Ah, there she was. Made-up and professional, deliberately exuding the kind of carefree attitude that took a lot of care to cultivate. Violet knew these sorts of things. She had a lot of experience looking for the signs, just as she had practiced the actions herself. Though naturally, given the role she had picked, her own get-up was much more subdued. She certainly slotted right into the ‘little guy’ impression that the other had expected to find. Only the scar on her eye spoke a slightly different language than her own subtle make-up, but she was wearing it with indifference of her own, which always helped to sell it.
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Speaking of, the lady scored some minor points by offering a gift, though none of those applied to the actual interview. That was cruel, certainly, but she was tasked with a job here. “Thank you, Miss Kubric,” she replied with studied ease. Clearly, she had gotten that name from some prior briefing, which had also included a presumed marital status. Just as a good secretary would, really. She briefly rose to accept the gift and bow slightly to receive the other, handing her the necessary forms.
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Once that was done, she would seat herself and motion for the other to do the same, opposite of her desk. “My name is Violet. I have been tasked and authorized to conduct the preliminary part of the interview here,” she started and did not say a single lie. Just because she had been given that task and authorization for all of it did not contradict these words, after all. Just the intent of it.
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Mostly, she just wanted to see if the other would pick up on it. “I hope you don’t mind that. It is all a matter of expedience for you and us.” She offered a little sigh with these words. “I know it sounds a bit like grandstanding, but I guess it does make a little sense. If you can’t convince me with flying colours, you probably could not convince my boss that you are right for Spectre either, right?”
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+ Calpurnia Kubrick

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

“Those who come for business, usually. At least they only bring gifts for the higher-ups,” she replied, somewhat casually. Naturally, that did play right into matters. People only brought gifts to those they sought to impress, of course. A secretary was someone who most of them would only have contact with once. They were somewhat important in getting an appointment, oftentimes, but rarely beyond that. Hence, people were much too focused on impressing someone else, as they waited on that last door.
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Which very much suited Violet. While she was capable of being someone that demanded attention and wrested it away from others, in this case she simply wished not to. Hence, she kept that more reserved posture. Though, incidentally, she had still made herself the most important person to this woman, at least temporarily, simply by injecting herself into the process like this. Sure, she was still of less consequence than the paperwork, but that was fine. “Technology is good, but having something in proper black and white is useful for archiving. Hence the need to scan everything. Both are best together,” she further added, evidently trying to seek the positives of the more archaic aspects of their systems – while also pulling out some forms for herself.
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“Now with that being said, I guess we can start with the simplest, but also most important question: What is your motivation for seeking to enter the ranks? You are already comfortably one of the more important scientists in Rocket, so there must be some impetus for you to pursue something like this.”
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“Well, if we go off-grid, we will probably go with the sub for that. And in that case, we’ll probably have to set fire to the archive if the enemy doesn’t do it for us,” Violet replied with a little shrug. She deliberately punched a little above her apparent paygrade with that comment, just to see if this lady would pick up on that. It was not exactly something a simple secretary would say, especially not in this way, but close enough that someone inattentive would pick up on it.
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As her own teachers had said, everything was a test. Her form did have a box to be checked about the other figuring out the play. Naturally, she had to put in some breadcrumbs so that she could give that a grade. But for most of it, she was simply evaluating the other in an environment where she felt a bit freer to speak her mind. “From my experience, most scientists do not see the need for jealousy, so it will probably be fine,” she added with a little smile. Lulu and that poison woman were two she knew, and neither of them would get jealous of something so beningn.
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But then again, the talk about gods was more important. Talk about gods had a tendency to do so. The older woman did bring a sentiment that she knew all too well herself, which naturally netted her some points. “I guess I will file that under human emancipation desires. That is fairly succinct. And I do get what you mean. Certainly, our world would be a bit more boring, but also a lot better without those gods around. At least without those that are barely contained by needing to keep up the appearances that they do not want to kill everyone in Rocket.” She shrugged lightly at that. Evidently, she did not have a terribly good opinion of league avatars.[break][break]
For good reason. “Of course, that is easier said than done. It is a simple thing to call them ‘a goat and its little pets’ when you do not stare a massive embodiment of the sea in the eye as it flies through the air mere meters in front of you.” To pick a very random example, of course. But, again, she had to put in more evidence there. “While your motivation is apparent, that leads to the second question: why are you confident that you can contribute in ridding the world of them? Or rather, that you could do more in the field than in the lab for that cause.”
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+ Calpurnia Kubrick

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

“I would appreciate it if you did not deny half of my name,” she replied with a little edge. That was the name she had chosen for herself. She was proud of it, especially now that it was associated with someone of import. To have it diminished was at least somewhat annoying. Even though, of course, she knew why. Right now, she was playing a role, after all. But even so, secretary or S.P.E.C.T.R.A., keeping names in line was important.[break][break]

It was all about respect for your fellow humans. “But, naturally, I do not believe that field work is all there is. Yet, that is precisely why I ask this question. The program you are applying for is one where a woman cannot simply stay back in her lab and develop sygna suits.” She would know a thing or two. Her own time with applied sciences had taught her as much. While she had not become a true scientist herself, at least as she remembered, Vio had been contributing a lot field testing those appliances. Which she found a fruitful distribution of labour.[break][break]

“In a way, you will have to work harder to convince those in charge precisely because of your accomplishments. Your typical grunt being uplifted through rigorous training to better serve Rocket is one thing. To expose a brilliant mind to more danger rather than using it more safely is another.” Violet decided to shrug lightly. At the end of the day, she was not going to tell the other off on principle, anyway. “Which does not mean it is impossible, of course. Just be aware of those complication moving forward. Though I am not sure I share your confidence. It is already a mighty step from leeching off of a powerful human to enslaving them. To take one of those we speak of that lightly would seem rather foolish. The will, be it human or Pokemon, is an impressive thing. And breaking it is a monumental task.”
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[attr="class","pokeclass"]

It was a fairly decent one. At least the parts of it that Vio had access to for the sake of this evaluation. She had been in quite a few of those incidents herself and could attest that they were a good enough measure of prowess. It would be kind of hypocritical to claim otherwise, given that she had been in this exact situation not too long beforehand.
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Plus, she had first-hand experience with field testing, which did make her smirk a little. “And believe me, I know that full well about those sorts of tests. I was working in that area before being promoted to this position. Well, at least at some point.” Her responsibilities had shifted over her time in Rocket, after all. Though she still looked back fondly at her time with those in the labs. Which was also why she was giving this one a reasonably hard time, of course. With their paths somewhat similar in certain regards, she wanted to pose the challenge spoken of here. It was as simple as that.
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“But since you say that you love challenges and that it is all about leverage, let’s put that to the test,” she started, before leaning back and briefly taking off the watch on her wrist. She put it on the table and pressed a button. “We both know that what I pass on regarding your application will tell whether or not you can proceed to the next step. So, hit me with your best shot, your best argument, taking into account what I disclosed about my views so far. Why should we advance you? After all, sometimes it is not about long studies to come to the perfect answer. Sometimes, you just have to go with the best you got on the spot and hope it is good enough.”
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+ Calpurnia Kubrick

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