RP Agency

"This seems very standardized." This was a compliment. Laine appreciated how much preparation must have gone into making sure that everything had a specific time frame for when it was supposed to happen, and that there were alternating plans for when things did not go along the primary path. Laine was not entirely resistant to things happening differently, as long as there was some sort of expectation to be met. Not all anomalies were very tidy, after all.

For that matter, not all people were very tidy. Agent Hania seemed more tidy than most, but some of the researchers who they could see were somewhat unkempt, and being propelled largely by consumption of mild stimulants. Laine did not require stimulants, nor have any interest in them. She was not entirely certain she required consumption at all, but usually did it anyway because it was what she was supposed to do. She thought perhaps she had forgotten about it for a while, when things had been bad, but of course that had never happened. Her files didn't say she was supposed to do that.

"I am capable of a delayed sleep schedule, when necessary." Most people were, although it was not ideal for them any more than it was for Laine. She did seem to require sleep, which she found to be an acceptable parameter. Mostly, she said very little. Agent Hania had made it clear that her role here was to observe, and so that was what Laine was doing. She observed the anomalies and the researchers, to some extent, but mostly she observed Agent Hania, as he was the one providing an example of what Agents were supposed to be like.
 
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"It is very standardized," Hania replied, and his voice just barely betrayed a hint of pleasure at that. It made things easier, when things were standardized. With a standard, there was more space for improvisation in emergencies, more energy conserved for those cases. He deeply disapproved of most researcher and field-agent attitudes about “[EXPLETIVE]ing around and finding out”. Not his department, not really worth spending his energy on, but still there in the back of his mind.

There wasn’t time to go over the many benefits of situations being standardized, however, and it seemed Laine generally liked standardization as well. He was aware that his thoughts about things being standard could be a result of the anchoring effect. This was not a new pattern of thought for him, however, as Dr. Eisenberg would be able to confirm if asked. Zane Hania did best with structure. That was why he was on maintenance security.

And on the subject of structure, they had arrived at the botanical sector. Hania reached into one of the pouches in his armor and removed a small notebook and a pen. He flipped to a page halfway through, and made a note on top in neat, all-capitals, square lettering. If he were writing on graph paper, the letters would fit perfectly and evenly into the boxes. He wasn’t writing on graph paper, which was a shame, because that tended to be easier, but the Foundation didn’t provide memo pads with graph paper, just college rule. Hania didn’t go out of his way to request something different, though. If he needed graph paper he would get a different notebook from his quarters, which would expend about twenty minutes that could be taken from his lunch period.

He did not give any introductions to the researchers who watched him and his trainee as he collected a tool kit from one of the observation laboratories. If he had, he was sure he’d never be able to start work for the day until at least fifteen minutes late, which was not conducive to training and was a distraction from the researchers’ studies. Instead he set about immediately on a standard walkthrough of the smaller units he and Laine would be observing today, examining locks, measuring distances, making notes on damages to walls or buildup of natural substances like pollen or sap, abiding all the while by security measures and answering any questions Cantrille might have. He considered it routine; others might consider it boring. That was why they were not security maintenance personnel.
 
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Agent Hania seemed to appreciate standardization, or at least Laine thought that was what the echo meant. Sometimes it was difficult to tell with people. They occasionally meant different things than she thought they did. Sometimes, this was deliberate.

She followed him through the various laboratories, taking notes as well, because of course she had a notebook and she always had a pen. Her writing had always been tidy. It was not all uppercase like Agent Hania's, but it was a careful printing, very legible. Agent Hania used several tools for measurements, which Laine could appreciate. She didn't ask about tools, instead just writing down her own measurements from what she knew. The tools were useful for most people, but Laine was not most people. She had found that using tools was less about actually measuring things with them and more about trying to get the tools to line up with what she already knew they were supposed to say, which was frustrating.

Unlike Agent Hania, this was her first day, so Laine didn't have a baseline for any of the information she was recording. That didn't bother her, because she was establishing a starting point. If she had wanted to see what things had been like leading up to the current timeline, there was always paperwork about that. Laine appreciated paperwork. It kept things the way they were supposed to have been.
 
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Almost all the trainees with a maintenance leaning had some kind of engineering background or education before even entering the Foundation. Five units in, Hania remembered that Cantrille did not have that kind of background. Her file mentioned nothing about technological expertise, or even interest. And yet she didn’t say anything as she also took down notes without context. He frowned at a measuring tape that showed perfectly correct dimensions for the pot used to hold ACF-854, and then decided to address his intern directly as he peered into the lock on the unit door.

"Cantrille. Please inform me when you require more information. I am aware you have not received thorough training on non-anomalous technology and am here to instruct."

