The first sweeping arm crossed the bridge without touching the rails.
It moved slow enough to insult them. The weighted end swung from left to right, cleared the frost ridge between the rails, and returned to its slot. The second arm followed from the opposite side. Then the third. Then the fourth, fifth, and sixth, each one crossing a different section of the bridge.
Blue watched the full pattern once without speaking.
JJ watched it with increasing offense in her stance.
"The bridge owns six metal brooms and waited until after the proof strikes to mention them," JJ said. "I want that noted in whatever complaint survives us."
Rusuf stood near the receiver with his sword low. The burr on the flat caught a bit of frost, then lost it when the next burst of air came from the side vents.
"They clear debris before freight reaches the bridge," he said. "The problem is that our freight is glass and old bone."
"Also us walking beside the case across the bridge," Ty said. "I am starting to object when rooms forget that part."
The case pulled toward the bridge again. Not hard. Enough to make the front wheels touch the start of the three narrow rails. Ty kept his good palm against the frame and felt the rail wait for the sweeps to finish a cycle.
The arms moved in order, one, three, and five from the left, then two, four, and six from the right.
The side vents puffed after each sweep, blowing loose frost into the gap below.
"The arms are timed to clear the wheel path," Blue said. "If the case enters at the wrong part, a weighted end hits the glass side."
"How wrong is wrong for the case and our bones?" JJ asked. "Because the case loves entering places at the worst possible part."
Blue counted again with Marcus’s bit tapping against her palm.
"There are six sweeps, then one quiet breath before the pattern repeats," she said. "The case needs to move one rail section per quiet gap."
Ty looked across the bridge and counted the sections.
Six sections. Six arms. Three rails. No floor.
The case had more length than any one section. If the front cleared one arm, the middle could still be under another. The old body inside the glass shifted forward, and the straps gave their small tired clicks.
"We cannot move it one section at a time safely," Ty said. "The case is too long for that pattern."
Rusuf nodded while watching the arms reset themselves.
"Then we move with the sweep rather than between sweeps," he said. "Let each arm clear before the wheels arrive."
JJ stared at the arms and looked offended.
"You want us to follow the broom across the death bridge," she said. "I dislike when the correct answer sounds like a janitor wrote it."
"A worker probably did write that answer first," Blue said. "That may be the only reason it works."
The rail gave a low click under the case.
The bridge had finished another cycle. The quiet breath opened. The case rolled forward by itself, slow but committed. Ty tightened his hold and walked with it. JJ moved to the left side. Blue took the rear guide. Rusuf stepped onto the bridge first, blade angled toward the nearest arm hinge.
The first arm swept across the bridge while Rusuf held up one hand.
The arm crossed in front of him and cleared frost from the left rail. As it returned, he stepped over the swept path and guided the case forward with two fingers against the front guide.
"After the arm returns, front wheels move first," he said. "Do not rush the middle glass through the sweep."
Ty felt the front wheels settle into the first section.
The second arm came from the right side.
JJ leaned back as the weighted end passed close enough to brush loose hair from her cheek. She kept her hands on the case frame and waited until the arm returned.
"That arm and I are not friends after that cheek pass," she said. "Continue before I name it something rude aloud."
The case moved into the next bridge section.
The third arm swept from the left before the front cleared the second section. Blue sucked in air through her teeth. The weighted end crossed toward the case glass, close enough for Ty to see a line of old rubber along its edge.
The arm was padded along the edge, which made it worse somehow.
"Padded impact arm along the bridge path ahead," Ty said. "Worker safety was apparently allowed to have jokes."
"Padded means it hits often enough to need padding," Blue said. "I hate useful conclusions while crossing bridges today."
Rusuf slid his blade under the third arm’s hinge and lifted a fraction. The weighted end rose just high enough to pass over the lower metal band of the case rather than the glass. It returned to its slot with a heavy click.
"Third hinge is loose enough to lift briefly," Rusuf said. "It can be lifted, but not held safely."
"Add that to our collection of almost help," JJ said. "We are rich in almost and poor in comfort."
They moved through the fourth sweep with the case level.
The bridge shook under them for reasons beyond the arms.
The growl below had changed. The lower chamber pulled air through all six side vents at once. The little puffs became a rotating draft that moved around the bridge in a circle. Frost lifted from the rails and spun above the gap.
Blue looked at the vents, then at the arms.
"The sweeps are feeding the side vents with each pass," she said. "Each arm clears a path and opens its vent wider."
"Six arms and six vents working together under us," Ty said. "The room is building wind under the case."
The fifth arm swept from the left and came back faster than the others.
JJ caught the case frame before the wind could nudge it right. Ty felt the rail under the front wheels lighten. Not enough to lift, but enough to make every wheel less committed to the track.
"The case is losing weight on the rails now," Ty said. "The wind is lifting from below the bridge."
"Wind lifting glass over open air is bad as a full sentence," JJ said. "I need no poetry there from anyone nearby."
Rusuf looked across the remaining distance and saw one section left before the far side.
The sixth arm waited on the right, heavier than the others, with a wider weighted end and a vent slot directly under its arc.
"The sixth sweep will open the full draft," Rusuf said. "If we stop here, the wind may lift the rear before the front locks."
"Then we follow the sixth arm all the way out," Blue said. "Front wheels first, rear wheels before the draft peaks."
Ty pressed his shoulder into the case and felt the old body shift with the rail.
"On the sixth return, we move the whole case together," he said. "We move the whole case, no pause at all."
JJ planted her feet on the wet rail ties.
"I officially hate this bridge more than the previous bridge," she said. "That is a competitive category with strong entries."
The sixth arm swept across the rails in a heavy arc.
Wind tore upward from the gap in a hard spiral.
Rusuf moved first, sword across the front guide. Ty pushed from the claimant side with his good shoulder. JJ pulled from the left. Blue drove the rear guide forward with both hands.
The sixth arm returned, and the case rolled.
The wind caught under the glass and tried to take it.
For three steps, none of the wheels sounded like they touched rail.
Then the front wheels slammed into the far lock.
Rusuf hooked the guide with his blade and pulled down. Ty shoved until his shoulder burned white-hot. JJ dragged the left side through the last foot. Blue rammed the rear guide over the final joint.
The case landed on the far receiver with all wheels down.
Behind them, all six arms swept at once.
The bridge filled with a rotating howl that shook every cable.
The service plate on the far side warmed under Rusuf’s boot and revealed the next worker line.
The worker line read Whirl wind of Six.