The second instrument arrived in a gray case with a calibration certificate and a list of components.
Cho read the list at the community room table while Sera compared it with the first device’s specifications. The new instrument had a different sensor and a separate local recorder. Its clock module came from another supplier, but both devices could connect to the same regional time service during setup.
“We can set this one against a separate reference and keep it off that service,” Cho said. “That removes one shared dependency. It doesn’t prove there are none left.”
Kellan checked the case and the mounting bracket. The bracket fit the same post used for the first observation, but he did not reuse the old fasteners until the site officer confirmed they were sound. One bolt had a worn thread. He replaced it and recorded the change.
Residents had received the written update from the first observation. The neighborhood representative opened the meeting by reading the main points: a pulse had been recorded below the stop threshold, a distant gate had opened around the same period, and the missing interval’s cause remained unknown.
The woman who had asked about creatures held up the new handout. “This says the new device is from a separate supplier. Does that mean it can’t have the same problem?”
