[13:34:28] <Auditor_> -it is quiet in the corridors, and it drags against the skin, except for a faint, hard click, breaking the thickened air, the tap - click - tap - of impatient fingers on wood-
[13:35:25] * Aimie_Jane hesitates in the corridor of her office, glancing at her clipboard, moving forward a pace...
[13:35:43] * Aimie_Jane and glancing again.
[13:36:07] * Aimie_Jane pushes her hair behind her ears
[13:36:57] <Auditor_> Facilitator. Do not try my patience.
[13:37:46] * Aimie_Jane lingers, clasping the clipboard and averting her eyes
[13:38:42] <Auditor_> Step forward.
[13:39:01] * Aimie_Jane enters the room finally, eyes downcast
[13:39:27] * Aimie_Jane lays the clipboard hesitantly on the desk and steps away
[13:39:58] <Facilitator A_J> I - I'm afraid that I have some concerning news, Auditor.
[13:40:28] * Auditor_ glances down at it
[13:40:41] * Auditor_ eyes narrow
[13:40:43] <Auditor_> Explain
[13:40:54] <Auditor_> Carefully.
[13:41:17] <Facilitator A_J> It would - It would appear that the drainage of this Facility is impossible at this current time.
[13:41:45] <Facilitator A_J> The pumps normally employed for such a purpose have been stripped for salvage.
[13:42:13] <Facilitator A_J> I am afraid that renders much of the research conducted here previously...
[13:42:26] <Facilitator A_J> I-Irretrievable.
[13:42:52] <Facilitator A_J> Including but not limited to...
[13:43:16] <Facilitator A_J> The Technical Sergeant's Void Transit Gateway.
[13:43:55] <Facilitator A_J> This will cause... Severe and unavoidable delay to our projected return...
[13:44:20] * Auditor_ looks from A_J to the clipboard, and peels a few pages open
[13:44:27] <Facilitator A_J> It - It is also worth observing that...
[13:45:08] <Facilitator A_J> Due to the very rudimentary nature of this FAC... It is unsuitable for my... My continued studies.
[13:45:43] <Facilitator A_J> All previously viable levels are now flooded.
[13:46:13] <Facilitator A_J> I am... Deeply sorry to have failed you in this regard.
[13:46:38] * Auditor_ raises her hand to her face, and adjusts her glasses slightly
[13:47:14] <Auditor_> I’m not angry. But I am so *very* disappointed.
[13:47:35] * Aimie_Jane flinches, pained
[13:47:46] * Auditor_ moves her hand over to the thick stack of papers to left left.
[13:48:09] <Auditor_> -names are visible, listed, alphabetically, down the side of the sheet-
[13:48:30] <Auditor_> I have completed my assessment of your documentation
[13:48:33] <Auditor_> Such as it is
[13:49:13] * Aimie_Jane shifts in discomfort
[13:49:19] <Auditor_> Your remit was research.
[13:49:37] <Auditor_> Investigation. Invention. *Innovation*. To take precisely these-
[13:49:49] * Auditor_ stabs a finger into the stack of papers
[13:50:08] <Auditor_> Aberrants, glitches and errors and freaks of flesh
[13:50:17] <Auditor_> and physics, and *work them out*. Find the shape of them.
[13:50:27] <Auditor_> Find the *use* for them.
[13:50:47] * Auditor_ stands up sharply and strides around the desk
[13:51:17] * Auditor_ stands behind A_J and leans forwards, over her shoulder
[13:51:24] <Auditor_> If you can’t even do that - what use are you?
[13:51:30] * Aimie_Jane cringes
[13:51:33] <Auditor_> A failed echo-chamber of someone else’s genius.
[13:51:45] <Auditor_> And unremarkable, at best.
[13:52:27] <Facilitator A_J> I - I just need the correct resources... Time.
[13:53:32] <Auditor_> Indeed.
[13:53:35] <Auditor_> I have been observing you, Facilitator. How you work.
[13:53:53] <Auditor_> How you handle your *resource*. Your strategies. Your methods.
[13:54:09] * Auditor_ snorts, and that sound is harsh, unmechanised
[13:54:33] <Auditor_> It is… Inelegant. Imprecise. Self-indulgent, in many cases.
[13:55:36] * Auditor_ walks back to lean on the desk
[13:55:45] <Facilitator A_J> I have... Faced many disadvantages, Auditor. Please understand -
[13:56:20] <Facilitator A_J> My efforts have been strenuous.
