That discipline is going to matter, he nodded. I hope it helps the workers. It already has, she said. We've already identified four systems across three facilities that should be offline pending repair. They're coming down today.
He stood with that for a moment. Four systems. Three facilities. Workers who operating around equipment that had been flagged and deferred and reclassified until someone decided to look carefully at the gap between what was reported and what was real. Good, he said, and meant it completely.
That evening, his phone rang at 8:17. Victoria, how are you? She said, not business, not debrief, just the question. Tired, he said. Good.
Tired. Chen Ping says your documentation is exceptional. Chen Ping is efficient. I like her. She said the same about you.
A pause. Four systems are coming offline for repair. I heard Darius. Her voice did the complicated thing again. The thing it did when she was allowing something through.
Because of you. Because of a lot of people, he said. The workers who filed the original reports. Chen Pings team, you for calling the audit when you could have buried it. I wasn't going to bury it.
I know, he said. That's what I'm saying. She was quiet for a moment. I want to come over, she said. Not to talk about any of this.
Just I want to sit somewhere that isn't connected to any of it. Amara's here. I know. I thought maybe I could if that's Come over. He said she was there in 40 minutes.
She walked in and Amara looked up from the book she was reading and said with a magnificent casualness of a child who has decided to pretend something is normal so that it becomes normal. Hi Victoria. Dad made enough pasta if you want some. Victoria looked at Darius. He shrugged.