where the line appeared on the iron.

The Horizon-Surveyor stood at the threshold and looked down the pale road.

Lano padded through the gate and sat again on the far side, ears up, watching the dark.

I passed through last. The wire on the joint was not tight - it moved a little when I touched it. I let it be and walked on.

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