Chapter 120: Put Me On Speaker

Three supply fans had been shut down manually.

The heat-recovery exchange had been bypassed, and someone had increased the coolant circulation beyond its recommended pressure in an attempt to force colder air through the remaining ducts.

Shichen examined the changes twice because the first reading made no sense.

The people sealing the fresh-air intakes had also disabled the system intended to cool incoming air.

They had interpreted the warmer ventilation as proof that the equipment had failed, then altered every setting they could reach until they created the result they feared.

"Stop walking," Shichen told his sister when she reached the final intersection.

His abrupt tone made her freeze before entering the mechanical corridor, and he enlarged the pressure readings while tracing the affected lines.

"Someone changed the cooling system. I need to know who entered the control room and exactly what they touched before you open that door," he explained.

Concern replaced Shuyun’s earlier irritation as she looked toward the reinforced door at the end of the corridor. "Can it hurt me?"

"Not if the pipes remain intact." Shichen checked the current pressure against the system’s emergency limits before adding, "Don’t stand beside the coolant lines until I tell you which valves were altered."

His answer didn’t reassure her.

She stepped back from the entrance and looked down at the plans he had sent. "The committee members won’t listen to me. They didn’t ask before changing any of this, and they won’t reverse it because I tell them my brother disagrees."

This time, Shichen understood her objection.

He had given his sister instructions as though if she seemed to know what she was doing, people would listen to her.

Shuyun knew enough to recognize that the residents were making a mistake, but she couldn’t make more than 300 frightened people tolerate warmer air simply because a diagram said it was necessary.

Shichen transferred the call completely to the communications wall. His sister’s image enlarged until everyone inside Xiling could see the mechanical door behind her and the warning signs attached to it.

"Put me on speaker," he told her as he opened every available record for Qingsong Residence.

His voice remained controlled, but the condition of the building had removed any patience he might have offered the people responsible. "Then take me to the committee."

Shuyun returned to the occupied parking level with Shichen’s voice emerging from her phone.

The residents’ committee had gathered beside the temporary food-distribution tables.

Four men and two women stood over Qingsong’s printed emergency manual while the building’s remaining security guards attempted to answer questions from the surrounding residents.

No one appeared to be reading the manual.

A man wearing a red committee armband noticed Shuyun approaching and raised one hand to stop her. "We’ve already explained the decision. The ventilation will remain sealed until the outdoor temperature decreases," he said, addressing her like he was speaking to a child.

Shuyun stopped beyond his reach and lifted her phone so the man could see Shichen on the screen. "My brother says you’re going to suffocate everyone."

The committee member looked at the phone, then toward the people listening around him. His expression suggested he resented both the accusation and the audience witnessing it.

"We are not suffocating," he insisted. Sweat had darkened the collar of his shirt, though the portable fan beside the table blew directly toward him. "The building is cooler than it was this morning."

"The carbon-dioxide concentration on this level is already unsafe," Shichen said through the speaker.

He placed the environmental readings beside his image so Shuyun could show them to the committee. "You shut down three supply fans and sealed the intakes supporting them. Reopen the ventilation system."

The man glanced at the red numbers without attempting to understand them. "We opened the vents yesterday, and the temperature rose by three degrees."

"You bypassed the heat-recovery exchange before opening them," Shichen countered with a sneer.

He enlarged the mechanical history and displayed the time attached to each unauthorized change.

Someone had disabled the exchange at 13:42.

The first ventilation complaint appeared 18 minutes later.

"You removed the system responsible for reducing the temperature of incoming air, then blamed the ventilation when untreated air entered the building," he continued.

A woman beside the committee table leaned toward the phone. "We didn’t bypass anything. The controls were showing an alarm, so Mr. Du reset them."

Shichen looked at the man wearing the armband. "Are you Mr. Du?"

The man lifted his chin. "I supervised commercial properties for 23 years."

"That wasn’t my question."

A few residents exchanged looks. Shuyun lowered her face, but not before Shichen saw the beginning of a smile.

Mr. Du’s authority had probably worked better before the building’s architect appeared on the wall of a distant shelter and asked him to account for every change.

"I reset the system because it was malfunctioning," Mr. Du answered. He indicated the mechanical manual as though its presence proved his qualifications. "The warning said the pressure was too low."

"The warning identified insufficient pressure in the heat-exchange loop. You increased pressure in the cooling loop instead," replied Shichen, clearly not impressed with Mr. Du’s ’knowledge’.

"The controls weren’t clearly labeled," sputtered Mr. Du, looking around as if to make sure that everyone was still on his side.

"They were labeled with different words."

Mr. Du’s mouth tightened, but the residents surrounding the committee had begun studying him instead of Shuyun’s phone. Several people who had reported headaches moved closer to the ventilation ducts overhead.

Shichen didn’t need the man to admit he had made a mistake. He needed access to the mechanical room before the mistake damaged equipment they couldn’t replace.

"Give my sister the master key," he instructed. "One person may accompany her to verify every adjustment, but no one touches another control unless I tell them to."

Mr. Du placed his palm over the key ring lying on the table. "You aren’t here. If something happens, we’re responsible for the people inside this building."

"You assumed responsibility when you took the property manager’s keys," Shichen countered.

He opened the coolant-pressure warning and placed it across half the communications wall.

"You are currently operating the system above its recommended maximum. If a coupling fails, Qingsong will lose cooling on every residential floor served by that loop. I can guide you through restoring it now, or you can explain to 300 people why your need to appear competent destroyed their building."

The challenge reached Qingsong through Shuyun’s phone. For several seconds, only the fans and distant drilling disturbed the silence.

Mr. Du removed his hand from the keys.

But he didn’t pass them to Shuyun.

Instead, he selected a younger man standing near the security guards and held them out to him. "Engineer Luo will handle the controls. He understands mechanical systems."