'Director Nasti, I heard it took you only six months to go from joining Rhine Lab to leading Engineering?' 'Three.' 'Just... three months?' 'To be precise, Rhine Lab only established an official Engineering Section after I joined, to provide engineering support for the mountain of proposals from Muelsyse, Ferdinand, and the others. I joined the company in its early days, but after it had already attracted quite a lot of attention. And given my background... you could certainly say that three months was an especially short period for a Sarkaz who showed up out of nowhere to assume a regular role here.' 'You mean the vetting process went smoothly for you?' 'One of my people over at Maylander secretly helped me out. Of course, I only found out about that later.' 'Hiding your history must have been difficult.' 'Maybe you've been spending too much time listening to water-cooler rumors. The more time you waste on this routine interview, the more time I'll have to spend later 'hiding my history', as you put it. A young company like this—a young <i>country</i> like this—has always derived its nutrients from age-old secrets.' 'My apologies, Director Nasti. I-I'm just a little nervous. I thought you'd have declined the interview, or responded the way Director Muelsyse did. Only halfway through my interview with her did I realize I was talking to a water clone the whole time...' 'They don't have any function like that.' 'They? Oh, you're referring to the robots by your feet? According to HR's surveys, many of our employees are very interested in them... What should we call them?' 'Branch-type fully-loaded hybrid precision work robots. Each of them bears a unique eight-digit serial number indicating the scope of their respective duties. I have incantations inscribed on their core components so they can seamlessly adhere to my commands.' 'So I take it you're like their mother, Director?' 'No. They do whatever I want. They're merely the bricks and bolts of whatever project needs them. Just like me. Also, don't casually project such precious emotions onto inanimate objects.' '...' 'Alright, kid. You don't have to force yourself to think of any more questions to ask. Just leave the rest to me.' —Excerpt from a Rhine Lab HR Audio Log Thank god Director Jara showed up in the nick of time, before the mood in the room dropped below zero. To be honest, the Director of Engineering isn't that hard to get along with, other than her schedule being difficult to squeeze into. She's just focused on efficiency and her work, and I could be myself for the most part. The two of them soon shifted topics and began discussing Control. Probably Director Jara was subtly asking where Control was. 'This was your true motive for the interview, wasn't it?' The conversation continued, and I heard Director Nasti switch to an unusually gentler tone. 'Kristen doesn't want you to know too much. I understand her reasons, so I'll say nothing more on the matter.' It seems like I'll never get the chance to apologize to her. —Supplementary explanation from HR staff Jennifer