Chapter 14 — The City Has No Smell

At night, the wind does not completely silence the tree branches. It makes the large branches of the tree not move, so that people pay attention to each small leaf shaking close to the wall. The Reed River entered a long-lasting heat inversion from the afternoon, but the news only recorded "weak winds, good visibility". On satellite images, the city is so clear that it does not appear dangerous.

Huyen sat in the control room with Quynh, looking at the data by the minute. Station 3 reports low odor. Station 7 north is also low. Fixed sensors do not exceed the threshold. But An sent a map: the red zone spread along the embankment, points appeared after 5:20 p.m.

“I don't want to call this an incident,” Quynh said.

“I haven't called yet.”

“But if we send out a warning, people will call instead.”

Huyen looked at the "symptoms" column. Twelve people reported dry throat, four had headaches, and two used asthma medication. There is no odor in most of the description. Van confirmed each person, also recording sixty-seven asymptomatic people in the same area.

“We have two jobs,” Huyen said. "Monitor people with symptoms and check for low air layer. No need to declare cause."

Quynh nodded and asked Tung to open the mobile stations.

Tung took the team to the southern dormitory area. He carried paper strips, a personal meter, a heat lamp and a walkie-talkie. A worker on duty called back that the system was fine. Tung answered: "What device is it stable, at what height?" The other person is silent.

In the dormitory, people opened the windows because it was hot. No one smelled it. A baby had trouble sleeping, an old man said his chest was heavy, and a man said everyone was doing too much. Ha called for instructions: close the door near the embankment, turn on the filter fan in circulation mode, do not use an oil stove, call back if you have difficulty breathing. She didn't say "poison gas".

An stood outside the yard, pointing towards the warehouse row. "The wind does not pass. It lies."

Tung hung paper strips three stories high. The first floor presses down, the second floor almost stands, the third floor vibrates towards the river. The lower class is trapped between buildings. Station 3 on the warehouse roof measures a higher layer, so it does not receive changes underfoot.

“What if we put sensors in the yard?” Huyen asked over the walkie-talkie.

“Measurements will vary. But need to check for interference from vehicles and hot walls.”

“Order both.”

Tung did not ask further. He placed one machine at head height and one machine on the roof. At the same time, Clean Class increases the dose at station 3 according to the compensation cycle. Odor does not appear. Some people say their throat is drier.

Quynh looked at the screen. “The system is doing exactly what it was programmed to do.”

Huyen replied: “And what it is programmed for may not be enough for tonight.”

“If it's turned off, the smell can build up.”

“If turned on, people may not know which areas to avoid.”

They don't have clean options. Quynh asked the center to issue a neutral notice: "The Nam Ben area is monitoring air conditions close to the ground. Limit outdoor activities near the embankment, keep medication as prescribed, wait for update after thirty minutes." No smell, no pollution, no panic.

Some callers asked why there should be restrictions if the indicator is green. Ha explained that warnings are based on many sources, including symptoms and temperature inversions. One person asked if the Clean Layer was broken. Ha said there is no conclusion yet.

Tu called from the warehouse. He said people who have lost their sense of smell in the dormitory have no way of knowing other than their physical sensations. He suggested distributing the same symbol for "smellless tracking", so that people who can't hear the long words still understand.

Mien of Van Suong Not here, Ha uses the symbol drawn by An: a crossed-out nose next to a closed window. They put it on the neighborhood electronic board. Quynh does not like the symbol because she is afraid that people will understand it "has no smell". Huyen suggested adding a picture of a hand placed on the chest and the line "body monitoring".

At 20:11, machine data at the yard increased a short peak. Roof sensor unchanged. Tung called back, his voice more urgent than usual.

"The peak is 1.5 meters high. Not seen on the roof station."

“Could it be interference?”

“Maybe. But the three subs dance together for two minutes.”

Huyen requested manual sampling. Tung used a sealed bag to walk along the hallway. Odorless. A worker standing near the parking lot had stinging eyes, but the person next to him had no symptoms. Ha sent a medical team, not a fire truck. Every action is recorded with a degree of certainty.

