“Of course! If I didn’t want to come out for a lecture, why would I come all the way up here? Although…” 3V drums on the arm of her chair, lost in a moment of consideration. “That’s not [i]all[/i] I’m looking for. After all, complaints about the world are a dime a dozen. There’s plenty to criticize, and, hell, the newspaper seems to be in the business of finding more things and digging them up, exposing them to the light, riding a wave of other people’s fury, helpless as our own, on the hopes that maybe we’ll lift it up to the feet of someone who can actually do something about it.”

A sip is taken: the espresso first, a jolt of stimulants to the system. “But you’ve [i]been[/i] through all this already. You’ve seen some of what works and what doesn’t. You might even have some [i]answers.[/i] Not, mind you, that I’m assuming you know how we can unfuck things, otherwise you’d probably have done it yourself, but— well, if you’re trying to make yourself heard, I’d love to hear some of your experience and not just, agh, you idiots, watch out, who’s driving this thing?!

“Or you could, you know, just tell us what we’re about to crash into. *Reclusive Scientist Predicts Social Collapse! If We Don’t Stop, The Consequences Could Be Severe,*” 3V says, with a flourish and a grin that’s really an attempt to gauge approval.