Chapter 996: The Band Has a Second End

Bone cracked against stone as Ty’s rib slipped from its cut; Jade caught his chest before the shelf could drag it into the ridge.

"Hold him there. My heel’s slipping, but I’ve got him."

Nessa pressed her left forearm against the shelf. Her right hand stayed curled inside its glove, the suit’s pull drawing her arm toward the lower track. The recovered field finger sat in her left fist, two West Four punches digging into her palm.

The lower fitting turned beneath the ridge. Three pale channels tightened in order; a separate iron ring followed them, drawing a strip of living tissue through its collar.

"Jade, move him onto the ledge while I can hold this shelf."

"Give me a foothold, then. I can’t carry his weight and guess where the rock ends."

Nessa slid her boot along the edge until its toe found stone below. Her cage mapped the collar’s turn; Jade needed ground that would carry a body.

"One boot fits there. The ledge narrows after the notch."

Jade looked over Nessa’s shoulder, then set her heel across the ridge. "Ty moves with me. You keep your arm out of the slot."

Ty lifted his hand from the loose rib. "The crosscut’s all that’s holding the bone. Give me a wall before I let it go."

The bone slipped another inch, its groove scraping stone. Nessa reached beneath the lower lip. The strip doubled around a square throat and disappeared under the shelf. A piece of West Four metal lay inside the fold, one punch mark showing through.

She knew the punch from West Four benches, where workers matched pieces by thumb in a blackout. Two empty hooks still carried their labels; the foreman refused to erase the count.

"Our upper field piece is caught in that fold. The tissue carries the same load as the iron."

Jade shifted Ty’s ribs higher against her arm. "You want the metal back. Tell me what happens if you pull it."

"It may come free. The strip may come with it. I need to turn the collar first."

Ty found the crosscut again with his heel. "I can brace it for a turn. I choose when the rib comes loose."

"Agreed. I’ll call the mark, and you release when it reaches you."

Ty’s skull tipped toward the bone. "My ribs have been doing other people’s jobs all day. This one stays mine to release."

"It does. I need one view of both ends before we choose the next move."

Jade adjusted her hold beneath his chest. "I’ll tell you when I can’t carry him. Don’t make me prove it by dropping him."

"I won’t ask you to. Keep his weight close, and give me room to work."

The ledge slanted toward the lower wall. Jade walked Ty across it sideways, testing each patch of stone with her heel before shifting his weight. Dust rolled off the ridge in small sheets. Nessa watched the grit gather at the notch; it showed where the shelf carried its strain. The ledge bent away from that seam, giving Jade one narrow line to follow.

Ty’s jaw chain caught against the ridge. Jade paused, pulled his chest close, and lifted the links clear one at a time. Her arm trembled under his ribs. She set her heel deeper into the notch and kept moving.

Jade’s boot scraped the ledge. She moved her weight onto the lower shelf, keeping Ty tight against her side. He brought his hips over her forearm while she steadied the back of his skull with her shoulder. His jaw chain cleared the rock by the width of a finger.

"My left boot holds. The right one’s still on the ridge."

Nessa angled her elbow into the crosscut. Ty turned the grooved rib against the cut, easing strain from the collar. The shelf rose by a thumb’s width; Jade planted her right foot and moved Ty’s weight onto both legs.

"We’re across. Your hand can come off the shelf now."

"Not yet. Your right boot is still on the loose edge."

Jade leaned her shoulder against the wall and moved Ty’s weight to her left side. Nessa could see the next patch of stone crumble as the ridge shifted. Jade held her place until the grit settled, then crossed the last foot without asking Nessa to take Ty’s weight.

Nessa let her forearm rise. The suit pulled harder as the fitting drew the strip. Her right wrist knocked against the pulse cage. The fingers inside the glove stayed shut.

She set the recovered finger on a dry shelf beside the slot. Its paired West Four marks stayed visible.

