The emergency hall had no windows. That was the point. First-years sat along the walls in residence groups while teachers counted names. The continuous alarm stopped after two minutes, replaced by three slow emergency chimes every five minutes. Harper hated not seeing outside.

"I need to know what's happening."

Mae, counting heads, said, "You need to stay here."

"Those can both be true."

"Today they are not."

Ava sat cross-legged beside Jasper with the emergency map open across her knees. She had brought a map. Of course she had.

"The internal hall is above the central foundation," she said quietly. "Far from outer walls."

Harper looked at her.

"Are you comforting me with architecture?"

"Yes."

"It's working a little."

Jasper barely listened. The Titan-presence filled him. Not inside his body. That was the closest language. Huge awareness pressed against every sense he had no name for. He could feel water battering the outer breakwater. Not exact wave shapes. Pressure. Obstacles. A narrow channel refusing flow. Something wrong in the harbour mouth. Professor Elowen entered the hall dripping wet. She spoke to Mae, then came directly to Jasper.

"How are you?"

"It's really strong."

"Can you separate your own fear from what you're sensing?"

Jasper appreciated the question. He breathed. His own fear: fast heartbeat, cold hands, worry about harbour staff. The presence: enormous pressure, movement, agitation.

"Mostly."

"Anything specific?"

"Gate. Something stuck. Water keeps pushing."

Elowen nodded.

"The outer tide gate is partially jammed by storm debris."

Jasper's stomach dropped.

"The dream."

"Yes. Staff are working from the protected inner platform. Nobody is in the outer water."

Harper leaned forward.

"The barge?"

"Still secured."

Ava asked, "Why is the gate a problem if the breakwater is built for storms?" Elowen looked at the map.

"The gate normally opens fully during this tide state to let surge energy pass through the harbour channel. Half-open, it traps debris and increases pressure against one side."

Jasper understood the impression suddenly. Water trying to move through a narrow entrance.

"Can they open it?"

"Working on it."

"Can they close it?"

"Not safely under current load."

Ava's finger traced the map.

"So every wave pushes more debris into the gap."

"Yes."

Harper said, "Then why don't they pull the debris out?"

"Because people do not stand in storm channels during red flag conditions."

"Good rule."

Elowen almost smiled. Then Jasper felt it. Three surges. The first hit somewhere below. The floor vibration was too faint for most children to notice. Jasper did. Second. A stronger pressure. Third. A distant metallic groan travelled through the structure. Pause. Jasper grabbed Ava's arm.

"Three."

She looked at him.

"Dream rhythm?"

"Yeah."

Ava checked the wall clock.

"Time."

She wrote it on the map margin. Harper looked between them.

"What does three mean?"

"Don't know."

The presence shifted. Jasper received an impression so strong it almost knocked him sideways. The harbour from below. Not seeing like eyes. Feeling shape through pressure. Gate half-open. A mass of broken timber and seaweed wedged against it. The work barge behind the inner wall. One mooring line under extreme tension. Then a larger current gathering outside. Jasper gasped. Professor Elowen caught his shoulder.

"What?"

He told her.

"Big surge coming. The barge rope."

Elowen did not run out based on his words. She used a wall communication panel.

"Crowe, report from Jasper: major surge impression, work barge mooring under load. Verify."

Static. Then Crowe's voice.

"Received. Already seeing line three at maximum tension. Moving personnel farther in."

Harper stared at Jasper.

"You knew."

"The sea knew."

Important difference. Elowen stayed beside him.

"Can you tell whether the surge is natural storm movement or the presence acting?"

Jasper tried. The answer was impossible. Wind drove water. Tide drove water. The Titan-presence existed through all of it.

"Both?"

"Meaning?"

"The storm is real. But... it's doing something with it."

Elowen's face tightened. Ava said, "Redirecting?" Jasper closed his eyes. He did not reach. He observed. Pressure outside harbour. Gate obstruction. Not random. Water repeatedly striking one side. Again and again at the same angle.

"It's trying to move the blockage."

Harper blinked.

"Helping?"

Jasper shook his head.

"I don't know. It wants the channel open."

That was different. The Sea might not care about Tidefall's harbour. It might care that something blocked its flow. Ava looked at the map.

"If it sends a surge strong enough to clear the debris..."

Elowen finished.

"It may also damage the inner dock."

Jasper felt the gathering current. Huge. Not yet moving. Waiting? No. Building. Crowe's voice returned through the panel.

"All harbour personnel clear of lower platform. Work barge line three failed. Barge still held on two and four. Gate remains jammed."

Ava's eyes widened. Jasper heard the metal scream from his dream in memory. One line gone. The presence pressed harder. Three surges. Pause. A pattern. Something was coming.