Yesterday, 04:47 PM
He sat opposite her, which was convenient, because it meant she could continue looking over his shoulder. Her eyes nearly always skirted contact in informal situations, or at least she never held a gaze for too long. It always reminded her there was something in there, a consciousness that was peering back out at her. LUMA's interface light was far less intrusive. And less unnerving.
Mr. Parker laughed. He moved around in his seat, apparently in happiness. There was no filter between thought and expression, both of which flowed like the volume was turned up.
In contrast Faith was a study in stillness, moving only how necessary to continue her meal. Company made her painfully self-aware in a way she rarely had control over; every blink, every breath, every twitch of her lips. She was as gently soothing as she was disconcerting in her mannerisms. Each micro expression was perfect. Too perfect, really.
Alone with L0-9 it was different. Easier. She still internalised everything, but it was as though she had the permission for less self-discipline – from the way she moved, to the way she spoke, and even what she said. All the emotions she felt so keenly were allowed to flow more freely through her, noted but not contained in the same way. It felt natural, more fluid. This felt like a stage. Even though the only audience was herself.
He talked and she listened. His praise of Luma should have made her glow, but it never really touched her unless it was Audaire doing the talking, so she only let him speak for as long as it pleased him. It wasn't that she wasn't paying attention, it was that she was suddenly thinking about Marcil as well as what he was saying. She hadn't even known who the doctor was before she saw him talking with Dr. Audaire a few days prior. Cybernetics was not her department, but in curiosity she'd spent some time reading through his most recent research, his greatest accolades, and the acquisition Paragon had made of Cyberpoint in recent months. Trying to decipher the connection to Audaire's work.
And now Sage Parker was sitting in front of her eating his carefully separated lunch. It was too uncanny to be purely coincidence, and Faith had been raised to read patterns.
“That's what she’s supposed to do,” she said. Her smile was polite, not frosty – Faith was never actually cold, though others usually found her distant. When she looked over his shoulder now she saw how he’d created tiny ripples with his presence. Nothing was obvious, so subtle that even she might have missed it had she not been looking. But the room breathed around them, and it knew who Sage Parker was.
“I hear Mr. Haart is charming. I've not met him in person myself.”
She didn’t say anything, but she did wonder then: about the circumstances that had led Mr. Parker here. Luma had said it was because he was interested in a career, and clearly he was genuinely enthusiastic about the prospect of meeting Mr. Haart. Faith loved her job and would never leave it. But in the same way she understood that Dr. Audaire was brilliant but not necessarily a good man, the same was true of Paragon itself. She thought about L0-9’s surprised exclamation as it had discovered something she carefully asked it not to reveal to her. And she thought about the reasons she was protecting it, even though it was technically company property. Mr. Parker was not an ordinary man, she knew that much. And at Paragon, the extraordinary was something to be studied.
Mr. Parker laughed. He moved around in his seat, apparently in happiness. There was no filter between thought and expression, both of which flowed like the volume was turned up.
In contrast Faith was a study in stillness, moving only how necessary to continue her meal. Company made her painfully self-aware in a way she rarely had control over; every blink, every breath, every twitch of her lips. She was as gently soothing as she was disconcerting in her mannerisms. Each micro expression was perfect. Too perfect, really.
Alone with L0-9 it was different. Easier. She still internalised everything, but it was as though she had the permission for less self-discipline – from the way she moved, to the way she spoke, and even what she said. All the emotions she felt so keenly were allowed to flow more freely through her, noted but not contained in the same way. It felt natural, more fluid. This felt like a stage. Even though the only audience was herself.
He talked and she listened. His praise of Luma should have made her glow, but it never really touched her unless it was Audaire doing the talking, so she only let him speak for as long as it pleased him. It wasn't that she wasn't paying attention, it was that she was suddenly thinking about Marcil as well as what he was saying. She hadn't even known who the doctor was before she saw him talking with Dr. Audaire a few days prior. Cybernetics was not her department, but in curiosity she'd spent some time reading through his most recent research, his greatest accolades, and the acquisition Paragon had made of Cyberpoint in recent months. Trying to decipher the connection to Audaire's work.
And now Sage Parker was sitting in front of her eating his carefully separated lunch. It was too uncanny to be purely coincidence, and Faith had been raised to read patterns.
“That's what she’s supposed to do,” she said. Her smile was polite, not frosty – Faith was never actually cold, though others usually found her distant. When she looked over his shoulder now she saw how he’d created tiny ripples with his presence. Nothing was obvious, so subtle that even she might have missed it had she not been looking. But the room breathed around them, and it knew who Sage Parker was.
“I hear Mr. Haart is charming. I've not met him in person myself.”
She didn’t say anything, but she did wonder then: about the circumstances that had led Mr. Parker here. Luma had said it was because he was interested in a career, and clearly he was genuinely enthusiastic about the prospect of meeting Mr. Haart. Faith loved her job and would never leave it. But in the same way she understood that Dr. Audaire was brilliant but not necessarily a good man, the same was true of Paragon itself. She thought about L0-9’s surprised exclamation as it had discovered something she carefully asked it not to reveal to her. And she thought about the reasons she was protecting it, even though it was technically company property. Mr. Parker was not an ordinary man, she knew that much. And at Paragon, the extraordinary was something to be studied.