Chapter 14 — The Star Growers

Nguyen Ha put nine used masks into nine paper bags, wrote down the receipt time and symptoms with a blue pen. She doesn't want medical data mixed into the meteorological table just because they both have time columns.

“A person coughing at 6:00 p.m. does not prove that the salt wind is at 6:00 p.m.,” Ha said as Lam looked at the board.

“But it is a sign that needs to be compared.”

"Yes. No is the conclusion."

She opened the medical station book. Over the past three days, eye irritation increased in the salt furnace area, dry cough increased in houses near the reflecting roof, but did not increase in the area behind the sand dike. One person had an underlying medical condition, two people swept dry dust, and four people worked outdoors. None of the samples stated a cause.

Lam sat opposite and did not turn on the phone. “You want to give the data to Bach?”

"I want to divide the sum, not the names. But I want him to know if the symptoms started before or after the salinity."

“Star Garden has data every fifteen minutes.”

“The medical station has data based on when people go to the doctor.”

“Two deviations.”

“Because the body is not an automatic sensor.”

Ha took a piece of paper and drew the path of a person with eye irritation: drying salt, going home, washing his face, waiting, arriving at the station. Sometimes four o'clock. She told Lam that if she used the time to go to the station to connect with the wind, she would be wrong.

“Then write down the hour your symptoms started if you remember,” Lam said.

“Many people don't remember.”

“Record approximately.”

Ha nodded. They added two columns: “starting estimate” and “certainty level of the account.”

Outside, Mien is hanging picture cards on the door. I used an eye icon, a throat icon, and a wet towel icon. People coming to the station just need to point to the picture, no need to talk long. Ha said this method helps people who can hear but are afraid of having to explain the symptoms.

A boy points to an eye shape, then points to a vibrating box. Mien nodded and took her to the filter room. I'm sorry, I didn't ask if you were sure.

“Aren't you afraid that people will use boxes like you?” Lam asked.

"Afraid. But it's better to be afraid that people won't dare to report it."

At noon, the district laboratory sent the results of a second dust sample. High sodium chloride content, organic particles from seaweed and pollen. No toxic metals. The level of irritation depends on the exposure time and the sensitive person.

Lam sent it to Bach. He asked if it was possible to put the symptom layer on the wind map. Ha agreed to only use residential clusters, not specific houses.

The result is an ambiguous pattern: the symptom site is concentrated near the lagoon, but another strip follows the material truck path. Maybe the wind carries dust, maybe cars blow away the dust. Thao Nhi said to call it "two hypotheses coexisting".

Cu doesn't like it. “The village needs to know whether to wipe the dust or avoid the roof.”

“Do both,” Ha said.

“What if there aren't enough people?”

“Prioritize the sick.”

Shut up. He was used to answers that had one direction, but medical science did not allow him to choose one cause for convenience.

In the afternoon, a message from the Thin Cloud program announced a 12-hour test of expanding the air exchange fan. The fan will increase the flow on the compactor surface, which can disperse the dust layer. There was no detailed map sent to the villagers.

Lam read and asked Bach. He didn't know when she sent the notice. He said Thin Cloud has the right to operate under the license, but channel changes may require local notification.

“What will you do?”

“Call the operator.”

“What about us?”

“Monitor before and after fan time.”

“What if salinity increases?”

"Take note."

“I just said write down.”

“Because I don't have the right to stop them yet.”

Ha listened to the call and asked if the fan caused increased dust, who would issue the warning? Bach said There must be conditions. Ha replied: "People who breathe dust don't know the word 'conditions'."

Bach sighed. “I will ask them to send the threshold.”

“Before turning on.”

“I will try.”

At Van Suong, they did not wait. Lam divided three observation groups: Choi station, Ba Mui roof and the area behind the sand dike. Ha records symptoms by hourly interval. Cu placed the camera in the direction of the lagoon. Plug in the vibration box at three locations.

The Thin Cloud Fan turns on at 4:30 p.m. The surface wind changes every ten minutes. Choi station increased salinity, Rau station stabilized, the area behind the dyke remained unchanged. A metallic smell appears in the salt furnace. No one knows whether it was a fan or a natural flow at the same time.

“Don't write 'due to fan',” Lam said.

“Write 'after the fan turns on',” Ha replied.

Mien draws two arrows: time and cause. I put a line in the middle, reminding everyone not to connect straight.

Ha called the Thin Cloud operator. They replied that the fan ran according to design, with no request to stop. Ha said someone's eyes were burning, but he was not allowed to meet the person directly responsible.

“We need to know your data,” Lam said over the loudspeaker.

“Program operational data.”

“So at least write down the turn-on time for the village.”

