Detrix Plus 1000 〈Quick · 2024〉

Leon Marchetti, its inventor, had spent twenty years of his life and every last cent of his inheritance building it. The principle was simple, even elegant: scan an object, break its atomic bonds, and rebuild it according to a stored template. He called it "terminal fabrication."

"Mama?" Leon whispered, his voice cracking.

But the grief was a hollow pit, and the promise of the machine was a roaring fire. He overrode the warning.