After being absent for several days due to illness, Eleanor finally returned to work at the Night Watch Bureau.
On her first day back, she heard some major news.
The [The Thinker] mainframe at Night Watch Bureau headquarters had designated the Hearthfire District a high-risk area.
The reason seemed to be that the local terminal had failed to receive and process the messages issued by [The Thinker] in time, causing warnings to keep piling up until they reached the threshold and triggered an alarm.
Eleanor had almost been taken away for isolation and interrogation.
Fortunately, Mr. Dalton personally vouched for her, and there were several recently submitted Difference Engine maintenance requests. All the paperwork was in order, and only then had they let her go.
As for what had happened to the Difference Engine's messages...
Eleanor was no fool. When she had seen those messages before, she had only assumed they were false alarms. After seeing that quietly burning Sun in her dream and learning the truth about the Canteen, she had already realized what was happening.
[The Thinker]'s calculations had not been wrong. It really had discovered traces of a great being!
So after Eleanor was released, she claimed she had suffered a fright and took leave again.
As she hurried to get ready to go to the Hearthfire District to warn them, she happened to meet Dorothea, who had come to visit. The two rushed to the Canteen together. "Things look very bad this time. The abnormalities in the Hearthfire District have put Night Watch Bureau headquarters on alert. The entire district is now under martial law. I heard even the Sterling Family, who manage the factories here, have received a formal inquiry."
Elsa spoke to the believers in the room.
Everyone standing there was a core believer