Number Six stared at Alex`s profile as she cleared away the remains of his lunch. Lucky was right. He had to win her trust somehow. He had to find a way to break the ice. Why not just ask her? He smiled inwardly. It was the one thing that none of the others would ever do.

　　`Why so tense?` he said.

　　`I`m not tense,` said Alex.

　　`She said, tensely,` said Six.

　　`Putting it like that doesn`t make it any more true.` Alex left the room with the lunch trays.

　　Maybe it was a mistake to go after her like that? Maybe he should focus on whatever they weren`t telling him about Five? Maybe if he pushed that angle she would loosen up about everything else? One more try and then he`d switch track.

　　Alex returned. For a moment, when she was framed in the doorway, Six was struck again by her beauty. Then he remembered the mess she`d made of the magus and the moment was gone.

　　`If tense isn`t the right word, what is?` said Six.

　　`There`s nothing wrong with me,` said Alex.

　　`Half my job is knowing when people are hiding something. You keep taking a breath like you`re going to say something, and then stopping yourself, and then sighing.`

　　`I do not.`

　　`Once during breakfast. Three times over the crossword. Four times since our visit from Seven and his new flame,` said Six.

　　`You really think she`s his new flame? She said they hadn`t done anything yet,` said Alex.

　　`Yet. It`s just a matter of time. I bet she`s already seen him with his shirt off. If she enjoys men at all, she`s already picturing it every time she looks at him.`

　　`How much time do you spend thinking about your colleague with his shirt off?` said Alex.

　　`I think about a lot of people with their tops off. And while we`re being honest why don`t you tell me what it is that you`re not letting yourself talk about?`

　　`A truth for a truth?` said Alex.

　　`Depends on the truth,` said Six.

　　`Tell me about that nightmare you had.`

　　`You first. I don`t want to open my very soul to you and then have you decide my bad dream wasn`t authentic enough,` said Six.

　　`I suppose you did ask first,` said Alex.

　　She sat and stared down at her hands for a moment before speaking. `Not long after the last time we worked together I delegated some of my responsibilities to one of my subordinates. Specifically I passed on the Historian of Secrets job. Which is why I`m sitting here with you and not in my office looking through the entire Blank Program archive for suspects.`The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

　　`And it`s killing you that you can`t look in our files,` said Six.

　　`I wouldn`t go that far but it is annoying,` said Alex.

　　`You`re the boss. Demand copies,` said Six.

　　`I could. But I really shouldn`t,` said Alex.

　　`You`re scared of your own subordinate?` said Six.

　　`I`m not scared of her.` She sounded incredulous enough at the suggestion for that to be true. `It`s more that I`m worried about the consequences of interfering.`

　　`She`s fragile?`

　　`Not really.` Alex sagged a little. `This is my fault. This is a lesson not to delegate when you`re angry. She thinks I gave her the job because I was angry that you turned me down. She thinks her promotion was a fuck you aimed at you.`

　　`And it wasn`t?` said Six.

　　`No. I was angry with myself not you. I picked her because she`s the best person for the job. I probably should have passed the job on much earlier. She`s more grounded than I am. Much less prone to showing off.`

　　`I bet you`ve never actually told her that,` said Six.

　　`No. And if I`d just waited until I was calm I would have. I`d have handed the job over properly. Maybe split some of it. Instead I dumped the whole thing in her lap and told her to get on with it. She knew I was angry. She heard what triggered my decision.`

　　`And she thought she was being punished?` said Six.

　　`No. She thinks you`re being punished. With her. She thinks I gave her the job because I think that she`s repulsive, or unfuckable, or something. If I ask to look at the files she`ll think I think she`s incompetent too.`

　　`And if you try to set her mind at rest at some point you`re going to find yourself telling your subordinate that you think she`s totally fuckable?` said Six.

　　`Or trying to tell her that I think she looks fine but she`s not my type. Either one will lead to a very intense, and potentially final, conversation with Cepha,` said Alex.

　　There was something behind all this. Something that grabbed for Six`s attention. `She knows,` he said.

　　`Who?`

　　`Cepha. She already knows. That`s why you`re here and not in your office. And why she didn`t tell you to share the work. Reviewing all our files must be a huge task. It would make sense to have you work on it too. But she`s put you in my room and put your subordinate firmly in charge of the job. Your boss is admirably devious.`

　　`So about your nightmare,` said Alex.

　　`It`s just a dream. It doesn`t mean anything,` said Six.

　　`Let me be the judge of that,` said Alex.

　　`Fine. But no complaints. I have this dream a lot. I`m in the desert. It`s dark but I know it will be morning soon. I hear a noise in the distance. It`s halfway between screaming and crying. In the dream I don`t want to see what`s making the noise. So I start running away from it.`

　　`Are you scared of the noise?` said Alex.

　　`It`s more like dread or revulsion than fear. I know the thing is horrible and I don`t want to have to look at it. So I run but it keeps getting closer. And then I realise my feet are slowing down. The harder I try the slower I move. Eventually I can hear the noise right behind me. And I know that it`s death. Not my death but the deaths I`ve caused. Usually that`s when I wake up. But sometimes I can`t resist turning to look at death. It`s a person all wrapped up in cloth like a shroud. Only the eyes are showing. I always recognise the eyes but they`re never the same. Sometimes it`s someone I`ve killed. Sometimes it`s someone who died because of things I did, or didn`t do. Sometimes it`s someone who lost someone because of me. When I wake up I can`t stop thinking about the person I saw.`

　　Alex scowled at him as if she thought he was hiding something. `That`s a pretty standard regret dream. Why would you lie about it?` she said.

　　`I can`t afford regrets in my line of work,` said Six.

　　`That doesn`t sound very sustainable,` said Alex.

　　#