She sat next to him as he flipped to the first book in the New Testament and began scouring the pages until he found the 22nd chapter. She didn't miss the slight fingershake as he located the 14th verse.
"Matthew 22:14," he read aloud, "For many are...
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"Have a seat, Miss Khan."
Tasha sat in the chair across from Algernon's desk. She eyed him, sizing him up. Whenever Geoff walked into a room, his loud outfits and brash demeanor were what commanded attention to him. Algernon was the opposite. Though a few inches shorter than Geoff, he seemed to stand taller. His confidence wasn't arrogance, and attention seemed to find him despite his all-black attire. His blue eyes weren't icy, but ocean-y, and his wavy dark hair was brushed back to perfection. Even without his mask, which he typically reserved for video meetings, his face was always carefully composed. Tasha had picked that trait up from him. It came in pretty useful.
"Miss Khan?" Tasha repeated back, raising a brow. "Am I in trouble?"
"No, there's no trouble. I want to share the newest numbers with you."
"From the simulation," she said dryly.
"You have doubts."
"I'm not a kid anymore," Tasha answered. "It's just not lining up."
Ordinarily, he would have given her a flash drive with a code and access to 24 folders, but this time he handed her a physical folder. Six, to be exact. She opened the first and looked up sharply. "So I was right."
"This will be the new format going forward," he answered.
"These are real." Tasha flipped through the papers quickly and then shut them again. "So it's true. The Trial actually started."
"Yes."
"How long ago?"
"Irrelevant."
"To you, maybe," she muttered.
"I understand your frustration–"
"Why didn't you just tell me?" She interrupted, standing up and taking the files to her own desk. She set them down and turned with her arms crossed.
"I know you believe that we aren't ready for real testing–"
"–human testing," she corrected.
"I agree. It's soon," he answered calmly. "As you and I are both aware, the Council has some unrealistic demands and expectations. And with the blessing of Masashi, who wanted you in the dark as long as possible, we began switching over to actual results."
Tasha fell silent and mulled it over. Of course Masashi didn't want her involved until the last second. The man couldn't decide what he wanted when it came to her future.
"From here on out, you're no longer an intern. You will be joining me in meetings with the Council and going over participant chart details with the other Captains."
"I noticed some of the info was redacted..."
"Ah, yes," he confirmed. "Not all information will be available to you."
"Of course not."
"Understand that while I am your direct superior, all commands come from the top down."
She was silent for a moment. "Understood."
"Good." He sat at his own desk and looked across the room at her. "Masashi's intention is for you to be our Director one day. But it begins a single step at a time. There will come a day when you know far more than you want to know, and you'll long for the day when someone used to redact that info to protect you."
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