When the crew returned to the square, the fountain looked smaller than it did in the old records. Plants crowded its edges. Dust had gathered where water once ran. Patch tested a loose stone with the end of a tool; Gauge told him not to move it until they had checked what rested beneath.
Rebuilding began as most difficult work begins: not with a grand announcement, but with a list of things that could go wrong and a group of makers willing to check them one by one.
The first rebuilding crew found an old kettle on the fountain ledge, where it had waited through more seasons than anyone could count. Rain had polished one side and stained the other. Patch wanted it for catching leaks. Gauge wrapped it up again.
“We have plenty of broken things,” Patch said.
“This one was fixed.”
Gauge would say no more.
The crew began on Main Street with a few returning founders. Spark supplied the old fountain drawings, but the ground had changed. Rebuilding everything exactly as it had been would use more power than the street could spare.
Bo laid a hand on a warm supply pipe.
“Stop cutting.”
Spark began checking the figures. Patch pointed to the join in the oldest stone.
“Somebody changed the drawing before.”
Gauge knelt beside the join. Then he set down the kettle and opened his tools.
The crew made a smaller circuit, using the recovered spring to supply Main Street. A repaired channel carried water and renewed Luminea back. They added a fitting that could disconnect the outer network without stopping the local flow.
This is where your story begins: beside a running fountain, with one gate open.
When the checks passed, they opened the supply.
Water spilled into the fountain. People came to listen. Soon they were discussing where to put a workbench and which of the empty shops they might use.
The fitting at the fountain's summit stayed dark.
Tuck hung a bell over the crew table. He rang it only when everyone who had gone below was back. The returning founders learned to wait for that sound before the meal.
Patch used Nessa's kettle for the first tea. Gauge complained about the handle, repaired it and accepted a cup.
Once Main Street had a steady supply, Spark and the Meganites led a small group to the nearest gate. Beyond it lay Vicus Conditorum, one of the city's first settled lands. They repaired its route and built another protected local circuit. With the supply and return working, they could release the old seal. Orrean could still control the unrestored routes, but its central key could no longer shut this independent connection.
The returning founders gave the land a new name: Founders Alley.
Some settled into lasting shops. They became Keepers. Others set up travelling shops and helped the crews open new ground. They became Seekers. Anyone could do both.
The Alley beacon began to pulse weakly. The other great gates around the square remained shut.
This is where your story begins: beside a running fountain, with one gate open.