“It's now in the announcement.”

“Not every home received the notification.”

The call ended with a promise to return a text.

At night, Ha issued an instruction: the Thin Cloud fan is running; People with symptoms should avoid working outdoors, use a damp cloth, and do not sweep dry dust. She didn't say the fan caused dust, just the timing.

Some people blame her for making the program infamous. Ha replied: "I am protecting the patient, not judging the device."

Lam gave the aggregated data to Bach. He matched the existing satellite models before Gray Star completely disrupted them. A northwest wind band appears to coincide with the fan, but the image does not have enough resolution.

“If there were three more stations, we could split directions,” Bach said.

“Star seeds are prohibited from being released.”

"I know."

“So what do you want?”

“I want to ask for an exception.”

“Can you?”

"Unlikely."

Lam looked at the map. "Don't just ask for us. Ask for the data."

“What do you mean?”

"Allow the release of two seeds with the conditions of corridor, presence of airspace and open data. If they just say we are useful, they will consider this a test. If they say the data belongs to the village, they have to answer."

Bach im. “She wanted to put them in a position to talk about rights.”

“I want them to remember that the sky is not a monopoly.”

“This sentence does not help me get a paper.”

“But help me know what I'm asking for.”

Bach agreed to submit the proposal. He asked Lam if he was allowed, which seeds he would release. Lam says one high bead and one low bead are needed, placed outside the reflector and close to the field.

“There are people in the area near the school,” Bach said.

“Then drop it on the roof of the medical station, there is supervision.”

Ha listened and said the medical station had no space on the roof, but there was a column on the side. Measuring the rope, Kha made a plan.

That night, Ha brought the medical data to the cultural house for people to see in aggregated form. Some people asked why it was necessary to make the cough public. She said without data, they would only listen to rumors; If there are data, everyone must still respect those who do not want to be named.

Ms. Mui suggested writing "someone has a burning sensation" instead of a number. Ha agreed to let the public board use that sentence, while the internal repository kept the aggregated number.

Lam realized that a data has many suitable versions: version for healthcare, version for the community, version for models. Differences do not have to be hidden, as long as the purpose is clearly stated.

Bach message at 23:00: "I was granted a conditional exception for two counties, but the airspace was only open for 26 minutes. Need to decide before morning."

Kha slept at the factory. Mien sat next to the vibration box. Cu is fixing the anchor rope. Thao Nhi closes the map.

Lam looked at everyone, then answered Bach: "We will not release without a list of responsible people and an open database."

Bach replied after a minute: "I will send it before time."

Outside the dome, Gray Star causes real stars to flicker unusually. Van Suong doesn't know what the Thin Cloud fan did to the wind layer.

But at the medical station, the box vibrated three times.

Ha stood up before Lam.

Ha did not call for anyone to run away immediately. She looked at the health chart first, then looked at the three-beat time that appeared. Of four households in the northwest, two people reported eye irritation, one person had lung disease, and one household had not answered the phone. She assigned people to come to the site with clean water and medicine boxes, but told them not to say "it was because of the wind" before examining them.

Lam opens the V-03 and V-21 data side by side. Salinity is increasing in the ground layer, but the direction of movement is not continuous. Ha suggested closing the clinic on the lagoon side, moving the waiters to the east corridor, and keeping a spare room for anyone having difficulty breathing. That is much more specific than “monitoring the situation”.

An old lady refused to leave her chair because she was waiting to get medicine. Ha sat down next to her and explained that moving to another room was not an evacuation. The old lady asked what if nothing happened. Ha replied: "We went through a cooler hallway, with water and someone to sit with." The old lady nodded, but asked to keep the same number. Lower hold.

Mien plays Van Suong Rhythm with a vibrating box and light. A station on the lagoon side sent a slow signal, so I labeled it "unconfirmed" instead of compensating the number. Kha ran to check the source. He discovered that the connecting wire was damp, wiped it dry and waited another ten minutes. The data after that was more stable, but not identical to the station next door. Ha said that difference helps know that patients live in different layers of air.

At night, symptoms subside. There is no reason to claim Star Garden predicted a medical event. Ha wrote a report with the first sentence: "The relationship is being investigated, the cause has not been established." She added the actions taken, the number of people assisted, and those who did not show up.

Lam asked: "Are you afraid that your report will sound weak?"

Lower packed the medicine box. “I'm afraid the report sounds stronger than the truth.”

The three beats on the box vibrate off. In the medical room, people continue to monitor each other with small things: drinking water, measuring breathing rate, opening the door in the right direction, recording the time. Health data doesn't make the sky any easier to understand, but reminds Garden of Stars that every number ultimately comes back to a specific body.