office hours: round 1.

[foo_bar]

office hours daily. i'm here to help... i think.

(screened PCs with han)

Comments

[foo_bar]

[he laughs a little at that-- like it should be the obvious question everyone asked.]

Absolutely not. I was sent here because they'd detected some strange anomalies, and the local government wanted someone to investigate.

[throwabookatit]

So you hadn't heard a thing about that until you got here?

[foo_bar]

No. There's a reason I said 'hijacking' instead of D-756. I didn't know it had a proper name.

[throwabookatit]

So, what we have here, is a virus only these people have proper information about, and the only other two we have access to claim to know about something the rest of the world doesn't.

...Did you know either of them, from before? Hale, Vivenne?

[foo_bar]

No. I'd read about Vivienne, but I'd never really met Hale until he had decided to be my boss for this program.

[and yet, his enmity of him is... perhaps uncharacteristically deep, given how he treats everyone else. who knows.]

[throwabookatit]

[ well, she hates the guy too, so it's not THAT big a surprise. ]

And you're sure... [ How to phrase this... ] They brought all of us here from different worlds. Are you sure the people running this are...native, to yours? If- if they could've been talking about another world ending event, I don't know.

[foo_bar]

I've considered it-- but it's not like the names are totally foreign to me?

[throwabookatit]

When did you first hear of her, then? It... This could be a long sort of plan?

[ but she doesn't sound...that convinced of that idea. ]

[foo_bar]

Vivienne is famous for being a robotics pioneer-- it's hard not to have heard of her, if you care about programming and AI.

I've been trying to imitate her for-- a long time.

[throwabookatit]

...Someone you look up to. [ She sighs. ] No wonder you want her to trust you.

I can't imagine why they would be talking about something that wasn't true, then. Especially if the possibility would occur that someone like you would contradict what they've been saying, or...if they're going to emphasize something else, the D-756.

Nothing...makes sense.

[foo_bar]

[he offers her a tight smile at that-- he's come to that conclusion as well, after everything.]

You're right. Something doesn't make sense here, but I can't figure out why.

[throwabookatit]

[ She frowns in thought but...there's nothing more she can think of. ]

...Do you want me to hold on to this? [ She gestures to the newspaper clipping. ] I...understand the idea of holding on to it, but--if you need some time to think.

[foo_bar]

I... would actually rather not have that around.

[he has to admit, without sounding like he's at his wits end]

I don't know what use it has, since-- I don't remember it, and honestly... It kind of creeps me out...

[throwabookatit]

[ She slips it into her pocket, dried blood and all. ]

Then you don't have to see it. ...But if you remember anything helpful...let me know?

[foo_bar]

Yeah, I will. Promise.