[22 / 4 / ?]
Quoted By:
"Ah, you're here. Good. We've got a problem. A big one." The overseer gestures to the sofa behind you as he gets up from his cluttered desk. Practically everything about this small office is cluttered--much like the overseer himself. His eyebrows and beard and hair have blended together into one homogenous mop. The first order of business when you're elected will be to clean this place up--or just do away with offices entirely. You doubt you'll need them on the outside.
"It's about time," you say, spreading your arms on the sofa back. "I don't know what you were thinking with the water rationing. Did you really think we wouldn't check the reservoir levels? That you could just hoard water and get away with it? I mean of all the boneheaded moves--"
"The controller chip for our water purification system has given up the ghost." The overseer doesn't even look at you. His hands are placed on his knees and his posture is so rigid and straight that it makes you uncomfortable just to look at him. "Can't make another one. And the process is too complicated for a workaround system." He gives you a second to digest this. Gradually your arms drop from the sofa and you lean forward, clasping your hands.
"Since when?"
"Is that important?"
"Since the rationing? That was… six months ago. You've been lying to us for six months? Does the council know about this?"
"They aren't yet aware of the… severity of our predicament."
You laugh. You don't know how else to respond to such insanity. "They'll crucify you for this, you know that? Forget impeachment, you're looking at a lethal injection."
The overseer's nonchalance unnerves you. He actually seems to relax a little at the mention of an execution. The situation must really be dire if the thought of a stimpack overdose is a happy one.
"Simply put," he continues, as if you hadn't spoken, "we're running out of drinking water. No water, no vault. It's crucial to our survival. And frankly, I… I think you're the only hope we have. You need go find us another controller chip."
You smile and begin shaking your head. "You really had me going there for a minute. 'You're the only hope we have'--that was really good. Nicely done playing to my vanity--maybe underestimating my intelligence a little bit--but kudos on a fine performance."
"We estimate we have another four to five months before the vault runs out of water. We need that chip." He gets up from his seat and heads for a small wall safe behind his desk.
1/3
"It's about time," you say, spreading your arms on the sofa back. "I don't know what you were thinking with the water rationing. Did you really think we wouldn't check the reservoir levels? That you could just hoard water and get away with it? I mean of all the boneheaded moves--"
"The controller chip for our water purification system has given up the ghost." The overseer doesn't even look at you. His hands are placed on his knees and his posture is so rigid and straight that it makes you uncomfortable just to look at him. "Can't make another one. And the process is too complicated for a workaround system." He gives you a second to digest this. Gradually your arms drop from the sofa and you lean forward, clasping your hands.
"Since when?"
"Is that important?"
"Since the rationing? That was… six months ago. You've been lying to us for six months? Does the council know about this?"
"They aren't yet aware of the… severity of our predicament."
You laugh. You don't know how else to respond to such insanity. "They'll crucify you for this, you know that? Forget impeachment, you're looking at a lethal injection."
The overseer's nonchalance unnerves you. He actually seems to relax a little at the mention of an execution. The situation must really be dire if the thought of a stimpack overdose is a happy one.
"Simply put," he continues, as if you hadn't spoken, "we're running out of drinking water. No water, no vault. It's crucial to our survival. And frankly, I… I think you're the only hope we have. You need go find us another controller chip."
You smile and begin shaking your head. "You really had me going there for a minute. 'You're the only hope we have'--that was really good. Nicely done playing to my vanity--maybe underestimating my intelligence a little bit--but kudos on a fine performance."
"We estimate we have another four to five months before the vault runs out of water. We need that chip." He gets up from his seat and heads for a small wall safe behind his desk.
1/3
