Mirian sniggered, at first, at Alex playing off of her âpeople modeâ phrasing, but her first thought for a responseâthat perhaps they were both in good companyâdied on her tongue as the sarcastic tone of his laugh sank in.Â
He wasnât joking. He was jabbing.
Mirianâd had forty years to learn the difference.Â
She was caught off-guard by the startled discomfort that lanced through her chestâsheâd outgrown this shit, damn it, and she was supposed to be professional right now besides, unfamiliar context and all.
But this one hit a little close to home, and the thing was, maybe she deserved it.
Miria stopped looking at Alex, abruptly deciding that even if his facial features were large enough for her to have a better chance at reading his expression she didnât actually want that info right this moment, and scooted the roller chair over to the computer instead.
 âYâknow, I always wanted to make that one work,â she said, mouth off and running as she waited for the governmentâs stupid checklist to load. âPeopleâd ask âWhere are you from?â and Iâd lay the drawl on just a little extra thick and say âGeorgia,â like they were stupid, because they were. But, well. 50/50 whether they believed me, and anyway, I knew I was born in India and that thatâs what they were really asking, even if I couldnât remember jack shit about the place. Kind of took the satisfaction out of it.â Â
She laughed at herself, derisive at the edges, because of course she was still babbling.
âPoint is: sorry, for whatever itâs worth. I didnât mean to ask where youâre from.â She still wasnât entirely sure how she had, metaphorically or otherwise, but that was a problem for laying-up-at-night Mirian. On-the-clock Mirian didnât get to have regrets; only course-corrections.Â
âI do have a whole slew of contractually-obligated questions to ask, though, so. Work mode it is!â She gave up on squinting at the computer, which had not been set to an enlarged UI like she requested and which was taking far too long to navigate, and turned to face Alex once more. She had his chart and some scratch paper and she could totally wing this. She had been studying.
âFirst off: how are you feeling today? Any concerns?â