The reader failed without breaking anything dramatic enough to justify the cost.
Juno heard a short click, saw the supply current climb and cut power. A bitter smell rose from the board beneath the copying cradle. The small regulator she had spent most of the morning installing bore one dark spot at its center.
The original filament was nowhere near it. It remained in inquiry custody, supported and sealed. On the bench lay a curved substitute strip and the incomplete copy marked with the interruption from the hospital workshop. Juno had insisted on that separation. It was the only useful decision she could see clearly while looking at the ruined component.
She waited for the board to cool, checked the isolation and photographed the mark before removing anything.
Kellan arrived carrying the construction contacts she had asked for the previous evening. He stopped at the smell.
“Bad?”
“Expensive.”
“How expensive?”
