Dr. Nordin had placed the damaged frame on a stand before Eli entered the assessment room.
It was a narrow rectangle of metal, no taller than his forearm, with one corner darkened by an old weld. A technician stood beside a load meter and a tray of tools. Nora sat at the table near the door, reviewing the written scope they had received after the preliminary interview.
“Before we begin,” she said, “the record should show that Mr. Voss has received the test conditions and may stop if he identifies an immediate safety concern.”
Nordin confirmed it for the recording. “The technician may also stop at any time. We won’t ask you to handle a load whose rating we haven’t established.”
Eli placed his bag beside the chair. His phone was in a sealed pouch on the table, as the assessment rules required. Nora had negotiated for emergency messages to be delivered by a staff member if they reached the office. He had given Tessa the office number as well as his own.
The first task involved observation. Nordin asked him to examine a row of sealed containers and describe any differences he could detect without opening them. Some had ordinary labels; others were blank. The technician recorded the time and Eli’s answers.
