The Echo Hallway

Creative Mother Goat paced the CMG Fortress atrium, past shiny statues of caped artists and paint-splattered heroes.

“Okay, team,” she said, tapping her phone. A tiny recorder app blinked. “New gadget: sound-catcher. It helps me study alarms without guessing.”

Cloud bounced on her sneakers. “Can it catch my laugh?”

Bran snorted. “It will overload.”

Creative Mother Goat grinned and held the phone up. “Three, two—”

A soft electronic ping came from a hallway speaker.

Quiet Purl, half-hidden behind Saffron’s teal jacket, made the exact same ping with his mouth. Same pitch. Same timing.

Moss’s red cap tilted as he stared. “How did he do that?”

Quiet Purl’s gray wool puffed as he shrank back. “It’s… nothing.”

Creative Mother Goat stepped closer, gentle. “Say ‘nothing’ again.”

Quiet Purl copied her voice perfectly: “Say ‘nothing’ again.”

Pebble’s whistle swung as she gasped.

A wrist screen on Creative Mother Goat’s suit flashed: CITY GATE SYSTEM—maintenance window moved up.

From outside, metal clanked, heavy and fast—

Wet Shoes, Sharp Beeps

Metal clanked closer.

Creative Mother Goat dashed out of CMG Fortress with her cape snapping.

“Stay tight,” she said.

The sidewalk turned to the gate plaza, where puddles shivered under the city’s tall screens. A shoemaker’s cart sat on a dry patch. A smart woman with short hair lifted a boot and groaned.

“Not today,” she muttered. “I am Mina Stitch. Nobody slips near my cart.”

A speaker on the huge robot gate boomed, “Emergency lock in ten.”

Bran’s tool belt bounced as he ran. “Ten what?”

“Seconds,” Saffron said, eyes on her tablet.

Creative Mother Goat raised her phone. The sound-catcher app showed a red bar. She played back the last ping, then tried her calm command voice.

The gate answered, “Invalid source.”

A metal arm swung down like a fast shovel.

“Whoa!” Cloud squeaked, splashing backward.

Creative Mother Goat grabbed her own cape before the arm could snag it.

Quiet Purl, the small gray humanoid sheep in a tan utility vest, stood so close his wool brushed her glove.

His mouth opened.

Then he shut it.