Misprint Department

The command printer in the corner has a fault. Every job it runs, it prints your route instructions with the same systematic defect, and it is your bench that signs off the proof. You know the fault before you start. It is written on the defect card. Turns come out mirrored. A command prints twice. The plate drifts an instruction one slot along. A command fades past reading. The ink pass skips a striped command. Read the printed strip, work out what the machine did to it, and put it right with the tools on the bench. The loop is short. The printer runs the strip. You inspect it against the known defect. You correct it, with a limited number of corrections per job. You pull the proof lever and the route runs one command at a time along the board. If it reaches the destination, the proof is approved and stamped. If it does not, you get a reprint and another look. Six correction tools, one…