Load-Bearing Sky

The upper stair at Observation Ring Nine failed while a survey team was returning through wind heavy enough to move loose plating. The Boneforged stabilizer held the broken landing long enough for the others to cross one at a time.

The steel beneath their hands had been cut before the collapse. The cut was old, deliberate and clean enough that it could not be blamed on weather.

MOTHER's report treats the failure as a degradation event. The stabilizer's deposition refuses that conclusion. They had felt a tool mark in the metal, then a second vibration from farther along the external stair.

No one was sent back to inspect it. The route is now sealed behind a section of concrete that was not present on any original map.