It's frustrating. Annoying. Maddening, really.

Isabelle [i]should [/i]be able to work this out. She's studied AI, she's studied engineering. Heck, she's even studied Zaldarian Nanotech - albeit as much as is available within the Consortium's scientific literature.

So why is it so [i]hard?[/i]

The sound of the embarrassing audio fades into meaningless static.

Buzz. Buzz. Buzz.

Maybe someone smarter than her could get it. Someone who has their shit together. Someone like As- [b][i]No[/i][/b]. 

Not going there. Focus on the problem. [i]Try [/i]to Focus. Ignore the image the flashes into your mind. The hurt. The stare. Those eyes.

No blushing anymore. Grip the console hard. Just a dull weight inside. The numbness of a wound not yet healed.

Focus, instead, on the problem in front of you. Manipulate the interface. But why is there water on your hands? Your cheeks? Why is it getting hard to breathe?

Honestly, Isabelle, this isn't the time. You're trying to learn about a vast and mysterious security system that might be sentient here. Panic attacks can wait.

She punches the console, hard enough to cut her hand.

[Roll to read a person. 1 + 3 + 0 = [b]4[/b] Womp Womp.]