[13:56:55] <Auditor_> Your efforts have been questionable
[13:57:16] <Auditor_> You understand your charges. What they entail.
[13:57:32] * Auditor_ leans forward, and a frown creases down her face
[13:57:45] <Auditor_> What I. Must. Do.
[13:57:45] <Facilitator A_J> Y-yes. I fully comprehend, Auditor.
[13:58:00] <Auditor_> But.
[13:58:25] <Auditor_> I think you understand my own… predicament.
[13:58:48] * Auditor_ raises a hand sharply, outlining A_J's blacked-out gaze
[13:59:09] <Auditor_> If what you are telling me, with your clip board, and your shaking
[13:59:11] <Auditor_> Is true
[13:59:22] <Auditor_> We are *stuck* here, A_J. Far from home, and I doubt that
[13:59:35] <Auditor_> even you would burn brightly enough to light me a path alone
[14:00:14] * Aimie_Jane grips her wrist tightly, arms behind back
[14:00:49] <Auditor_> So. You say you need resource. You need time.
[14:01:10] <Auditor_> I think you need watching, very - very - closely.
[14:03:24] <Facilitator A_J> I will not defy you, Auditor. There - There are options...
[14:03:57] <Auditor_> There had better be.
[14:04:12] <Auditor_> The State - our State, not this poor echo here - is Mother.
[14:04:23] <Facilitator A_J> FAC 91, an outlying - condemned - FAC... May have the necessary components...
[14:05:08] <Facilitator A_J> There should be an Attack Facility to accompany this one...
[14:05:30] * Auditor_ 's eyes crinkle a little, at that
[14:05:56] <Facilitator A_J> Both represent a viable... Viable...
[14:06:50] * Aimie_Jane falls silent
[14:07:22] <Facilitator A_J> I'm so terribly sorry.
[14:08:46] <Auditor_> Facilitator, if you lie to me - or we are about to have another
[14:08:54] <Auditor_> two-point-two percent moment
[14:09:00] <Auditor_> then you *will* be
[14:10:34] * Aimie_Jane breathes inward sharply
[14:10:47] <Facilitator A_J> Why - Why am I a disappointment?
[14:11:40] <Auditor_> Wasted potential.
[14:11:44] <Auditor_> In so many ways.
[14:11:57] <Auditor_> I know you. Block A, Bed J… and everything else.
[14:12:05] <Auditor_> Who. When. And why, you even exist.
[14:12:46] * Auditor_'s eyes narrow.
[14:12:48] * Aimie_Jane leans on the desk unsteadily and lowers head
[14:13:04] * Aimie_Jane makes a sound of anguish
[14:13:33] <Facilitator A_J> Stop. Please. Refrain.
[14:14:10] * Auditor_ steps back around the desk, watching without expression
[14:15:26] <Facilitator A_J> What must I do to prompt some measure of... Of pride... From you.
[14:17:03] <Auditor_> Impress me.
[14:18:01] * Aimie_Jane grips the desk silently
[14:18:40] <Auditor_> Prove that you can tame this Void that has marked us both
[14:18:50] <Auditor_> Deliver to Mother what she truly needs
[14:20:36] * Auditor_ leans forward again
[14:20:54] <Auditor_> Show me the promise I saw at your trial.
[14:21:30] <Auditor_> Show me the spark that I saved from greater flames
[14:22:47] * Aimie_Jane lowers head further, breathing ragged, hands clenched
[14:25:15] * Auditor_ stands back
[14:25:28] <Auditor_> I will grant you some time, Facilitator
[14:25:44] <Auditor_> The resource is up to you
[14:26:18] <Auditor_> Make it good.
[14:27:17] <Facilitator A_J> I will.
[14:27:38] <Facilitator A_J> Better than you can possibly envisage.
[14:28:28] <Facilitator A_J> You will have no cause to be disappointed.
[14:29:23] <Auditor_> See that I do not.
[14:30:19] <Facilitator A_J> You. Will. Love. Me.
[14:30:25] * Aimie_Jane snatches clipboard
[14:30:44] * Aimie_Jane leaves the office briskly
[14:31:27] * Aimie_Jane turns into the corridor, out of sight, and crumples, head in her hands
[14:32:43] * Aimie_Jane cries slowly, bitterly, silently
