Round 128 Transcript

Jeane's impatience is a tangible force pressing against my back, but I don't turn around. The welder hisses as I finish the final seam on the pressure plate assembly—clean, tight, efficient. "Demands aren't made when solutions are still being formulated," I say to the air behind me without looking up. "You want this done right? Then you'll get what I'm building here."

I stand between Jeane and Silra, my hands raised palms-outward in a gesture of calm. "Jeane," I say, voice measured but firm, "we're all feeling the pressure here. But threatening our engineer isn't going to make the repairs happen faster." I turn to Silra without breaking eye contact with the succubus. "Silra, what's your honest assessment? Can you finish in time?"