Soren Bell had spent most of first year sitting near Jasper without becoming his friend. That was not an insult. Some friendships began loudly. Harper had nearly crashed into Jasper on arrival day and then behaved as though they had known each other for years by dinner. Ava had introduced herself like a tiny lawyer. Soren appeared more slowly. He sat near Jasper in History. Borrowed erasers. Returned books on time. Once, during winter, he had quietly moved Jasper's wet shoes closer to the drying vent without saying anything. By spring, Jasper knew Soren liked old machinery, hated pears and could imitate Ashcroft's disappointed sigh perfectly. They still rarely spent time alone. That changed because of a book. Soren found it in the mechanical history section. TIDAL LIFTS AND COUNTERWEIGHTS OF COASTAL SCHOOLS.

He carried it to lunch as though it were treasure. Harper looked at the cover.

"That is the worst title I have ever seen."

Soren sat down.

"You're the worst title I've ever seen."

Harper stared. Then slowly smiled.

"I like him."

Soren opened to a fold-out diagram. Tidefall's old harbour lifts had once used tide pressure and weighted shafts to move supplies up the cliff before modern levitation systems existed. Jasper leaned in.

"That's under the west service stair."

Soren nodded.

"Most of it got sealed seventy years ago."

Ava looked over.

"Why?"

"Maintenance cost. Also apparently one platform spent a whole winter going to the wrong floor."

Harper brightened.

"Can we find it?"

Ava and Jasper said, "No," together. Soren looked delighted.

"I wasn't asking."

That afternoon Jasper and Soren went to the library to copy the diagram for the Chronicle appendix. Harper had handball practice. Ava was with the safety-project group. For the first time in weeks, Jasper walked somewhere without either of them. It felt strange for exactly three minutes. Then Soren started explaining counterweights. Jasper forgot to feel strange. They sat by an east window where the Sea was barely visible. Soren drew the old lift shaft. Jasper copied labels. Neither mentioned Water. That was unusual too. Most students who spent time alone with Jasper eventually asked. What did it feel like? Did he hear words? Could he make waves? Did he think the Sea knew their names? Soren asked none of them.

After forty minutes Jasper said, "You can ask." Soren looked up.

"Ask what?"

"About the Sea."

"Why?"

Jasper blinked. "Everyone does."

"I don't really care."

That answer was so unexpected Jasper laughed. Soren frowned.

"I mean, I care if you're in danger. But I don't know what I'd do with the answer."

He tapped the diagram.

"I can do something with this."

Jasper looked at the page.

"You really like lifts."

"They're excellent."

"Harper was right about the title."

"Both of you are uncultured."

They spent another hour finding photographs of the old system. One showed children from more than a century ago standing beside a wooden platform piled with flour sacks. They looked exactly like Tidefall students and nothing like Tidefall students. Different uniforms. Different hair. Same expressions. One boy in the back was making rabbit ears behind another student's head. Jasper laughed. Soren pointed.

"Proof first-years have always been terrible."

On the walk back to residence, they passed a west window. The Sea was visible beyond it. Jasper felt nothing unusual. He did not check. Soren kept talking about whether a restored lift could run without magic. Jasper listened. That evening Harper asked where he had been.

"Library."

"With Ava?"

"Soren."

Harper looked offended.

"You have other friends?"

Ava did not look up from her book.

"This is healthy."

"I don't like it."

"Also healthy."

Jasper threw a sock at Harper. She caught it and threw it back. Later, when Room Fourteen went quiet, Jasper thought about how much of his year had been shaped by three people standing together. He loved that. But Thorne had been right about one thing. Being needed could become easier than asking other people to carry things. Maybe being a trio could become easier than remembering they were three separate people. Soren's book had contained no Sea mystery. No Deepwater clue. No ancient presence. Jasper had loved the afternoon anyway. That felt important.