Volume I — Arc 1 — Epoch I
Chapter 42 — The Neighbor's Oath
[Cycle 001 | Pulse 18:40:00 — Station tick | Log: River Step petition / Bridgebind follow → Channel: public]
Aurelius: "The chest came home with ash and comb marks. Nodes ask for a mirror seat. Do we give it or teach them first to stand?"
Aurelia: "A seat is a trust. A trust must be grown, not bought. Test a town's will before you hand it light. Let them show a plan, a seed, and a song."
Clerk (quiet): [ACTION] River Step petition received — Mode: station request review per Bridgebind rules. Team: Mira (trustee), Len (actor rep), Kalen (maker lead), Lio (keeper), Clerk pack. Task: on-site vet; public vote oversight; deputy seed plan check. Anchor: CL-0022.station.RS. Time: deploy tick +1.
Len read the petition under the gate lamp: River Step asked to host a semi-station mirror. They had seen MM-01 in their lane and felt a new calm when the chest sang. They asked for a vote, a small deputy seed, and a path to a full station within four cycles.
Mira folded the slate and sent a small team: two trustees, a clerk, and Kalen as craft liaison. "Keep it plain," she said. "We hold the Bridgebind: plan, pledge, peer nod. If they pass, we help set key plan and deputy seed. If not, we steer them to more teach."
Aurelius tightened his cloak and walked the lane before the team left. River Step lay low, a string of plots by the ford, a small ferry, a shed of wax and nails. Children ran with comb scraps; elders eyed the road. The town had a hunger for proof and for tools that would last.
Aurelia: "Watch their voice. Does it ask for light or for a crown? The two sound similar at first."
Clerk: [SITE VISIT] River Step visit log — arrival: tick +1; hosts: village clerk Mira-Ann, ferryman Talo, wax supplier Marn; public call: noon assembly. Mode: vet + teach. Anchor: CL-0022.RS.visit1.
At noon the assembly filled the plank square. Talo, who ran the ferry, stood with a blunt face and a small satchel.
Talo: "We had the chest and it fed a need. Night trade felt safer. Apprentices that MM left now test seams and they sell more. But we cannot own a mirror — we have no chest, no coin, no deputy who can leave. We ask help to seed a deputy and to set an aim to be a station if we keep to plan."
Marn, the wax man, added with low pride: "I temper wax now as taught. The comb files kept at the bench fix half a market's fails. We will pledge combs, one lap of temper mix, and a weekly teach. But the coin I lack. That is why we ask your rule to seed us."
People chimed in: two traders pledged small pay for operator honor; a mom pledged a loaf a week for trainer stew; a youth pledged to learn to be deputy. The ring of hands felt like a small web being raised.
Clerk: [PROPOSAL] River Step plan draft — items: apprentice target = 3 in first month; pad operator rota = 2 people; repair chest seed = 6 sparks (from trustee loan); deputy seed = comb file + micro-honor for first month; public vote to run within two ticks. Condition: local pledge for 25% repay or repay-by-teach option. Anchor: CL-0022.RS.plan.draft.
Kalen moved among the crowd, testing wax, testing comb teeth, showing a small file work that made a comb hum new. He turned to the small youth who pledged.
Kalen: "You will have work. Show true heart. A deputy must pass the QuickCheck test and hold witness tokens. We will sign a deputy token if you pass trial. Do not think a deputy is a crown. It is a job to keep a pad warm and a town safe."
Ryn, who had come as apprentice lead, added a note: "We leave a micro-handbook, a supply kit with combs and temper guide, and two torn tokens for pre-lesson tests. We will also leave a small mirror pad token so you can call MM when you need a bridge for a day."
Mira: "We will seed but we will not gift without plan. Trustee loan will hold if you vote and if neighbors sign a consent node. Two neighbor nodes must weigh in with a note of good will. That shows network care."
Clerk: [REQUEST] Neighbor consent call — notify Crosspath hamlet and Reedfold annex for consent. Mode: mirror ping; request: neighbor votes & witness tokens within 3 ticks. Anchor: CL-0022.RS.neighborcall.
Aurelius watched the crowd and felt the small hum of decision. This was not a sudden law but a slow craft: a town that wanted a mirror seat must show it would tend the lamp. He liked that the plan asked for neighbor consent; a seat that isolates becomes a throne.
Aurelia: "Do not let zeal replace plan. If they promise all in a rush, ask them for a slow proof. Small steps last."
Over the next ticks the clerk's pad filled with neighbor notes. Crosspath hamlet sent two witness tokens and a short note: "We will assist with two market teach hours weekly for a month if River Step holds to apprentice goal." Reedfold annex sent a cautious nod and one witness token: they would audit pad logs monthly.
Clerk: [INBOUND] Neighbor consent received — Crosspath: 2 witness tokens + public support; Reedfold: 1 witness token + audit pledge. Anchor: CL-0022.RS.neighborConsent.ok.
Mira: "They satisfy the neighbor rule. We now run the public vote. If the villagers vote yes, trustee chest will issue a seed loan of 6 sparks and deputy kit. But recall: repay plan or repay-by-teach must be set before seed release."
Aurelius: "Hold the seed until they post pledge. Let a pledge be not only coin but work time, tool care, and keeper rota."
Clerk: [VOTE SCHEDULE] River Step vote set: public call + witness token show. Vote mode: simple majority with witness token deposit. Time: tick +4. Anchor: CL-0022.RS.vote.
The day of vote came with drizzle that made the planks slick and the wax smell deep. People queued, small tokens in hand. The clerk read the plan, the repay terms, and the deputy seed terms loud and clear.
