"Are we getting the staff I requested?" "I suppose that likely depends on your responses to the aforementioned follow up questions. Wouldn't you think? ...Oh, your extensive list of ideal candidate qualities was noted and, I'm even told, briefly perused."

AKDHDGASJA it is MEAN today

"Okay, SAYER, [Laughs] you're coming in a little hot here, uh, I'm sure the higher ups have questions, but I also bet those questions don't come with all this snide judgement that you're slinging. Is there something about this project in particular that's causing this?"

okay so Brady knows SAYER well enough to be unsurprised by SAYER being mean, knows its intentional (not just it being too blunt or logical as a machine), and knows there's a feeling underlying that.

"Dr. Brady, I apologize if you have misinterpreted my statements as judgemental. Or rude. I am simply acting as a facilitator of communication in this situation and do not have enough specifics on your current project for it to be a significant factor in my behavior. I know my relative level of autonomy is frustrating for you, Doctor. Your pet on earth serves as the sole evidence needed of that."

hooo okay 1) sayervoice: I'm Not Mad >:// 2) wow that's how it sees speaker, lacking autonomy, a pet, more tethered than even itself 3)'relative level', it's really feeling its restraints this season

"Ah. So this is about SPEAKER. uh- I'd ask how your feeling about its installation, but I know that's not how you work. uhm- What is it about SPEAKER that's causing this negativity? Do you think its installation endangers your ability to perform the tasks you are assigned?"

he's genuinely trying to ask it whats wrong without it shutting down the line of inquiry or being insulted.

"Recruitment is on the rise... It has been suggested, by those who would know, that this would imply a need for advancement here as well. I do not think i would like to be replaced."

I think about that last bit daily. It feels like such a show of vulnerability.

"Given our recent discussion, wherein Dr. Young attacked my impeccable reasoning, and proposed I was out of touch with humanity's delicate need to be coddled, you might understand why I have my reservations about his current work. He is unpredictable. I find him complicated to interact with."

it was so hurt by the conversation in The Games You Play. It does not know what to do with Young and the constant maneuvering he does. Its also being so open with Brady. It's scared and it needs someone above Young to offer reassurance.

"I want you to know, we're not working on replacing you. I don't know what role we're building this new entity to fill, but its not going to be on-boarding, alert broadcasting, task management... If you'll pardon the analogy, if this thing is a ninety thousand PSI water-jet, you'd be the Mississippi river. Kay? Same basic pieces, wildly different function."

very logic and function based reassurance. because that's what SAYER would accept? or because he ultimately sees it as a tool? regardless its effective enough for now

"You are attempting to mirror human development with this synthetic entity... This seems unnatural..."

Interesting, not sure what to make of this, is this why it sought to ruin FUTURE? Not *just* to get back at Young, but to prove how easy it would be to ruin an AI being trained like this?

"I'm willing to work with whatever situation"

Conceded to SAYER's and/or higher up's judgement , a good move, Doesn't act like he knows best

"Thirty three hours ago Dr. Young submitted a request... In the future, please remember all such requests should come directly from you as team lead. Anything else could imply a certain level of disorganization within your team."

The center is "double stuffed" with chocolate crème that from all angles resembles the offal of a medium-sized dog breed. Once the comparison has been made, everything else about the experience takes on a foul undertone. Eating an elf, for example, or what "the hollow tree" might be a euphemism for.

…Fudge.

Packaging/Branding. An unattractive photo of the cookie is set off by the customary overly enthusiastic Keebler-branded gnome, who is either posing as or representing the imaginary E.L. Fudge. We fail to see why a non-cutesy product name like "Keebler Double Cocoa Cremes" would not have sufficed -- or, if this is the moniker the marketing team insisted on, why nobody in the room realized that the phrase "double-stuffed" should have a hyphen. Each cookie is the size of a thumb; a serving contains only two, and those two contain nine grams of fat.

Flavor Profile. Inoffensive, although the cookie itself has a zwiebacky wheatiness that is not indicated in a sweet. The balance of cookie and filling is surprisingly deft, the crème unexpectedly non-grainy (provided you don't examine the Double Stuffed too closely before attempting to eat it).

Habitat. Kate's Secret viewing parties; the dog park.

Field Notes. Dr. Brady reported a vague embarrassment at having to obtain a sample with "Fudge" in the name, and was reminded with asperity by his section chief that nobody forced him to propose "those blobbish Poo-reos" for review.