"I see you're appropriately ambitious, Doctor." You begin, leaning back in your seat and crossing your legs, as if put at ease by her initiative. "Use design lab 4, we're about to cycle programming so it should be available without you having to disturb the prior schedule, from there we'll render the sector six agenda to your discretion. I'm going to handpick a second team to validate your findings in a blinded fashion. Please, take no offense, you aren't exactly on proba-" You start to say, dishing out some of that disarming politeness you rely on so often in the office, but she cuts you off.

"Probation? No, I'm not offended, I don't see it as probationary. From what I'm told, someone with your attention to detail and efficiency wouldn't spare a second team unless you felt confident I may actually make real progress on this, right?" She interjects, looking a bit smug to have your support.

You nod, smirking. "You've been told rightly, then. If you succeed, it could drastically improve scale. But this is our flagship product, and our financial success is downstream of reputational success. So don't rush yourself. I think you'll find the software... unintuitive, but take that a sign of your own sanity, not a defect of the intellect. You're not in Kansas anymore. The sector six lab... Well, simply put, it can be challenging." A beat passes. "Of course, you've been hired because we believe you can meet those challenges."

She straightens her posture a bit, and nods. "Yes, absolutely. I did hear, well... Well nevermind. I know this will likely defy many of my expectations." The doctor says, breaking eye contact to stare at the holo-display.

"You heard what?" You pry. You're leveraging your position as the interviewer, and not allowing that slip of hers to slide. Your curiosity is, as ever, insatiable, especially where work is concerned. You have a suspicion what she is going to say, of course, and still you press.

>Cont'd