Thanks for the translation!
Barbara is pretty interesting. The fact that they prioritize her production of soot over her abilities as a leader and personal wellbeing has bad implications for what might be happening to shadows. Especially because there is no way that Barbie and Barbara will be able to combine if Barbie is ordering her around, the personalities and power dynamic are all out of wack.
Susanna reminds me of the third floor shadow who wanted to be all over John once he revealed his soot. Could the more powerful shadows be eating others? And what does all the soot do? Some is used in the town and to power machinery, but especially after this reveal with Barbara they seem to be producing far more than they consume.