THE FILM IN HER LAP

The rod gave a short beep when the first light touched the mat. The envoy woke on the step, her head slumped on her left shoulder and her bandaged hand pressed against her belly. During the night, the blue line had crossed the buriti fibres, vanished under the dust and come back in separate points, as if looking for air between the bodies. Luzia had been awake for some time. She counted the bright squares climbing the mat, missed one, went back to the start. Ilva remained seated by the door, her back against the wood. The occupant had slept little in the corridor, his good leg bent and the shoe still on his injured foot. When he shifted, the sole scraped the floor and the envoy opened her eyes. The measurement has completed the interval, she said. The rod projected three zones over the yard. Technical passage. Temporary domestic use. Unclassified area. The mat fell within the second. The kitchen appeared split down the middle. The spot where the occupant kept his bag fell in the unclassified strip. Luzia got up before the woman lowered her arm. She took the reflective film she kept rolled up near the partition and went out to the porch. The film had dust stains and a torn fold near the end. She opened it over her head, searching for the sky between the wires and the ducts fixed to the façade. It'll come over today, she said. Who, asked the envoy. The census drone. It comes along the upper street, drops down near the bar and gets the whole roof. Luzia stretched the film until it quivered. If I show up, the house shows up too. Ilva looked at the low roof. The old tiles had a dark band of damp where they met the wall, where the vapour from the towers clung before rising. The roof would bear a child's weight, not the curiosity of an adult behind her. Get down, she said. Luzia had already set her foot on the stool. The occupant came out of the corridor, holding the partition to steady himself. The pain in his heel brought a quick tremor to his mouth. He did not ask for help. He just stood between the girl and the stool. The envoy checked the rod. The Companhia Arco Norte needed to close the strip before the shift change. If she marked the mat as continuous domestic presence, the proposed line would have to skirt the kitchen and would lose direct access to the service cabinet. If she declared temporary use, the operation could treat the yard as available passage after three cycles. The woman turned her forearm. The cut under the bandage had left a dry stain on the cloth. The house has to prove continuous use, she said. With the titleholder present. Antônio is away, said Ilva. Absence does not suspend the reading. She touched the first blue zone. The projection opened into small data. There was an offer of preferential residence for the residents and a future charge for territorial occupation. The utility company would charge for the water, the Companhia Arco Norte would charge for the space, each with its own clean word for the same ground. Luzia got down from the stool. She went to the kitchen and came back with the cloth that covered the flour. A thin layer remained on the cloth, dry, caught in the folds. She shook the cloth over the mat. The powder fell in a crooked line, mingling with the light. Going to eat there, asked the envoy. She is, answered the occupant. Ilva looked at him. The answer had hung in the air before she could stop it. His tie already cost three units of preparation that the house had no way to produce. His presence in the yard would serve the measurement, but the Companhia Arco Norte could also include him as a territorial occupant and pull the charge onto his body. The envoy brought the rod close to the flour on the floor. The device recognised organic matter, food use, shared surface. Then it asked for bodily confirmation from a responsible party. The occupant held out his hand. Ilva caught his wrist. Her hand still had the dirty bandage between the fingers. You're already bound to the water, she said. He freed his arm slowly. The blue light struck his face and split the shadows under his eyes in two. Bring the grey box. Luzia gathered up the empty cloth. She did not want the conversation to grow. She wound the reflective film around her arm and went to the edge of the porch, where the line crossed the shade of the murici. I'll sit too, she said. The envoy watched the two of them. The rod showed the time left before the shift change. Eleven minutes. The continuity record needed one more adult body or an authorisation from the absent titleholder. The house had one adult available, but she knew Ilva could not authenticate anything during the custody. The occupant dragged the grey box from the corridor to the door and turned it on its side. He sat on it carefully, leaving his injured foot raised. Luzia settled on the floor, the film in her lap. Ilva brought the low stool and set it beside the mat, without sitting down. The envoy read the three places. The device drew white dots over each body. When it reached the empty stool, it opened a question. Occupation interrupted. The woman waited. Ilva kept looking at the stool. There was room for her. There was also the notification that would make her part of the water integration if she laid her palm on the confirmation. The Companhia Arco Norte would call it resident enrolment. The utility company would bill it later as a stability adjustment. Luzia tapped the mat twice with the rolled film. The dry sound caught Ilva's attention. The stool is still empty, said the girl. The envoy raised the rod. Without confirmation, the use is irregular. I can classify it as provisional occupation and send it for review. Does that hold the strip, asked the occupant. It holds for three cycles. Then the Companhia asks for the titleholder's presence or a transfer of responsibility. Ilva sat on the stool. She did not touch the projected field. The rod recorded the shift in weight, the distance between the bodies, the flour on the mat, the child's staying. The envoy chose provisional occupation. The blue line withdrew from the kitchen and stayed fixed to the yard, skirting the shade of the murici. A new requirement appeared on the household panel. Antônio was to appear and declare who lived in the house before the end of the third cycle. Luzia lifted the film above her head and ran to the back of the yard, looking for a way up to the roof.