It was an old joke among the Runners. In a base-3 system, a 3 didn't exist; it just meant you’d carried over into a new level of chaos.
According to the BASE3 framework, "Hot" lead content should be direct and product-focused:
He heaved the wheel. It was stiff, the metal expanded by the intense heat within. With a screech that sounded like a dying animal, the hatch cracked open. A wave of heat rolled out—not the dry heat of a fire, but a wet, suffocating blanket of superheated steam.