The cold fit was beautiful.
Tamsin slid the sleeve through its travel, felt no catch, and watched it settle at the mark. The Forge artisan beside her made the movement again with his own hand.
“Better than the drawing suggested,” he said.
“Don’t tell the drawing. It’ll want credit.”
They had begun on the afternoon of Day 430, laying out the stock, checking the bearing faces, and recording which metal belonged to each component. By the first isolated run, the bench looked less like a negotiation and more like a place where useful work might happen.
Jian supplied the agreed steady input. Felix watched the direct reading against the local return. A Forge operator held the manual stop. Tamsin watched the travel.
The first movements were clean.
Then the handle took longer to settle.