Clerk: "Seed loan: 6 sparks, repay or repay-by-teach: repay 25% coin or 12 trainer hours to neighboring nodes within 8 ticks. Deputy seed: comb file + micro-honor for first month. Mirror anchor will record all acts."
Hands rose. Votes sang like a small tide: yes, yes, no, yes, yes. The tally passed by a clear lead. River Step had chosen the work.
Clerk: [VOTE] River Step station vote: tally — Yes 72% / No 28%. Result: pass. Anchor: CL-0022.RS.vote.result.
Mira signed the trustee note. "We will issue the seed loan and leave deputy kit on the chest. But we also require a clear deputy pledge: who trains, who stands, and who carries witness tokens when keeper must leave. Post that pledge and we anchor."
Aurelius: "And require a short ritual on the day the deputy first stands: a pledge to teach at least one child in the week and a seal to mark the pad on oath night. Make their first act public and small."
Clerk: [SET] Deputy pledge requirement — deputy must pass QuickCheck certification and pledge to teach one child per week in first month. Public oath and witness pin required. Anchor: CL-0022.RS.deputy.rule.
River Step posted its deputy names: Jor, a ferryman's son, and Mina, a trader's neighbor. Both took the comb on the bench that afternoon and tried under Kalen's eye. Mina's hand was steady; Jor's laugh hid a careful grip. Both passed QuickCheck under mirror probe.
Clerk: [CERTIFY] Deputy certification — Jor & Mina pass probe certification; deputy tokens issued; mirror anchor: CL-0022.RS.deputy.cert. Trustee: Mira sign.
Mira issued the loan chest. The trustee key and the local key were set to dual lock. The clerk recorded the chain-of-custody as the chest left the hall and crossed the plank.
Clerk: [EXECUTE] Seed loan issue: 6 sparks to River Step repair chest; deputy kit delivered: comb file, spare combs x6, temper batch x2; deputy tokens x2; mirror pad token request slot. Anchor: CL-0022.RS.seed.issue.
Aurelius watched as the deputy kit opened at River Step and the first small acts began. The deputy rota was set and the pad operator schedule posted in the square. Children were signed to the first teach shift and the moon ritual slot. The town felt rooted.
But no plan escapes the world. On the third day after seed issuance a small friction rose: a trader named Varr (who had been a skeptic from Crosspath) claimed that River Step's repair chest coin had been used to buy a stew for the trustee team during the vote, not for repair. He produced two witness tokens from his bench.
Len read the tokens and then the trustee note from the seed issue. The chest log showed a small disbursement of 0.5 spark marked as "visitor stew." The trustee match rules had allowed minor host costs if posted. The detail lacked witness marks for spend. Varr's note said a meal is not a repair spend.
Mira: "A mild lapse of record. If a chest uses coin for host food, it must show a vote or be recorded as host cost with witness. We must ask River Step to post retro witness tokens or repay. Small rule, quick fix."
Clerk: [MICRO-AUDIT] Request River Step post vote or provide two witness tokens for host cost within 2 ticks or repay 0.5 spark to chest. Anchor: CL-0022.RS.hostcost.query.
River Step sent a quick bowing note: the ferryman had bought stew to feed a band of visitors who would not stay long; he forgot to call a vote in the rain. He posted two witness tokens the next tick and pledged a public note on the mirror. The clerk logged the tokens, the matter closed with a small nod.
Clerk: [CLOSE] Host cost remedy posted; mirror anchor: CL-0022.RS.hostcost.resolved. Trustees: Mira + Len.
With seed set and deputy trained, River Step asked another small favor: could MM-01 visit next cycle to set a short teach block and to test a few late-night packets? The trustee policy allowed a chest pass if nodes met Bridgebind return steps. River Step had posted plan items and neighbor consent. The team approved a single MM return for follow teach and probe.
Clerk: [REQUEST] MM-01 return slot approved for River Step: tick +6; purpose: teach block + probe checks; anchor: CL-0022.RS.MMreturn.approve.
Aurelius stood by Mina and Jor as they took their first night shift at the pad. The moon threw long light across the planks and the pad hummed steady. Mina's fingers did not shake; Jor's hands found rhythm. The children who came to learn laughed at their small wax shapes and the market felt less fragile.
Aurelia: "A station is not only a box of light. It is a promise that hands keep night watch and that a village will teach another. River Step now must keep that promise."
Aurelius: "And if it fails, the bridge will move on and the seed will be a lesson in what does not hold. That is fair."
Clerk: [COMMIT] Snapshot CL-0022 — 2025-10-28 ▪ Ch.42 ▪ Change type: River Step station vote, seed loan, deputy cert, host cost micro-audit, MM return slot ▪ Anchors: CL-0022.RS.vote.result; CL-0022.RS.seed.issue; CL-0022.RS.deputy.cert; CL-0022.RS.hostcost.resolved; CL-0022.RS.MMreturn.approve ▪ Trustee sign: Mira + Len. Public digest posted.
Post-Law Reflection: A lamp at the bridge helps. A seat at the hearth must be earned. A seed can buy a start, not a crown. Neighbor consent, a clear plan, a deputy who pledges to teach, and a tiny public vote are small acts that change how a node keeps a mirror. When a town takes a loan, let it be for work, not feasts. When a town asks for a seat, have it show a plan and a song. The Spiral trusts small proofs: a token, a vote, a taught child. Give light to hands that will tend it, not to hands that will hold it like a prize. Keep the lamp mobile until a town can bind it with vow, witness, and the steady press of the comb.