Error 14 after upgrade attempt. Is phone bricked?

[ILoveCalvinCool]

I foolishly attempted to upgrade to iOS 12 from 9 on my iPhone 6S. The upgrade failed with "Error 14", and now my phone is locked in recovery mode. I've scoured the web for a solution, and all I've found are expensive apps that claim to fix the problem, and also posts from people who tried those apps and they didn't work. I'm a bit desperate as my last backup was a few months ago (yes, I'm an idiot). I have a feeling I'm screwed, but just in case, I'm appealing to the forum to see if anyone knows a way to get my phone back. I've tried hard resets, tried updating from multiple computers (Windows and Mac), on multiple USB ports. I've restarted everything multiple times and tried updating after every reset. I upgraded to Mojave and the latest iTunes just to try to resolve this. If anyone can help me, I'll give you my firstborn child (if you want it).

 

[NoBoMac]

Try a different legit MFi cable: seen odd stuff with older cables that might not show any external damage.

Windows, turn off anti-virus.

Otherwise, seem to recall error 14 is hardware related: phone might be giving up the ghost.