[Intro][Female and Male Duet over clean guitar, soft kick, and the three-note motif]

Alarm lights off. Server blowers low.
Water marks the wall where warnings used to go.
Every service needs a room somewhere,
Concrete, copper, water, air.

[Verse 1][Female Lead Vocal]

Morning posters curl from plaster stained with brown,
Silent monitors reflect the ceiling upside down.
Server lamps keep blinking through a plastic sheet,
Cooling water circles under scarred concrete.
GREH-ta finds a fallen badge beside a twisted rail;
MAH-ra checks the cable braid for cuts along the trail.

[Chorus][Female and Male Duet]

Down on the physical layer,
Concrete, copper, water, air.
Clouds begin in powered cables;
Promises begin with care.
The future needs a building
And somebody doing the repair.

[Verse 2][Male Lead Vocal]

A login needs a working lock before you take a seat.
A backup needs a fuel tank, tested vents, and steady heat.
A dashboard needs a sensor screwed against a wall.
Wireless screens still need a dry and level hall.
Data crossed three continents, then nearly died on four;
One corroded spindle could not shut a local door.

[Chorus][Female and Male Duet]

Down on the physical layer,
Concrete, copper, water, air.
Clouds begin in powered cables;
Promises begin with care.
The future needs a building
And somebody doing the repair.

[Instrumental Break][Clean guitar and Hammond organ trade restrained phrases over slow six-eight drums]

[Verse 3][Female and Male Alternating Vocals]

[Female Lead]
GREH-ta's keys lie on the table, scratched by years of use.

[Male Lead]
Ben's queue turns green, but green no longer counts as proof.

[Female Lead]
MAH-ra watches safe temperatures settle on the screen.

[Male Lead]
None forget what wet cables and bad records mean.

[Duet]
The building speaks in rust, in heat, in load, in weight,
Long before a dashboard marks the failure date.

[Bridge][Female and Male Duet]

No service floats in space.
A network has a place.
Ignore the hands that hold the frame,
And failure learns your name.

[Build-up][Alternating Female and Male Vocals]

[Female Lead]
GREH-ta lifts the old key ring.
MAH-ra hears the cooling sing.

[Male Lead]
Ben reroutes each plumbing call.

[Duet]
Now three departments share the wall.

[Final Chorus][Female and Male Duet with Gang Vocals]

Down on the physical layer,
Concrete, copper, water, air.
Each cloud begins inside a room;
Each promise starts down there.
The future needs a building
And somebody doing the repair.

[Outro][Female and Male Duet over one quiet unison chord]

The building holds a softer tone,
Still half-repaired, but not alone.
On Victor's desk the damage lies,
With photos and an itemized price.
