“Increase to 148.1.”

Felix walked back to Panel 7. He pressed the tiny arrow buttons on the Elau’s monochrome display until he reached P217. 147.3° blinked. He changed it to 148.1°. Saved.

The packaging line had been silent for three hours. That’s how long Felix had been standing in front of the servo drive, a brick of German engineering no bigger than a loaf of bread, its green power light dead as a stone.

A LinkedIn profile came up. Last active 2019. Profile picture: a weathered man in a tweed cap, standing next to a control cabinet that looked exactly like Panel 7.

The drive hummed. The green light flickered, then held steady.

On the line, the rejector puck twitched, then snapped into position with a crisp thwack .

Helmut Krause had replied. Just three words: