The two sickles opened beneath the board and held there. Neither blade cut, which made Ty keep his hand still above the tray strip.
The board ground against the cracked fuse again. The sound was low, dry, and wrong in the teeth. Blue kept the gray cloth pressed over the fuse, using just enough pressure to hold it in Daemon's cut.
"They are waiting for the correction path to speak clearly," Blue said.
"The path has been loud enough for my taste," JJ said.
"Loud is different from clear when the board wants a path."
Rusuf shifted his wrist under the stone lip.
The maintenance sword still held, but the lip had started to ride lower along the flat. Dust gathered on the back of his hand. His fingers stayed wrapped around the grip with no wasted movement.
"If the sickles need time, say how much time," he said.
"Long enough for the board to try the wrong thing twice," Blue said.
"That is not a time. That is a legal threat with gears."
