A Sobering Reminder

Seeing Mitt forcibly taken from the room had a sobering effect on the others watching.

"I may be a lot of things," Wailin glared at the door as it shut, "But I'm not the kind of filth that sells others out for money." 

"As I said before, we all need to keep this confidential. You are not to speak to anyone outside of this room about it without express permission. Even if it is not for money, leaking this information will end up with you in the same situation as Mitt." The Deputy Director gave them all a stern look. 

At the end of his words, the government workers all fell into gossip.

"Can you imagine what would have happened if word of this got out? People would panic!"

"Of course they would. I am panicking right now!" 

"What he means is that some fools would go and raid the stores. People would stock up on already limited supplies. More people would starve."

"We would have an immediate crisis on our hands, not one in a year or two." 

"A year or two? I hope this is at least three years away or more. My calculations were saying it was closer to four." 

"I hope yours are right then." 

Noble ignored their feverish conversation and focused solely on her husband. She rested her hand on his shoulder. "Are you alright?" 

"Someone I trusted has been selling information for money. You know that I am not alright." The man forced a smile, but it fell flat. 

"I am sorry. I know it hurts." Noble could feel the pain coming from Fort. It hurt her soul to see him in such a state. "He wasn't your most trusted person. As far as I can tell, he wasn't even someone you chose to be on your team." 

"But I let him wheedle his way into my good graces. He shouldn't have been in here today at all. He said he wanted to help me by being a liaison between these teams and myself, and I was talking with the project leads to see if that would work. I've been parading him in and out of all the rooms and he's been gathering all sorts of information. I'm a fool!" Fort whispered the last part so that only his wife could hear. 

Noble shook her head and squeezed his arm. "You are not a fool; you just got fooled." 

The Deputy Director raised one eyebrow. "Same thing." 

"It is most certainly not. You are a good man." The professor straightened her back, daring her husband to defy her. 

"I married a good woman." He smiled more genuinely this time. "Can you do the thing?"

"What? Oh, of course!" Noble closed her eyes knowing they would swirl. 

After a deep breath, she sent a wave of calm toward her husband which he gladly accepted. When the professor opened her eyes, the man before her looked much more tranquil. 

"Thank you. I don't know what I would do without you." Fort kissed her on the cheek. "Now I should go try to speak with the Chancellor as soon as possible. It is better that he hears everything that happened directly from me." 

"You don't think he has already seen it?" Noble looked up and swept the ceiling for a camera. 

"Probably, but I will make sure." Fort frowned. "Maybe you should take the rest of the day off. If we found the answer, then there is no need for you to keep transcribing your father's work. I would hate for you to waste your effort."

"You can't fire me!" Noble's eyes went wide.

 "I'm not," Fort answered quickly. "I was just…alright. How about you give a statement for the inquiry and finish up early instead? We will reevaluate how things are going to go once everything calms down a bit."

There was some sense in his words, and Noble knew she was not in a good frame of mind to make any sweeping decisions just now.

"Fine. Where would I go to give a statement?" Noble tried to look more relaxed than she felt. 

"I will find someone to take you there before I go. One moment." Fort squeezed her hand and walked away. 

Looking around, Noble sighed. She walked over to Dino and Everin, who were talking as they stared at the screen. 

Noble dipped her head at the Awakened analyst. "I know this isn't the result we wanted, Dino, but great work today." 

"Many of life's victories are bittersweet. We must take the good with the bad and the pleasure with the pain. My heart leapt when the program worked only to trip a hundred times when the world was engulfed by that purple flame. Each day is often more of the same." Dino smiled, but it did not reach his eyes. 

"Sounds like a song," Noble could almost hear the tune in his words. "You should write that down." 

"I think I will." Dino pulled a stylus from behind his ear. 

"It has been nice working with you as well, Everin." Noble held out her hand to shake the assistant's. 

"You are leaving?" the young man looked at her with a quizzical expression. 

"At least for the day, but I suspect longer. I will give you a glowing recommendation no matter what happens." Noble felt a sadness mixed with pride coming from the man before her. 

"This has been far better than being a baker's assistant," Everin gave a small grin. "I have never liked loafing around." 

"Your work at your puns and your work here are both breadwinners," Noble replied. 

"Awakened Noble!" Fort called her by her title as he waved for her to come into the front room. "This lady will take you to give a statement. I will see you at home?" 

"I'll see you at home. Hopefully, everything will go smoothly with the Chancellor." Noble wished her husband well. 

"If he has time to see me," Fort rubbed the back of his neck. 

"He will see you. Just like I will in a few hours." The professor nodded with conviction. 

She followed her guide to the appropriate area. 

Taking a statement was not nearly as involved as Noble had expected. The internal affairs worker was already acquainted with the situation and seemed to have gathered a considerable amount of evidence in a short amount of time.

Noble was asked if she was aware of Mitt's payment schedule or his method of delivery of information. 

Of course, the professor had no clue, but she could tell by the way the investigator asked that the woman was looking for confirmation and not new information.

In the end, Noble told about her experience in the cafe, her run-in with Mitt where she noticed his messy collar, and the revelation she had where the message on his communicator was discovered.

 The professor left out what they discovered about the Gates because she had not been given permission to reveal that secret. Fortunately, the investigator did not seem interested in that detail.

 "Thank you, Awakened Noble. That will be all."

Noble didn't remember heading back to the train or getting on to it. She didn't even pull out the [Portcullis Key] to distract herself on her way home. Her mind was elsewhere.