“So I have heard.” Bain stood up and leaned on the table. “Perhaps I should explain. “
**
Dev stuck her head into the sanitary facility, entering after a moment and putting her small personal kit down. The space was clean and austere, the stone lined walls with faint flecks of reflectivity in their depths described a roughly rectangular space with inset cabinets on both long sides.
A half wall concealed a lavatory. Dev studied it curiously, reaching forward to press one of the buttons on the top and jumping back a little as she was rewarded with a faint roaring sound. She peeked inside the bowl and saw a moving substance, not the vacuum system she was used to. "Ah."
Well, she'd figure that out soon enough.
With a faint shrug, she went on to the counter, which held a neatly folded set of assorted fabric. She touched the surface of one, finding it soft and nubbly. It was too small to wear, and she picked one of them up, unfolding it and releasing a faint, to her unrecognizable scent into the air.
Another puzzle. Dev examined the inset bowl next to them, which had a hole in the bottom, and mechanisms at the top. She reached out and touched one, and leaped back as something rushed out of the pipe at the top and splashed into the bowl with a thick, almost musical sound.
Urgently, she searched her programming, and found nothing regarding it, but then a deeper memory triggered, and she relaxed, recalling something from her basics programming.
She stepped forward again and hesitantly put her hand under the flow, inhaling a little as it chilled her skin. Her other hand joined it, and she rubbed them both together, then she touched the mechanism again. She stood with her hands dripping into the sink for a moment, then with a satisfied grunt, she picked up one of the pieces of fabric and used it to dry her hands off. So this was water, freely running water, which she'd never experienced before. "Interesting."
She continued her exploration, opening the cabinets and finding more fabric, larger pieces, again neatly folded. At the end of the room was another half wall, and she peeked behind it to find a square space with a drain in the floor, and a pipe extruded out with a round, flat head. Curiously, she reached in and touched the controls, letting out a yip of surprise when a blast of water came out of the head and drenched her.
She batted at the controls and turned the water off, then stood, dripping, her arms held out away from her body a little. She blinked, and then shook her head, scattering droplets everywhere. "Ah hah." She licked her lips, finding that the water tasted a little sweet, and then she decided staying in the wet jumpsuit in the cool air of the chamber probably was not a good idea.
She unbuckled and slipped out of it, laying it across the counter and then turning to the cabinets and removing one of the large, square fabrics. She wrapped it around her as she bent over to unbuckle and remove her boots, setting them down under the counter as well. Going to her small kit, she removed her comb and ran it through her wet hair and setting it to order.
Glad to be free of the cold wetness, she used another fabric to dry herself off, then she went back into the main part of the room. This left her in a quandary though, as she could hardly respond to any of the requests that might be made of her without clothes on. She started towards one of the cabinets in the main part of the room when she heard rumbling behind it, a set of bangs and slams that sent her back to the sanitary facility, unsure of what was going on.
A soft chime sounded. "Main stores, provisioning complete."
Dev regarded the speaker, then she glanced towards the big cabinet again. The doors in it - previously solid and dark gray, were now turning translucent, back lit with a gentle golden glow Cautiously, she approached it, opening the front to find a line of dark jumpsuits hanging there, and a set of shelves below. She opened the first one, gratified to find at least familiar looking underwear there. "At least I know what this is." She muttered. “There’s a lot of stuff they forgot to program about this place.”
She traded her fabric for the garments, which fit neatly, then she removed one of the jumpsuits and slipped it on. It too, fit her perfectly, but the fabric was unlike anything she'd ever felt before. It was soft and a little stretchy, conforming to her body and very comfortable.
It had a collar that extended up covering the back of her neck, and was gathered at her wrists and ankles with many pockets and rip strips to hold things.
She liked that. The color was dark green with black trims and it had a deep blue ring around the neckline, but no other insignia to it. Almost the same as the one Jess had been wearing, save hers was all black, except that same blue ring.
She glanced at her reflection in the door mirror, blinking a little at the unexpected outline. She'd pulled the front catch all the way up, and the fabric had sealed around her neck, completely covering her collar and a part of her felt a little strange, looking at herself and not seeing that.
Thoughtfully, she studied herself, wondering how long she would get to wear the new clothes. Then she shrugged, finding several pairs of boots on the floor of the cabinet and selecting one of them to take back with her to the comfortable chair near the desk.
She sat down, and set the boots down next to her. Then she looked around, wondering if.. ah. She got back up and went to the counter on the other side of the sanitary room, where she'd spotted a refrigerated dispenser.
That, in it’s essential form, she knew. In the common spaces of the crèche there were always stations you could get a drink from and they looked pretty much like this one.
She opened it, and was cheered to find sealed containers of liquid and solids. She removed one of each and brought them back to the desk, feeling a luxury all out of proportion as she opened the liquid, finding it clear and clean and apparently water, and unwrapping the solids to discover crispy little crackers that smelled faintly of brine and were sprinkled with tiny seeds and salt.
Dev bit into one cautiously. It had an interesting taste, and after a few nibbles she decided she liked it.
She sat in her chair, munching her crackers and sipping from the water, looking around at this inconceivably huge space they'd assigned to her. She could see the upper level on one side had consoles, and she brightened, realizing she might be able to practice some of her programming. On the other side, she could see a couch, and what appeared to be a big console, with some shelves and mats. Jess had said something about relaxing up there, and Dev considered that maybe she could use it like she had her little cubicle back in the creche - as a place to sit quietly, and maybe read some of her book.
Everything was so different here, but different in a way she didn't mind, Dev decided. She finished her crackers and set her water aside, then she climbed up to the second level with her book in her hand, and sat down on the couch. It had an overhead light and she lay down bathed in it, opening the book and settling herself down to enjoy a page.
After a moment, she looked up, and looked around, then smiled, and shook her head.
**
"Are you kidding me?" Jason stared at Jess, aghast. "That's real?"
Jess glanced across at Bain, who merely tapped his fingers against his lips in silence. "Well." She said. "In that they brought a bio alt here, yes."
Jason looked at Bain. "Sir?"
"Yes?"
"Are you advocating this, sir?"
Bain regarded him. "You would not?"
Jason and Elaine exchanged glances. "Sir." He said, in a respectful tone. "We..." Then he paused, and a frown appeared on his long face.
"Caught in a conundrum?" Bain said. "I believe you were just about to inform me that you have to place great trust in your technical assistants, hmm? " He observed them. "And yet, we do indeed have a trust issue here. You do not trust your colleagues, you do not trust your leadership, and quite likely, you do not trust that I will not blow your heads off as I did the director's this morning. Hmm?"