Du's On First?

Security Footage, Replication Studies Office, Site-43
11 October 2024

[Dr. Bastien LeBlanc enters Dr. William Wettle's office.]

Dr. LeBlanc: Hey, I've got a bunch of forms to deal with. Just need to check over some things with you.

Dr. Wettle: Sure, go on.

[Dr. Wettle waves dismissively as Dr. LeBlanc takes a seat.]

Dr. LeBlanc: OK. Request for a psych eval of a contained subject so that we can run some tests on it. Who is it that signs off on these, is it Ngo?

Dr. Wettle: No.

Dr. LeBlanc: Great, I'll send that off to her. Th—

Dr. Wettle: No.

Dr. LeBlanc: What?

Dr. Wettle: It's not Ngo. It's— hang on…

Dr. LeBlanc: Oh, I thought you said Ngo.

Dr. Wettle: I did say no.

Dr. LeBlanc: Then why—

Dr. Wettle: It's her deputy, I think. I forget his name.

[Dr. Wettle starts typing a query into his computer.]

Dr. LeBlanc: Oh! Dr. Nott, I think.

Dr. Wettle: Not him!

Dr. LeBlanc: Great, I'll—

Dr. Wettle: No!

Dr. LeBlanc: It is Ngo?

Dr. Wettle: No, it— n…

[Dr. Wettle stammers, then scowls and resumes typing.]

Dr. Wettle: Niven! That's the name. Damien Niven. Send it to him.

Dr. LeBlanc: Right, got it. Uh, then there was some stuff for Security & Containment…

Dr. Wettle: Oh.

Dr. LeBlanc: I thought O moved to P&S?

Dr. Wettle: What?

Dr. LeBlanc: Ji O moved to the MTF forces last year.

Dr. Wettle: What's G.O. stand for?

Dr. LeBlanc: No, that's her name.

Dr. Wettle: What's Ngo got to do with it?

Dr. LeBlanc: Nothing! The agent's name is O.

Dr. Wettle: Oh? Did you forget something?

Dr. LeBlanc: I'm fine. I just don't know who I'm sending this security paperwork to.

Dr. Wettle: Why have we got security paperwork?

Dr. LeBlanc: One of the keycard readers broke.

Dr. Wettle: Why?

Dr. LeBlanc: It was Lab W, actually. Lab Y is fine.

Dr. Wettle: Why did it break, Bastien?

Dr. LeBlanc: That would be because someone kept shaking the casing until it came loose.

Dr. Wettle: Fuck's sake. Isn't that a maintenance problem, not a security problem?

Dr. LeBlanc: Might be both. Does this report need to go to Torosyan and Kuroki?

Dr. Wettle: No.

Dr. LeBlanc: You want it sent to Ngo?

Dr. Wettle: NO!

Dr. LeBlanc: OK, I'll send it.

Dr. Wettle: No. Shut up. Shut the fuck up.

[Dr. Wettle takes a deep breath.]

Dr. Wettle: Send it to Torosyan only. Kuroki's already pissed at me for some reason.

Dr. LeBlanc: Didn't you photocopy your badge that one time? And those other six times?

Dr. Wettle: Shut up. What else?

Dr. LeBlanc: Uh, research proposal involving the DUAL Core.

Dr. Wettle: Send it to Du.

Dr. LeBlanc: I know it's to do, to be done by who?

Dr. Wettle: Zinyi Du in Quantum Supermechanics is who's doing it, Bastien.

Dr. LeBlanc: Isn't it pronounced Xinyi?

Dr. Wettle: Fuck knows!

Dr. LeBlanc: There's only one Ngo, and I don't think she'd like that.

Dr. Wettle: I hate you.

Dr. LeBlanc: What, the archivist who retired a decade ago?

Dr. Wettle: What?

Dr. LeBlanc: Yu Ong. Harry mentioned him to me. Miserable guy, apparently.

Dr. Wettle: You. Not Yu.

[Dr. LeBlanc opens his mouth, but Dr. Wettle interrupts him.]

Dr. Wettle: And not Nott the psychologist either. Don't start.

Dr. LeBlanc: Not not the psychologist? So it is the psychologist?

Dr. Wettle: …what other forms you got?

Dr. LeBlanc: Uh, fourth is a requisition form for general lab equipment.

Dr. Wettle: Oh, I know this one. Forth is in Temporal Anomalies.

Dr. LeBlanc: I haven't got any forms about temporal anomalies, luckily.

Dr. Wettle: Requisitions are what A&O do.

Dr. LeBlanc: I thought Du was in QS.

Dr. Wettle: Keep going.

Dr. LeBlanc: Some kind of general questionnaire about the department's activities, but the person I'm supposed to return it to is blank.

Dr. Wettle: Well, go take it across the hall then.

Dr. LeBlanc: Why would I take it across the hall?

Dr. Wettle: That's Blank's office.

Dr. LeBlanc: I mean, the bit of this paper that should have a name is blank.

Dr. Wettle: Well, go give it to him, then!

Dr. LeBlanc: Should I just write in a placeholder name there?

Dr. Wettle: NO! Fuck that, I don't want to go anywhere near that fucking guy.

Dr. LeBlanc: OK, I'll write in Ngo, then.

Dr. Wettle: No, uh…

Dr. LeBlanc: Noè's dead.

Dr. Wettle: Jesus Christ!

Dr. LeBlanc: He's also dead.

[Dr. Wettle shouts inarticulately.]

Dr. Wettle: Listen, you fucker. No Ngo. Not Nott. Nothing to do with Du. I don't know, and I don't care any more. Just send it to someone who actually gives two fucks!

Dr. LeBlanc: Ah, Dr. Fuchs is in Memetics. Should I give it to him?

[Dr. Wettle storms out of the office. Dr. LeBlanc follows slowly behind, meeting Dr. Gabrielle O'Connor outside.]

[Dr. O'Connor reluctantly reaches into her pocket and hands Dr. LeBlanc a $5 bill.]

Dr. O'Connor: I regret betting on that. It's way too easy to make that guy tie himself in a knot.

Dr. LeBlanc: I don't think Dr. Nott knows how to tie people up.

[Transcript ends.]