Mira scrolled through the schematic one more time in Cadence OrCAD 15.7. The familiar interface felt like both refuge and crucible: net labels, gates, and power rails arranged like a circuit-city that only she could read. She used to joke that OrCAD knew her better than any coworker—observing the smallest misconnection, refusing to gloss over sloppy footnotes. Tonight it seemed less friend than oracle.