And without actually waiting for an answer, he began to explain how the parts functioned. He used what most non-maintenance interns would call “jargon”, for the most part, but if Cantrille expressed – or noticeably didn’t express – confusion or concern, he would go into more detail.
 
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Agent Hania was explaining how to measure things. Laine was fascinated. It had never been that difficult for her to figure out how a tool should be used, even if she didn't need to use it, but having it explained to her was an entirely new realm of things to be curious about. She knew how to use the simplest tools already, of course, but the more complex ones hadn't been shown to her before, and it was very interesting to hear about how Agent Hania used them.

He used a lot of interesting words, in a lot of interesting ways. Laine kept a list, very neatly, on her notepad, finding this just as interesting as the anomalies in its own way. Despite her earlier quiet, she was suddenly very much full of questions, asking for definitions of each term that wasn't used in the way she expected it to be, and being remarkably difficult to satisfy as far as what she considered a properly definitive answer.

"Is this too many questions? I can stop if it's too much like research. I'm still a security agent." She was. That was why she was wearing armor. "I haven't really thought much about how people measure things. I'm not very good with people, but I am very good with measurements."
 
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Cantrille leapt at the opportunity to ask him questions the moment she was given permission. Hania did not mind these questions, because they were mostly “what”-questions, and not “why”-questions. Definitions were important in maintenance, and she would have to learn the “jargon” somehow. If this was the most effective way for her to remember the terms, then he could provide them without concern.

"Your questions have all been relevant. They’re to be expected given your lack of background, and you are learning important information. I believe your file states you are good with puzzles as well, which is good, because once we begin to examine the zoological anomaly units I’ll introduce you to some of the larger-scale security mechanisms."

There was a good chance that jigsaw puzzles had very little in common with mechanical engineering, of course, but there was also a good chance that researcher backgrounds did not help anyone learn security, and that was being proven wrong right here. There was more overlap between maintenance and research than any other security branch, after all. That was why management had determined this was a good idea.
 
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[color"#a0522d"]"I like puzzles,"[/color] Laine commented, thoughtful. "And I am good with them, but that is anomalous. I don't know how I will interact with the security measures when they are presented. It may also be anomalous." Laine hoped this would not cause difficulties. She wanted to understand the security mechanisms, because understanding security was a step towards providing security, and security was very important. Nonetheless, she felt compelled to offer the information that her interaction with security might end up with anomalous interactions. Laine did not always mean for them to happen. Sometimes she did, but that was very rare, because she usually did not have permission for them to happen.

Laine thought it was important to have permission when doing things. Permission was an important part of security, after all. If she did anomalous things without permission, then she was in violation of her security measures. Whether or not her anomalous actions had been deliberate was a research question, and could only be studied after security had been reestablished.

Sometimes she could tell when something would happen. In cases like that - often with names or certain things - Laine usually tried to figure out how to ask permission, or tried to stay quiet until the situation became less likely to result in anomalous moments. Usually these countermeasures had been enough, but sometimes she had to stay quiet for a very long time, especially when she knew that something was wrong or missing.

It was very hard to let go. There had to be a great deal of quiet first.
 
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Hania nodded slow understanding as he made another note in his memo pad. He marked it with a small symbol to the side to indicate it was a training note, rather than a maintenance note. It would have been best to have a second notebook for training. Maybe he would bring one tomorrow.

"You should inform me when ACF-833 is behaving anomalously." He turned the notebook page, and then turned to Cantrille, only his eyes visible under his visor but clearly trained on her. "However, in the absence of a primary researcher, I have the authority to give you operational discretion in the use of ACF-833. Many of the systems take some time to learn non-anomalously, and we are in need of personnel. The sooner you can progress from observational intern to maintenance assistant, the better for security."

Some other interns might think of the use of an anomalous asset as cheating, somehow, but Hania did disagree with that. So long as there was an understanding of an asset's ability, the asset could be used comfortably. ACF-707, as an example, was invaluable in containing on-site breaches. Per the file, ACF-833 was far more contained and predictable. It would also help to know when Cantrille was aware of ACF-833's influence. He was not a researcher, he would not study the patterns. He only needed to know when they manifested for reference.
 
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"I will try to inform you when my anomaly is acting," Laine told him. "I don't always know. It is not always easy to separate it from the way things are supposed to be. In the past, an outside perspective has sometimes been beneficial. My-"

-researcher. Friend. There were many words that fit into that sentence, but there was nothing for them to connect to. There was only a space where they should have gone, and Laine was-

Laine was a security agent. Security agents could not have this difficulty. It made things very untidy.

Still, there was a pause, and the next words were very quiet.

"...Alex usually knew before I did."

