The first route the Sairren trusted again carried crates, mostly because Mireva had chosen a test where failure would inconvenience supplies instead of people.
The upper bridge connected a storage hall to a staffed warden post. No family slept along it, no child-route call or family movement depended on it, and no shelter relied on the connection. If the experiment failed, somebody carried the supplies another way.
Two bellkeepers took positions at opposite ends, and wardens physically identified both before the test began. A courier delivered the matching bronze halves while another warden followed far enough behind to confirm the correct post received its piece. None of that pre-test identity verification depended on the network they were about to test.
The local bellkeeper checked his bronze half one final time.
"Ready."
The opening traveled across the bridge.
