THE INSPECTION RULER

The transparent reservoir woke with a film of water at the bottom, too thin to cover Antônio's fingernail. The cartridge fins vibrated behind the bar wall. The return tube ran close to the window and ended in the service cabinet, where the collected water would go back to the heat of the machines. Antônio set the travel container beside the reservoir. He opened the seal, looked at the two-finger mark he had left the day before, closed it again. On the bar panel, his son's presence had persisted since the small hours as a pale dot, without voice. Ilva arrived before the freight route raised dust on the road. She carried the cold mirror tucked under her blouse and stopped in front of the new tube. The short band on her leg left a dark mark above her sandal. Going to send it, asked Antônio. He brought his mouth close to the panel. I'll come if you want to see me. The sentence appeared transcribed, clean, offering immediate sending. Antônio read to the end. Below, the platform asked him to link the message to the bar's thermal reading, to improve delivery priority. Don't send it like that, he said. The team's arrival showed in the street as a long shadow under the sun. Sales came in front, with two utility company installers behind him. One of them carried a narrow box against his chest. His name was Breno, he did consumption checks for the utility company and chewed the inside corner of his mouth while he looked at the meters fixed to the façade. Sales came in without asking for water. He tilted his face toward the panel, which recognised his iris. The demonstration is active, he said. The efficiency confirmation is missing. The installer opened the box. Inside was a reading piece, small, with a luminous band that pulsed between green and yellow. Breno fastened the piece to the tube coming out of the cartridge. The screws went into the metal with dry clicks. Antônio saw his son's dot shrink on the screen. What does that measure, he asked. Recirculation, answered Sales. Recovered energy, reused vapour, environmental balance of the commercial point. The word environmental hung in the heat of the kitchen. Outside, a white caterpillar was crossing the low leaf of the buriti. It stopped at the part covered in dust from the pit, curled its body, went back along the same line. The plants of the street had already learned to offer less surface to the dust. Ilva crouched in front of the reservoir. She took a short inspection ruler from her pocket and measured the accumulated film. Then she held the cold mirror in the shadow of the tank, opened the parallel ledger and recorded the height, the time, the temperature shown on the cartridge and the interval between one drop and the next. Sales followed her movement. That doesn't go in the incident report, he said. It goes where it needs to, answered Ilva. Breno finished the fastening. The piece lit green. The panel projected a confirmation over the counter. Domestic efficiency validated. Antônio's authentication was pending. He read the small lines. The bar would declare that the condensed water served the establishment and that the thermal reading did not interfere with the household's consumption. In exchange, the utility company would recalculate two units of the care charge. This water's no use for anything here, said Antônio. It serves the equipment that sustains the operation, answered Sales. Sales ran his finger along the green band of the piece. On the high road, a truck went by carrying concentrate out of the valley. The wheels raised a pale mist over the low grasses. The mineral would go on to magnets, the magnets would go on to servers, and the servers would keep asking the Lajes for a share that no one in the bar could drink. Antônio pulled the travel container against his chest. On the panel, his son's dot blinked once. If I authenticate, the message gets there. It gets there with priority, said Sales. And if I don't authenticate. The queue may vary according to network availability. Ilva closed the screen. The device had stored four measurements. Ilva closed the device under her palm. She showed Antônio the dark screen, without exposing the lines. You can demand a review of the reading, she said. If they say this supplies the house. Sales looked at her bag, then at the tube. Demanding isn't receiving, he answered. Antônio touched the ready message. I'll come if you want to see me. He took his hand away before sending. His son's presence went out for three seconds and came back smaller, as if someone had shut a door on the other side. He turned the panel toward Sales. I don't authenticate efficiency, he said. I want you to record the refusal with the message. Sales took a moment. The refusal opened a new band. Personal communication linked to operational disagreement. Breno lowered his eyes to the green piece on the tube. Antônio pressed his face to the panel. The message went out without priority. His son's dot stayed lit, but it no longer promised to wait. Ilva recorded in the parallel ledger the refusal, the time of sending and the height of the water the bar could not use. The new piece went on reading the heat of the kitchen.