Not Really Sure
Tuesday, November 6, 1973.
Michael
Sophie enters the URIEL conference room early on Tuesday morning for a meeting with Marshall; she's been told to put together her personnel files and to have reviewed both the ALLOCHTHON AAR and the record of Hilary's colloquium from Huntsville. As Marshall walks into the conference room, she smiles. "Good morning!" Given the overall tenor of change since the end of ALLOCHTHON, she has some inkling of what's going to be happening the next couple of weeks and seems eager to get started.
Brant
“Good morning, Sophie,” Marshall says with a smile. He’s growing his hair out again; it’s still pretty effed up from the gunshot wound. “Let’s get to it.”
So first things first, Marshall is going to fill Sophie in on some of the details that are missing from the official AAR — informing her of what really happened. He’ll also give her a copy of the mission statement he sent to Control. Basically get her caught up to what the Club knows, though he’ll keep the details of him shooting himself in the head to a minimum.
“The long and short is that you and I will be working together more closely — which is good. A good opportunity for both of us to think differently. And part of that is this thing with the Indians. Jocasta and Roger are both insistent that we incorporate Native ontology into our analysis. And Mitch wanted me to tap these two women,” he slides Marias’ and Bertha’s files across the table, “for our use. My understanding is that they are already affiliated with the Project. But loosely. Plus we have Rose now — Charley’s mom. I was thinking we’d fund a guest lecturer or fellowship for her at Berkeley. In short: URIEL needs an Indian studies research group, something that can work for us in a supportive capacity. No fieldwork. Obviously.”
Michael
"This is fascinating, Marshall," Sophie says as she reads the notes from the Postel Colloquium. "America has always been a huge blank for the Duncorne crowd, an empty variable—theorizing on the reality of pre-Ontoclysm civilizations here in America and the pre-Ontoclysm Anunnaki presence here has never really been on their radar, and to a large extent SANDMAN inherited that blind spot. Yes, of course, a research study group seems eminently logical. American history before colonization is not my area of expertise of course, but with Ms. Cody and Reiche onside, we should be able to draw from the best and brightest."
And then Sophie takes a moment to collect herself and says, "And RAVEN... Rose, apologies. Of course. Her expertise is right in this area, isn't it? How is she doing? Is she getting adequate care? And Charley, poor thing, it must be overwhelming for her." Marshall detects under the surface some disquiet roiling Sophie's general post-brainhack bubbliness, like something about Rose is bringing up unsettling memories for Sophie.
Brant
"Yes, the file we got on her," Marshall fishes another manila folder out of the redwell he always seems to be carrying these days, hands it to Sophie; it is a copy of the dossier he received when he and Archie met Rose on the airfield, "indicates that she's an expert in this field." A pause.
"She seems to be doing ... alright. I think she has a fairly bumpy road ahead of her. We're going to put Viv on the case, monitor her development and reintegration and report back to you and I on her status. Charley ... I don't know. The Program coupled with what she's been doing with us, here, the past many months, I think it largely burned the family-empathy-attachment model out of her brain. I don't know if Charley will ever be able to think of anyone as a 'parent,' not in any real sense."
"Anyway. Going forward it will mostly be you, Roger, Dave, and whoever Roger taps as his protege here at Livermore. Are you prepared to manage the office alone? Largely alone? Do you have any thoughts or proposals for making this transition — Archie going to LA, me moving downtown, you know — smoother?"
Michael
Sophie leaves the Rose-and-Charley conversational thread behind at Marshall's prompting to speak freely about the reorganization. "Oh yes, of course. If I'm understanding correctly, Livermore's role going forward will be that of logistical support: research, materiel, our... reserve of pragmaclasts. I feel more than capable of managing that. Northern California ops headquarters as you mention at the Kearny Street offices across from the Examiner. Southern California, then," she checks Archie's preliminary proposals, "'MORNINGSTAR and AUGEGOTTES to be substantially combined and become a second California ops center' under Archie, 'location or locations to be determined'."
Sophie pauses. "My concerns, Marshall—if any, because I think this is an excellent plan logistically—have to do with the intangibles. There was a lot of talk before I left for my... mandatory rehabilitation assignment about how our team cohesion was very high after the St. Francis. Have you had any thoughts on how expanding URIEL's operations, diluting and separating the original team, might cause URIEL to lose that unique spark, that psychosocial matrix that have encouraged and enabled us to 'think differently'? I suppose it all does come down to the new personnel whom we are recruiting," Sophie says, looking at Bertha's, Dave's, and Rose's dossiers in front of her. "Am I being asked to do some personnel psychological analysis here? If so, I wouldn't mind bringing on Viv to help with that aspect, and I can bring my esmological skills to bear; they're not as useful on the small scale, of course, but I can definitely see who's a better fit, say, for the climes and cultures of Northern versus Southern California."
Brant
"Oh, no — no psych eval necessary. Archie will be picking his own team, mostly, so you needn't concern yourself too much with that. Our role here is merely to support him. And I'll be handling the psycho-social matrix element here. I'm not overly concerned about our expansion's impact on unit cohesion. I said as much to Arch, in Huntsville: that certain of us are linked by fate. By the dharma. The Math requires us to work together. So we will. But in terms of esmological analysis, without Archie, a lot of that will fall to you. We will be relying on you to tell us which way the Math is pointing -- be it the Enemy or somewhere else. Plus I think you're probably a better demographic point-of-contact for these assets," Marshall concludes, tapping Marias' and Bertha's files. He stands. "Unless there's anything else I need to head out. Call the Mission if you need me; we'll aim to meet early next week for a status update."
Michael
"Oh! Oh I see, of course. You know, I hadn't considered the questions of sex when it comes to balancing these teams, but, well, it's good to hear you considering them, Marshall. As for the esmology position, I take the responsibility very seriously, as I always have. Knowing what is happening on the esmological level, the systemic responses and feedback to what Archie will be doing down in Los Angeles, in addition to the threads that these new members of the team might be pulling at... I'll make sure I'm collecting all the necessary data and that my esmological senses are sharp."
Brant
Marshall nods, gathers his things, and turns to leave. But at the door he pauses, then looks back over his shoulder at Sophie. “I should say, I’m sorry for before — how it all unfolded, and my treatment of you. Hopefully my behavior makes more sense in hindsight. Anyway, water under the bridge?”
Michael
"Marshall..." Sophie takes off her glasses and smiles winsomely, with a self-conscious shrug. "I was rogue. Exhibiting behavior that was suspicious at best and a security risk at worst. I don't hold any grudges about it. At all. The work is here, and I'm back at it. I'm excited for what the future might bring with this new mission statement." She holds up the Control proposal. "It's bold, new thinking. I'm sure there are going to be those in the Project who are going to be dicey about it. We'll need to be aware of that possible friction. Esmologically and operationally."
"But how do you feel about all this? This new set of mission parameters, the new position... it's all a big change for you, personally." She puts a pleading look on her face, curious as to how Marshall feels about the new mission. There's a sense of genuine curiosity Marshall can sense through body language and tone of voice. The Old Sophie would have never asked a question like this, or at least in this way, of Marshall. The New Sophie is a completely different puzzle to figure out: an open book, extroverted, obfuscating her own emotional responses a lot less than before she was hacked.
Brant
Marshall turns a little and looks at Sophie confusedly. “How do I feel about it? Hm. You know, I’m not really sure.” He leaves.