“Now press the button one more time, quickly.”

Mrs. Phiri laughed. “Relax. A ZESCO prepaid meter is like a stubborn phone. Sometimes it just needs a restart.”

“That’s the system code,” Mrs. Phiri explained. “Now, press the button once. Hold it for three seconds.”

“Press the button four times slowly,” she instructed.

Mr. Banda did. The screen blinked and displayed a new message: (Rest).