The Scar on the Bronze

The instructor handed me the task: a bronze candlestick.

When I inspected the underside of the base, I felt a sharp, cold sensation in my fingertips. That seam. It is a scar. It is a seam that shouldn't be there, a technique that contradicts the very history I have been taught.

It is the exact same 'reverse-striking' mentioned in the thirty-year-old record.

But as I look at this object, the physical truth screams against the written word. The metal doesn't lie, but the ink does.

Is this my exam? Or is this an interrogation?

If I follow the rules and the records, I must call this a flawed piece. If I follow what my eyes see, I am calling the Great Institute's archives a lie.

I am not angry. I am merely... constrained by the weight of the paper in my hands.

Object: Bronze Candlestick
Grade: Unrated
Notes: Suspicious seam on the base. Discrepancy with historical records suspected.