she’d come so far in such a short amount of time. saoirse felt that she had finally defied all of the odds she’d set against herself. she was successful… in a way.

mere weeks into having her slateport apartment and getting the feel for extra cash in her pocket, she’d been promoted. at first, it was unappealing, but then the raise was mentioned, and the thought of unlimited resources had hooked her.

lulu flint found herself under much pressure in her new position, now tasked additionally with overseeing studies and coordinating experimental research. lulu had never been the best at barking orders outside of a high-stakes situation, but she would improve with time and eventually fill out her new shoes. when it had occurred to her, she smirked to herself, thinking back on her conversation with FERNANDO SILPH in regards to his management role. she didn’t feel any more confident now than she had then in her abilities. it was funny that this would happen.

there was one thing which lulu had been unwavering on, and that was her work hours. she worked at night. during the day, someone else would dish out her assignments for her, likely until another head scientist was appointed—unless they, too, were an insomniac. she found that she was uselessly groggy during the day, depending on HYPNOSIS on top of alcohol to knock herself out in order to mold to everyone else’s schedule. no more.

it was also for this reason that lulu required an assistant, first and foremost; someone to deliver her messages and tasks, and respond to her emails during the daytime via an extensive list of carefully worded templates, that surely no one could fuck up.

she looked at the name on her phone:

priam conrad

for him, she waited at her old desk in a corner, which she had shared with a couple of others in the lab. on it sat a few boxes of gadgets and things to move to her much larger, fancier desk across the way. they had sent him early to help her settle in.