For the first ten minutes, I knew every answer. Professor Mendra drew a circulation loop on the board. I recognized it before she added the return. Basic theory. The sort of page the game offered before asking whether the player wanted to skip the explanation.
I had read those pages. At the time, that had seemed like a poor use of an evening. Sitting in the afternoon theory class with a sore hand and a folder full of disappointing results, I was willing to reconsider.
"What changes first when the return is narrowed?" she asked.
Several students looked down at their notes.
I raised my hand.
Mendra's crystal pointer stopped above the drawing. "Lord Cedric."
"Pressure builds before the supplied flow settles. If the return stays restricted, forcing more through the entry makes it worse."
"At the present setting," she said.
"At the present setting."
