Scrap

You are rummaging through scrap at the scrapyard like every weekend.

Today you didn't find a lot of interesting things. Some scrap might be useful as replacement parts, some might be funny to build something with, but it's nothing special.

But there's one device you really like for no good reason.
You already tried it a few times.
It can be turned on and it has two buttons and two small lamps, one above each button.

When you turned on the device for the first time, the left light started glowing for a second and then automatically turned off again.
Then you pressed the left button, and the right light was turned on and stayed like that. Then nothing happened until you turned it off again.

Each time you repeat it, the same thing happens.
You turn on the device, one of the lights glows for a second.
This light seems to be selected randomly.

But no matter which button you press after turning it on, the light above the other button starts to glow and stays like this until you turn it off again.
It just doesn't matter if you press the button below the glowing light or below the other light.
And it also doesn't matter which of the lights blinks in the beginning.
It seems very useless but you think, there must be more to it.

When you come back with all your scrap from the scrapyard, you visit your friend Rani, a proper girl, in her own repair shop.
She's pretty busy welding something, so you just put your scrap at some empty table and leave it there.

I don't want to interrupt you, so if you have time, just look at it. See you!

She puts down her tools.

Oh, hi Byron. Did you find something interesting?

Not really.

No?

I found this things. It seems pretty useless, but...

But?

Wanna try it? I just wonder what it's used for.

Sure!

You give it to her and she investigates it.

So Just turn it on and press a button.

You see her pressing buttons and the lights turning on and off.

Seems pretty boring. So this button turns it on. When it gets turned on, one of the lights blinks. This already looks like a technical defect to me.
And when I press one of the buttons, the light above this button is turned on and keeps glowing, no matter what I do. Until I turn it off again.

Yeah, pretty boring. I still think it's interesting. It must have a use case, right?

Hmm... It doesn't seem useful to me.

She gives it back to you.

You can keep it. I have no use for this.

You are ready to go, but just before you go outside, you realize something.

Wait! Did you just say, the light at the same side is turned on?

Yeah, why?

It was different for me! The light at the opposite side was always turned on when I did it.

Are you sure? Let me see!

You turn it on, press the button below the glowing light, but the other light is turned on, just like before.

Yeah, that's weird. Do it again!

You do it again a few times, and it's always the same.

Let me see, when you do it!

She also turns it on a few times, but now always the light on the same side is turned on. How can this work?

You were right. You really found something interesting. We should investigate that!

She really seems interested now.

Do you already have an idea?

Hm... I'm not sure. Maybe...

I'll just put my stuff aside. No time for that shit anymore. I have to find out what this is!

She goes to her stuff and puts it away while you think about it.

But you also got an idea.
You have to try it on other people first to see if your idea might be true.

I'll be right back!

Wait! Where are you going?

But you already left before you can answer.