Quynh received a call from the city asking not to use the phrase "unusual atmosphere" on the public board because it could affect tomorrow's announcement ceremony. She held the phone and looked at Huyen.

“They wanted me to write ‘local weather conditions’.”

“Is it true?”

“Partly.”

“Then write the rest too.”

Quynh did not hang up the phone. She told the line: "I wouldn't call it toxic gas without knowing it. But I also wouldn't call it simple weather when the low-level engine and symptoms change at the same time."

The line objected. Quynh let them talk, then asked to submit the request in writing.

Huyen looked at her. “You were just responsible for a difficult question.”

"I know."

"Why?"

“Because if I avoid that question, others will suffer the consequences without knowing where to turn to ask me.”

At 10 p.m., the wind changed. The strip of paper on the first floor went up, the smell of mud and oil poured in from the embankment. Clean Class did not increase the dose because the sensor was set to a low level, but residents began to report a clear sewer smell. They were more frightened than when there was no smell, but this time they knew the source was on the embankment and knew which door to close.

An sent a new map. He changed the red area into horizontal lines, marking the moment the wind changed. “Not a cloud,” he wrote. “It's a class that lies and fails.”

Van synthesizes symptoms. The number of new cases did not increase after the wind changed, but the smell returned, making many people nauseous. She reminded the group not to use discomfort level as the sole indicator of danger.

Huyen enters data. There is a correlation between low layer peak, dose reduction period, symptoms and standing wind time. There are no chemical samples sufficient to indicate the source. She wrote an interim report, putting the first line:

“Warnings are based on observed conditions, not conclusions about cause.”

Quynh read and signed the release. Reed River received a notice with neither the word "clean" nor the word "poison". It said people should limit going out because the low air layer was being monitored, and gave instructions on how to take medicine, where medical stations were located and when they would be updated.

The windy night ended before dawn. No one was hospitalized as a result of the event, but three people were kept under further observation. Station No. 3 was not found to be broken. It was concluded that it was not enough to see the altitude at which people were breathing.

Tung brought the auxiliary machine home with mud on his hands. He told Huyen: "Average now doesn't lie. It just answers another question."

Huyen replied: "The people's question is not about the average hour."

"I know."

On the electronic board, the crossed nose icon is still lit. A man who had lost his sense of smell called and asked if it meant the air was safe. The staff on duty responds according to the script new: “No. It means relying on other guidelines and monitoring the body.”

The city had a symbol for what I didn't know. It's a small step, but on windy nights, a small step can be the difference between someone who closes the door on time and someone who keeps the door open waiting for the city to say more clearly.

After the heat inversion, Huyen and Tung went to check each lower floor machine. A machine located in the yard of a collective house was moved under the roof by people because they were afraid of rain, causing it to measure differently from the original conditions. Tung doesn't blame. He asked the switchman what he wanted to avoid. That person said they were afraid the equipment would break before anyone arrived.

“Next time, there must be a pre-designed cover,” Tung said.

Huyen added, "Protecting equipment is part of the method." If people correct the location themselves because of practical needs, the data will not automatically be wrong. It just needs to record the changed condition.

Van called back the households that reported symptoms. The three people were no longer uncomfortable after the wind changed. One person still had a headache even though the area was clear. She doesn't remove that person from the board just because the environmental hypothesis is weak. There may be other causes, and medical attention must continue to monitor.

Quynh sent a public update, including sixty-seven asymptomatic people. Huyen checked the layout and said this number should be next to the number of people with symptoms, not hidden in the appendix. A media officer is worried that people will think the warning is unnecessary. Huyen said people have the right to know that risks are not evenly distributed.

The following night, An did not use the crossed nose symbol alone. He added a clock mark and a wind direction arrow. Viewers understand the symbol is not a permanent condition. It has an expiration time. Huyen realized that a good warning system must know how to say "reviewable", otherwise the warning will become a new background noise.

On the map, the border between the two neighborhoods is still shaking. But this time, the data layers are allowed to change positions without anyone calling it a contradiction. They show that the city is living in many heights, many bodies and many times at the same time.