The Prototypes

A week passed inside the laboratory.

At some point, Ernest stopped counting days properly and started counting prototypes instead.

Prototype thirty-six failed because the glass seal around the copper leads cracked before the pump even reached a decent vacuum. Prototype thirty-seven survived the pumping process but burned out the filament in less than two seconds. Prototype thirty-eight produced a faint orange glow that made three laboratory assistants gasp before it died so quickly that Ernest nearly questioned whether he had imagined it.

He had not.

The burnt filament proved it. Annoying progress, but progress nonetheless.