Devika simply let Hob's unrelenting tide of bitterness and resentment, unforgiving anger and deep hurt wash over her, her dark eyes never leaving Hob's face for a moment, all her attentions for him entirely as she absorbed each and every word he spoke. She stood to her feet with him as he did, no matter that now she had to crane her neck back just so, and take a couple steps backward to keep his face in sight.

"You seem a [i]very[/i] honest man, Hob," Devika finally said, waiting until she was sure his tirade had finally ebbed, concluded with a despondent glance toward a beeping handheld device. A small, thoughtful smile never once fled her face, as she decided - without the least hint of irony - that this first meeting certainly could have gone far worse. At the very least he hadn't thrown a punch - something not outside her own personal experience, and the criteria by which all "really bad encounters" were ever after measured.

"I find that a rare and exceptional quality. Memorable even, worthy of note and not monstrous in the least."

"Up until two days ago, I never knew you existed - not you or Yuriko or Charlie or Singh or [i]any[/i] of you - or even that there was such person as an 'NI-tech.' Even if someone had told me, I'd have laughed in his face and just assumed someone sprinkled the 'special 'shrooms' on his pizza slice, and then immersed himself in a bad trip with way too much Asimov or Heinlein."

"I cannot make a single thing right again for you Hob, not the way it was. What they did to you and all the other techs was... Is... [i]Unconscionable.[/i]" Devika sighed slowly through her nose, her mouth a thin tight line as her tiny frame shuddered. Some dark fury flitted across her face only to vanish entirely an instant later, as if it had never been. "What I [i]will [/i]do, is never lie to you, or to any of the other neuro-techs. You all deserve far better than that."

[i]'More than we can ever repay. Forgotten, Hob? If I had my way, there'd be a statue of you and yours in every town square ever built on New Canaan from now 'til the end of time. Humanity should never forget the heroes who sacrificed their entire lives to save them. It'd be a damned law... '[/i] 

"So to answer your... Well, your [i]question,[/i] I suppose? I'm in charge of the medical technicians and personnel who run and maintain the neural interface chambers. And no, I'm not in charge of [i]you[/i] at all. My sole purpose is to ensure you stay healthy, that you have whatever you need, whatever makes your life easier, better, to do what it is you and your the other NI-techs do that keeps an ungrateful humanity alive in the vacuum of space. God above... " Devika chuckled to herself humorlessly. "How could I be in charge of you Hob, when I've the barest inkling of all you can do?"

"By this point though, I imagine words aren't worth the breath used to utter them. I don't expect you to believe me, much less give me even a little trust - but I'll earn it if you give me just half a chance." Devika pressed her fingertips to the door's access lock, the metal door sliding open easily with a soft [i]hiss.[/i] Her dark eyes fell over the personnel who too-quickly stood up straight from the walls they'd been leaning leisurely against, a couple of them even having the decency to look a little guilty getting caught at slacking off.

"Lieutenant Harris, please take Jay and Isaiah to Yuriko's chamber, and make sure everything there is equipped. I'll be along shortly... Thank you... Ladies, please step out so Hob can have some privacy to change." Harris did not waste the opportunity to "surreptitiously" give Devika the stink eye as she passed with the two med techs, enroute to the another NI chamber with a cart load of supplies. Three other female med techs stepped outside the chamber to stand beside of the little woman with the larger than life presence, and looked expectantly to Hob.

That small, tentative smile returned as Devika looked up to the man with the scruffy beard and the untrusting eyes. "There will be changes - for the good, I pray, with the first order of business being more than four hours of sleep at a time. I'll do whatever I can, up to and including throttling a psych specialist or two with my bare hands. Oh, don't you laugh at me now - even little people can be scary in the right situations you know." The devilish little grin she flashed to Hob belied the large, gentle dark eyes she batted oh-so-innocently for a moment. 

"Honestly, I'd like to sit down and talk with you and all the other NI techs at length, to hear what you have to say, what you'd like to see done - or undone even. But I know you have to relieve Port Watch here imminently." She nodded toward the opened doorway. 

"I'll knock before I come back in."