Laine was not going to get stuck there. She took a little breath and let it out, because people insisted that helped, even though it did not. It was important to people to see it happen, because it was proof that she was doing something about it, even if what she was doing was not actually effective. She refocused her attention on Agent Hania instead, because she was a security agent now and she was supposed to be learning from him.

"I think you are supposed to have two notebooks. Is this anomalous, or is this just observational?"
 
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She grew quiet. Hania recognized, understood, and acted on that within a few seconds – even if acting on it just meant giving her the space to find herself. She was quick about that, which was a relief. Letting her take too much time would have set back their schedule. But for the first few days, he was supposed to prioritize ACF-833’s comfort within security parameters. It was necessary to know what to expect for the remainder of Cantrille’s training.

Hania had not known her primary researcher, personally. He knew not to mention her name, or her anomalous designation. He had maintained the containment unit for ACF-390-A, of course, but 390-A had been quiet, too at that point. Not anomalously quiet, nor naturally so. Sullen was one word for it. It had been good for security, that she was quiet. It was less good for security when ACF-833 was quiet, because it was difficult to observe.

He was not observational, however. He was maintenance security.

"It is anomalous, yes," he said, finally, when she ended the quiet with a question, and with a nod of careful consideration. "I never expressed to you the desire or need for a second notebook, nor did I give any indication except a small symbol beside a note, which you did not see, nor did I explain it to you. Your understanding was anomalous."
 
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Laine seemed to accept Agent Hania's answer to her question. His explanation made sense to some degree. As she had mentioned, sometimes it was difficult for her to tell what was anomalous and what was not. Laine had always been the way that she was, as far as anyone could tell, and her mental calibrations were based on having an anomaly. She could look at a plant and know that it was 17.3 centimeters tall, but an experienced botanical engineer could also do that. She could look at Agent Hania and know that he was supposed to have two notebooks, but an experienced Agent could not do that. Or perhaps this was more of an analysis for management? Would an experienced manager be able to look at Agent Hania and know that he was supposed to have two notebooks?

Perhaps not. People did not always see where things fit, or where they were missing. Those were not the same thing. Alex was missing, but she did not fit any more. There was no place in the Foundation where she belonged. That was part of what made it difficult for Laine. If there had been a place for Alex to come back to, it would have been different, but things had changed and there wasn't a place for her any more. The Foundation was made of different pieces, and there was a hole where Alex had once been, but the hole was no longer shaped like Alex.

"Would you like a second notebook?" Laine inquired, instead, "Non-anomalously, this time. You could use mine."
 
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Cantrille offered him her notebook. Typically in new trainees this would be an excuse to avoid taking notes during the initial observational phase, but Cantrille was not typical. She did not offer it anomalously, either. It would be a gift, given freely. But then she would have to acquire a new one, or remember her observations, anomalous or otherwise.

He glanced down at his memo pad, and then shook his head.

"No. Thank you. You will need that – even without the use of tools, you should record your observations. Such notes are good for both your own review and as a record for other maintenance personnel when our routines change. I will have a second one tomorrow."

Possibly a graph notebook, for measurement, and then he could use the memo pad for training observations. It would mean transferring the notes between books tonight, but that was alright. He rarely used his downtime for other activities.

He resumed his work.
 
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Laine nodded, and wrote down his answer, because it was important. "I like taking notes." This was not anomalous, even if people sometimes said it was. They were not being serious. Laine had needed some explanation on that, because it had been very confusing, especially because many people at ACF also seemed to like taking notes, but they seemed to feel that they should not say they did. Laine questioned if this was anomalous, but it seemed that it was mostly just proclivity. People were hard to understand.

Notes made things easier to understand. They were a good reference point, especially when people did not know what she was talking about. Laine's notes did not always make sense to anyone except Laine, but sometimes she could use them to try to figure out something that did. Often she was not very successful, but it was important that the information be there, in case someone could understand it. There were many historical records which could not be translated, but there were hopes that some day someone would learn enough to understand them. Laine thought perhaps it was like that, but with anomalies.

"Would you have liked one anomalously?" she asked Agent Hania, curiously. "I do not think that is something that I can do, but there are anomalies that can."
 
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"No," he repeated, the soft scratch of pen against paper rustling under his voice. "I am sure I could name several researchers who would, but I prefer manufactured equipment."

He did not expand, because it was only preference. There was no actual reason for such a preference, and he actually didn’t know for a fact that the Foundation hadn’t caused anomalous production of various articles of equipment to save money or time, but he did not know for a fact that they had, either, and it was best to assume non-anomalous origin.
 
