The roar of high-voltage electrical discharge died inside the IBM mainframe racks.
Above the black obsidian table, the six heavy cast-iron pneumatic valves that had been dumping black Clause-Pulp shuddered violently. The mechanical linkages jammed at exactly fifty percent open with a dull, echoing clank that rattled the light fixtures.
CLANK-SHUDDER
The thick black pulp stopped pouring. It dripped from the ceiling pipe orifices in slow, viscous globs, splashing into the rising scum around the crew’s boots.
Across the room, the massive magnetic tote-board bolted to the mahogany bulkhead gave a series of rapid, stuttering flips.
The numbers spun from sixty percent to forty percent, flickered wildly through a dozen decimal places, and then locked into position under yellow emergency indicator lamps:
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BUREAU OF SHIFT STANDARDS -- EXECUTIVE BOARDROOM VOTE
