Saffi arrived at the lab at exactly seven in the morning.
She'd slept five hours, showered with her eyes closed, and eaten half a rice ball on the walk over because her stomach was already doing calculations and didn't want to be interrupted. Her slate was charged. Her headset was clean. She had a list of seventeen items to check on the drum calibration and she was going to check all seventeen before Raizen arrived at -
Raizen was asleep on the lab bench.
Not on the stool. On the work bench. He'd cleared a section of workspace by lazily pushing the tools to one side - wrenches, calipers, a spool of test wire, two empty water bottles - folded his arms on the cleared surface and put his head down. His jacket was bunched under his cheek. His right hand, the one with the bandage, was resting on the drum housing. Even asleep, he hadn't let go of the prototype.
Saffi stood in the doorway for three seconds. She looked at the prototype. Then she looked again.
It was different.
