The Decanting Trough

A Decanting Trough returns distillate from vials into a holder — the Drip Tap's pair: the tap fills vials on a belt, the trough empties them. Set it on a vessel, a Crucible or a Gyre; a Create belt runs into its back, a chute or a funnel drops vials from above, a mechanical arm lays them in the cradle. The empty vial leaves at the front — onto a belt or a depot, into a chest or a hopper, or else onto the ground.

A Create shaft tips the vial part by part: at 16 RPM a part takes 0.8 seconds, a vial — 6.4. The holder takes currents by its own rules — bed, brand, stopper: a foreign current does not go into a branded vessel, a full holder is never forced — the vial waits in the cradle, and the belt behind the trough stands. A vial of Murk or a sealed one the trough lets pass untouched.

A vial loses a part only when the holder has taken it — nothing is spilt and nothing is born. Break the trough and the vial in the cradle drops whole. The Loupe and goggles show what lies in the cradle and why the vial waits; a Display Link shows "Held Currents" — what is being decanted now.