Her left fingers followed the collar’s rim. One shoulder sat in a cut in the stone; the lever slot beside it ended where the strip doubled beneath the ridge.

"Ty, keep the grooved rib in that crosscut. I need one measured turn."

His wrist settled against the bone. "I’ll hold until the second punch clears the edge."

The far-side lever scraped through its slot, then dropped. All three channels went taut, and the collar started a turn that pulled the tissue toward the opposite wall.

Jade turned to Ty. "Your right foot’s clear. Bring your hip over before the shelf shifts again."

Ty leaned into her forearm. "My hip’s there. Watch the chain; it catches when I turn."

She lifted his ribs; he shifted his weight onto the ledge. Nessa pressed her left forearm against the collar and used the pulse cage to follow its edge.

The embedded piece moved by a finger’s width. The strip bunched against the square throat. A second fold appeared beneath it, running back into the ridge.

The change brought the hidden load closer to Nessa’s reach, yet the collar’s edge pressed harder into the tissue. Its cut carried an old black stain, rubbed into the iron where the band had worn against it. Nessa set her thumb on the stone instead of touching the fold. The stained edge had already taken a shallow groove from the living material.

"The band has two ends. The upper piece sits where a tooth should hold the fold flat."

Ty’s right hand hovered near the rib. "Does that let us lift the metal clear?"

"It lets us see where both ends go. It says nothing about what the tissue can take."

The cage pressed into her forearm as its needles drew toward the collar. Her suit tightened at the wrist. One more turn would expose the far end and pin her arm against the iron.

Jade saw the wrist shift. "Nessa, back your arm out. We can find another angle from the ledge."

"Another angle leaves that piece buried while the load keeps pulling."

"And this angle can take your wrist. You get one turn, then we move."

Nessa looked at Jade’s left heel, now pressed against the wall to keep her footing. Ty leaned on her forearm, his own hand held away from the unsteady bone. Their positions had cost them both a way back up.

"One turn. If the punch crosses the lip, Ty lets the rib go."

Ty nodded. "I’ll release at the mark. I won’t wait for you to ask twice."

The second pull began. Ty leaned into the rib, holding the crosscut while Jade shifted her footing. Nessa followed the strip around the collar with her left forearm. The far end ran under a second fitting and disappeared into a shallow groove in the lower wall.

The punch mark crossed the lip.

Ty let go. The rib dropped against the crosscut and held; its groove kept it from rolling into the slot. Nessa pulled her left arm clear as the suit jerked her right wrist toward the track. Her glove struck the pulse cage. Pain ran from wrist to elbow, sharp enough to stop the word she had begun.

Jade reached for her shoulder, then paused. "Where can I hold you without pulling the arm?"

Nessa lifted from the shoulder. The elbow followed, but the wrist dragged toward the collar. She turned her body instead, letting Jade take her weight above the arm.

"Keep your hand clear. The shoulder still moves; the wrist keeps drawing."

Ty steadied himself against the wall, away from the grooved rib. "The crosscut will hold once. I need the wall before the next pull."

Jade shifted under him. "Take my shoulder. The ledge has room for one more step."

Nessa recorded the plate trace with her left thumb. Three lines settled across its face. One drew toward the shelf, one pressed into the wall, and the third curved beneath her boot. The iron collar held its position until the far lever scraped again.

She picked up the West Four finger from the dry shelf. The paired marks pressed into her palm. Behind the ridge, the upper piece remained wrapped in living tissue. The second fitting kept drawing it deeper.

"We follow the groove beneath that fitting. We leave the upper piece where it is."

Jade looked down the ledge. "Ty crosses first with me. You keep your left hand on the wall and call the turns."

"My right arm is coming with me. Give it space, and keep the chain off the rock."

Ty’s skull tipped toward the next notch. "I’ll move without the rib. Keep a wall close enough to catch me."

The shelf shifted under their weight. The second fitting answered from below, one notch farther along the groove. Nessa started down with her right arm held against her side and the field finger in her left hand.