Their final supervised lower-harbour visit happened at low tide. Jasper had seen the docks in rain. Storm. Morning fog. Bright winter sun. He had never seen them this exposed. Water pulled back from the lower wall, revealing black stone steps usually hidden beneath the surface. Barnacles crusted old posts. Green weed clung to the base of the repaired tide gate. The work barge lost during the storm had been recovered weeks earlier and now sat farther along the harbour with one fresh section of railing that did not match the rest. Professor Elowen led the group down.

"This is a maintenance lesson, not an invitation to lick barnacles."

Theo lowered his hand. Harper stared at him.

"Why was that your question?"

"It wasn't."

"Your hand was up."

"Separate matter."

The class split into groups. Jasper, Harper and Ava were assigned to inspect the new equipment bays and compare them with the old lower-dock storage system. Ava loved this. Harper survived it. Jasper kept looking at the gate. Not because Water called him. Because the storm had changed the place inside his memory. He remembered adults crossing the bridge. Ava counting surge spacing. Harper pulling frightened students away from shelter doors. The moment Jasper had shown the Sea an empty bridge and then waited. The surge arriving by its own choice. Now the gate moved smoothly. Ordinary water passed through. No emergency. A maintenance worker waved from the control platform. Jasper waved back.

"You all right?" Harper asked.

"Yeah."

She waited. He smiled.

"Actually yeah."

That seemed to satisfy her. At the far end of the lower dock stood the old Deepwater marker. Not the exact original. A replacement plate showed where earlier safety boundaries had once been. Students were allowed to view it from behind the modern line. Elowen explained without drama.

"The old lower boundary was here. After Deepwater, the supervised zone moved back. Later engineering work changed it again."

Benji asked, "Why keep the marker?"

"So future people know the older layout existed."

Ava nodded approvingly. Harper whispered, "You have a fan club." Ava ignored her. Jasper felt Water while Elowen spoke. A deep cool awareness. It came from beyond the harbour mouth. He looked outward. Low tide exposed more rock than usual. Small waves folded around the entrance. Water noticed the group. Or Jasper. Or the place. He could not tell. A faint image touched him. The same harbour. Older. Different railings. A child standing too close. Then the impression vanished. Jasper's heart sped. He did not chase it. Elowen noticed.

"Safety relevant?"

The phrase had become routine.

"No. Maybe memory."

"Do you want to record it?"

Jasper thought.

"Yes. But as uncertain."

Ava looked pleased. They wrote it after class. POSSIBLE IMPRESSION DURING LOW-TIDE HARBOUR VISIT. IMAGE RESEMBLED OLDER LOWER DOCK. NO DANGER OR INSTRUCTION FELT. SOURCE UNCERTAIN: COULD BE SEA RESPONSE, JASPER'S MEMORY OF ARCHIVE IMAGES, OR COMBINATION. That was the whole report. No one opened a sealed archive because of it. No one asked Jasper to recreate it. Later, the class helped wash salt from equipment and carry field boxes upstairs. Harper took the heaviest box. Ava took the inventory sheet. Jasper carried two smaller cases. At the top stair he turned once. The harbour looked tiny below. First year had pulled him toward that place again and again. Forbidden door. Old markers. Warnings. Storm. Year Two. Year Three.

Now he was leaving it after an authorized school lesson carrying a box of measuring ropes. That felt like a better ending for the docks than another mystery. Next year he would still be too young to go there alone. Then Year Four would change the rule. At seven, three years sounded enormous. Harper reached the courtyard first and put down her box.

"I'm coming back here the exact morning we're allowed without staff."

Ava said, "That is three years away."

"Calendar."

"You cannot calendar an event three years in advance."

Harper looked at her. Ava stopped.

"Actually, you can. Do not."

Harper grinned. Jasper knew she absolutely would.