Mcmolly — Roleplayer Guild

Eli was saluting before she could fully comprehend that it was Graham before her, and it was only after her mind caught up to her eyes that she felt a shallow unwillingness within her. Nevertheless, she stood cleanly at attention, presentable as far as protocol was concerned, and kept her eyes fixed on their new superior --in fact she had been shamefully unaware of Stein's accompanying presence, a fact she was unlikely to admit. 

It occurred to her then that she'd not yet spoken with Graham outside of more formal settings. Part of her was thankful that he was not different out of the briefing room, no jokes, no solemn speeches, no shattering confessions. His eyes scanned over her, and for the first time in a while, she felt like a blueprint under inspection. Her gut reaction was bitter, but no one except for her mother would have been able to tell, it was something they'd spent years trying to buff out together to no avail. After a moment though, she found a slight comfort in it, like all her jutting edges were sanded away, and she could once again fit into her mold. Once she might have flinched under such a gaze, but her life had been spent in the fires of critical eyes, his were no different. 

"Sir," Eli said, skipping directly to the second question. "If you require make and model numbers, I'm afraid you'll need to check my registry, as I don't have them memorized. If you require efficiency reports, I can tell you I've yet to encounter hardware-based issues, I operate at full capacity."

Her heart skipped a beat, a mixture of surprise and guilt flooding her at how nonchalantly she'd lied to her superior, and a solid lie at that. Eli never learned to lie well, she'd been an open book of facts since she could speak, and yet here she was, stretching the truth to her commander. If remaining composed hadn't been second nature, the subtle panic in her pulse might have come through, but she steeled her nerves and immediately told herself, over and over, that it wasn't a lie.

Then, at first absently but then urgently she remembered she was not alone, and worse, the girl accompanying her was perhaps one of only few that could oust her little fib. Stein was a good soldier, a loyal soldier, and had their positions been reversed Eli would likely have spoken up about it immediately. So she opted not to give Stein that opportunity, and moved to make her presence unnecessary.

"Otherwise, I believe Doctor Lofgren is processing the results of our simulation, they may not yet be complete. Is that satisfactory, sir?" There, prim and proper, the status-quo.
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