A festival is a strange thing in a city accustomed to repairs. Somebody needs another table. Somebody has put a display the wrong way round. An old lamp begins flickering exactly when people want it to look its best. The crew can spot twelve imperfections before breakfast.
But for once, the purpose of the gathering is not to fix the world. It is to notice what the founders have already changed, and to enjoy a place that has begun to belong to them.
Back in Founders Alley, the showcase opens with one display facing the wrong way. Bo turns it around without calling a meeting about whose fault it was. Dash begins to say that the visitors are approaching from the wrong side, then notices you and stops.
The work you chose for the rehearsal has a place here. Someone pauses beside your display, the shared board or the copy of Nessa's drawing. You remember the detail you nearly changed. Spark remembers too. For a while, you can simply enjoy seeing it finished.
In Nessa's workshop, one visitor tries a tool at the bench while another reads the history beside it. Gauge starts to adjust Patch's cradle, then leaves it alone. Outside, someone is pouring tea from the old kettle.
Dash has tucked the gallery drawing beneath his equipment. When he notices a corner showing, he covers it. You can approach him or give him space. He answers questions about the showcase, but soon finds something that needs carrying. When the crew needs you both, he still helps.
Later, Rue finds Gauge studying the next restoration plan.
“Your initials are in the old record.”
This time, he agrees.
“I know.”
“The condition beside them isn't in this copy.”
Spark's new route passes close to the bypass Gauge once approved. Elsewhere on the map, a survey line runs toward the original bridge. Spark has marked it as a possible future route. The survey has permission to examine the far shore; it has not been asked to build a settlement.
When someone needs help with the showcase, Spark folds that part of the map away.
Gauge looks toward Nessa's two windows.
“We should show them the whole record,” Rue says.
This time, he agrees.