Behind the planetarium

Mara unlocked the control room and stepped aside. A wall of switches faced me, each carrying a code I did not understand. Through the observation window, the projector stood in the darkened theatre below. I tucked my elbows against my sides, convinced that one careless touch might interrupt the afternoon's display.

Mara worked through a printed checklist. No equipment responded until she turned a key and lifted the cover from a separate button. During the display, the status lights changed one by one in the same order as the items on her list. What had seemed a wall of possible mistakes became a sequence I could follow.

Select two words or phrases that show how the writer's response to the control room changes, one from each paragraph. Explain what each selection suggests about the writer's response.