Still dead.

The monitor glowed to life.

He had tried to clean it. A rookie mistake.

"Classic elchapuzas move. Next time, use compressed air and a brush. But for now: remove the CMOS battery, wait 10 mins, and pray to Saint Linus of Tech Tips."

"Classic. Your board is likely fried. BUT — look under the 24-pin connector. Sometimes the vacuum dislodges a capacitor. Reseat that cable HARD. Like, disrespectfully hard."