transistor command short circuit
So lets assume you have a proper working circuit like below, where putting positive voltage at the signal input will turn Q1 on, which will pull Q2 to ground, turning Q2 on (means output is on).







simulate this circuit &ndash; Schematic created using CircuitLab

In this case, it does not matter if the signal is positive, or Q1 is shorted. If Q1 is shorted, Q2 is still pulled to ground, and the output will still be on.

So to answer your question, if Q1 is shorted, the output will always be on, regardless of the signal input. If Q1 is working properly, the output will be on/off as the signal is on/off.