[Intro]
[Five-beat drum figures imitate a stiff mechanical lever.]

[Verse 1: Mara]
I print the maps before the printer loses feed,
I mark the valves in pencil, not the colors on the screen.
A ring of keys, a copper lamp, a radio and gloves,
The oldest tools are suddenly the tools the city trusts.
The remote panel tells me every circuit is contained,
The floor beneath the panel hums with unreported strain.
I leave the server room unlocked; there’s nothing left to steal,
The breach already owns the code—I need the things it cannot feel.

[Chorus: Mara]
Manual override, hands where the software lied,
Manual override, steel lever, human guide.
When the remote command says “open,” cut the order at its side,
Manual override—keep the living grid alive.
Manual override.

[Verse 2: Mara]
The motorway is empty under red conflicting signs,
A hundred silent vehicles stand stranded in their lines.
The sirens call from every block, though no one names the cause,
An ambulance rolls slowly through the uncontrolled crossroads.
At junction nine, the streetlights flash three notes in falling red,
The same descending pattern that has followed every thread.
I pass the station forecourt where the spilled fuel stains the stone,
Then hear the hospital ask how much time remains unknown.

[Pre-Chorus: Mara]
Paper map and painted gate,
Analog hands that show the weight.
A system built to work alone
Must learn again what hands have known.

[Chorus: Mara]
Manual override, hands where the software lied,
Manual override, steel lever, human guide.
When the remote command says “open,” cut the order at its side,
Manual override—keep the living grid alive.
Manual override.

[Drum Break]
[Bass and drums repeat the five-beat lever rhythm while the guitars fall silent.]

[Bridge: Mara]
The badge reader at the fence
Flashes green without consent.
The gate unlocks before my hand—
I kill the motor, cross the land.

[Breakdown: Mara]
Grab the handle.
Check the plate.
Trust the number, mark the line.
When the network speaks—lock it out.

[Final Chorus: Mara]
Manual override, hands where the software lied,
Manual override, now the city has a guide.
I will meet the stolen signal where the fuel and feeders bind,
Manual override—put the human back inside.
If the system will not listen, then the system is denied—
Manual override.

[Outro]
I pass beneath the floodlights.
The tanks stand hot and wide.
The radio says, “Mara—
The entire grid just spiked.”
