Nyx
The connector fitted until somebody tried to turn it.
Nyx watched the workshop assistant press it against the open socket, stop and check the tag tied around its middle.
"It says lower return," he muttered.
The part did not appear interested in what the tag said.
She stood on the public side of the bench with the replacement-blade quote folded in her hand. She had come to ask whether waiting until after the tournament would change the fitting price.
She had not come to inspect someone else's equipment.
The assistant reached for a small tool to ease the connector into place.
Nyx looked at the open tray beside him.
The approved spare lying on top had a narrow groove down one side. The part in his hand had the same outer width, but its groove ended at a raised collar.
"Before you do that," she said. "Does the collar clear the stop?"
He looked up.
"Which stop?"
She pointed without reaching across the bench.
He turned the part.