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Agent Hania preferred manufactured things. Being Laine, she wrote that down. "What about things that are anomalously manufactured? There are some anomalies that can produce things rather than..." A pause, not a hesitance, just a moment where she searched for the right word. She was not sure if it existed. "-Determining things."

Was this the correct word in this context? It made sense to Laine. Some anomalies produced things, others simply determined that they were, and often always had been. Some personnel were more comfortable with one than with the other. Statistically speaking, it was more likely to be the first, which Laine found strange. Some of the botanical anomalies could produce fruit of anomalous origin. Some could also produce anomalous fruit. It was important to remember that these were not the same thing.
 
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She addressed the unspoken part of his opinion. Whether that was anomalous, or simply the logical outcome of her line of questioning, was difficult to say. He'd come to that conclusion himself, after all, but he had not said or indicated anything. One of the more confusing aspects of anohumans: they were either behaving as a human would, or behaving as an anomaly would. Sometimes that line was obvious, even to security maintenance personnel. Other times it remained vague, even to researchers.

Whichever it was, it was not his department.

"That question is irrelevant." He debated leaving it at that, but decided to fill in for other unspoken follow-up questions. "The earlier questions were relevant because they immediately affected our relationship and your behaviors as a security agent. This one does not."
 
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"It is not your department." Those were the words that he had used earlier. Laine thought they seemed to fit here. She would have liked to know the answer because she was curious, but she was also a security agent and this was not the time to be curious. She could be curious later in her free time, even if she would have to be curious about other things, because Agent Hania would be busy then.

For now, she would put the curiosity away, because it didn't belong here. Some of it did, but only the part that was related to security. It was important to keep things in line with expectations. Everything was more tidy that way. Laine wrote this down as well, because it might be important some time. She would organize her notes later, because organization was important. They were already well organized, but she could organize them even more, with cross-referencing and footnotes. They would be very tidy when she was done.
 
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He paused for a moment, as she made her statement. Then he nodded, slowly, this time in approval. This was different from his nod to the affirmative, less solid. She understood, which was good.

"Correct."

He finished logging his current batch of measurements, then stepped out into the main hallway again. Two more units in the botanical sector, then on to the zoological anomalies. While his notes were organized, they were not as thorough as a researcher's. Their order told him what they were meant to say, each the same for individual units and specimens. The reports would have tables and organized graphs at the end of each cycle, and these routine measurements would then be applied to research and security reports written elsewhere. Far more like mathematics than the hard sciences. It suited him, though. He didn't mind the graphing, as long as he was certain the data from his logs was correct and alterations to behaviors and the containment unit could be noted and addressed. There were several anomalies that made that difficult, but most of them remained as consistent as the anomalous could, and that worked well for him.
 
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Laine wrote down a few more notes as well, both on the anomaly itself and on Agent Hania, as well as the tools he was using to collect information and how he was using them. These seemed like important things to know, and it was easier to know things if she wrote it down. Laine had been told that usually the phrase was it is easier to remember things if one writes it down, but she was not certain that this was accurate. Remembering seemed like something different. It was a possibility, rather than a definitive. Laine did not remember what was in her notes, she knew it. The distinction seemed important.

This particular anomaly seemed to be acting in accordance with its standard parameters, inasmuch as botanical anomalies acted in any particular manner. Laine was not sure about the word acted, as it implied a certain degree of deliberation. Behave had the same problem, and more besides as behave had an implicit value judgment associated with it. Perhaps the anomaly simply did, but that seemed somehow inadequate.

It was within parameters, and perhaps that was sufficient. She stepped out into the hallway with Agent Hania, following along with him towards the next unit.
 
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The remainder of the botanical entities passed without incident. Hania answered any questions with brief clarity, or an even more brief nod with the appropriate inflection. She was taking notes, which was within the parameters set for both ACF-833 and Intern Cantrille.

They would follow a few flights of stairs down, passing a handful of researchers and a pair of combat security agents on the way. One of the researchers seemed to be running significantly behind, moving with purpose and almost brushing against Hania as he passed her, while another was trying to read a report while walking. Still another was pretending not to be idling by flipping back and forth through a clipboard of papers whenever someone passed him by.

On the other hand, the combat security agents moved with a steady and even pace. Jokingly designated “hall monitors” by most research staff, they were equipped with similar gear to Agent Hania, with the addition of riot shields attached to their back for additional defense, and one had what looked like an extendable cattle prod at her hip. They were idle, most of the time, just passing between places on designated routes until a breach occurred – at which time they’d prove their purpose with appropriate efficiency. Behind the black masks and green visors, there were no details of their faces besides their eyes, which met Hania’s as they exchanged a silent greeting between them.

And then everyone was on their way again, the hall monitors ascending, maintenance security descending. Different cogs of the same machine.
 
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