He gave the final crank.

It was the summer of ’85, and the fluorescent lights of the Apex Circuit Design shop hummed like trapped hornets. Leo, a junior tech with shaky hands and a desperate need for rent money, stared at the new requisition form.

Leo’s hand hovered over the bleed valve. The spec called for a fifteen-minute hold at 1,200 psi. No drop. No sweat. No visible distortion.

Marv let out a long breath. “You just bled the ghost out of her, kid.”