"Uh… copper, probably," Cameron answers, still hunched but following the drift of the guy's gaze with keen and critical eyes. "Sometimes aluminum or an alloy, but usually copper. I don't think the materials have changed that much, just the amount of power that can push through them."

In theory, she should know this. She's not that long out of school, and history of science had been required for her major. She just hadn't much cared how the hardware worked, only that it did.

In retrospect, what with the whole vacuum cleaner meltdown incident, she probably should rethink that stance.

"You just got here," she says.