The Heart at night felt like a cathedral after the choir went home - lights down two notches, fans whispering, the smell of warm metal and old coffee hanging around because nobody had the heart to tell it to leave.
Saffi shuffled out of the prototype bay like a ghost who had remembered she was mortal. Her slate was hugged to her ribs, hair wild from the headset, cheeks pink from concentration more than heat. She paused at the threshold the way she always did, glance ping-ponging between the sign that read SAFETY AT POWER DOWN and Raizen, still bent over the work table.
"I logged everything" she said, voice soft and frayed at the edges. "Torque map, line creep, the - um - the oscillation thing."
"Resonance" Raizen murmured without looking up. He had a driver between two fingers and a spool canted open like a mouth on the table. "It's still too heavy and not powerful enough."
