The engineer's finger hovered over the start control long enough that the room's hum felt louder than it was.
Elena didn't rush him. She watched the screen and the machine the way she watched a line before a run—waiting for the first error to show itself, not hoping it wouldn't.
"Hold," Victor said, calm but sharp.
The engineer froze.
Victor stepped closer to the panel and pointed at the top right of the interface where a status tile sat in grey.
"Logging," he said. "It says armed, not active."
Jun leaned in. "That's a software state."
Victor didn't argue. "And it's the difference between a test and an unrepeatable story."
Timothy didn't react. He stayed by the cabinet, hands at his sides, letting them do what he'd brought them here to do.
Elena looked at the engineer. "Don't start until Victor sees 'active.'"
The engineer nodded and moved his hand away.
