"You have to write something."
Javier slumped back in his chair, the open document on the screen before him conspicuously empty. He looked up at Edna, desperately. "Must I?"
The Titan nodded gravely. "You must. You took a job. When you take a job, you gotta get it done."
"Ugh." Javier pressed his hands over his face.
"What's the problem, anyway?" Edna asked, toying with an antique pistol on Javier's shelf. "Should be easy work for you, reviewing a gun."
Javier glared out through a gap in his fingers. "I couldn't give less of a fuck about Suros' latest iteration of their uninspired, bog-standard hand cannon. There is nothing to say about it beyond the fact it works and its fine."
"Sounds like someone wishes he hadn't left his old job."
"I didn't leave, I got laid off—and Häkke's benefits sucked anyway. But at least their guns were good."
Edna raised an eyebrow. "Suros' guns aren't good?"
Slumping further into his seat, Javier raised a hand to fend off any impending criticism. "I'm not saying they don't make something good now and then, but let's not mess about, eh? Suros has been riding on the success of the Regime line and its old artificial scarcity for years, and strictly speaking they didn't even design that platform."
"So maybe you should say that." Edna returned the ancient handgun to the shelf and leaned close to examine a row of archaic ammunition specimens.
"Ha, yeah, sure—and lose my job without even getting my first article published. Solid advice."
The Titan crossed her arms, which was like two strong trees growing around each others, and shook her head. "I'm not saying you should shit on Suros' entire business. I'm saying you should talk about how the company's reputation is built upon the Regime, and situate this new piece in terms of that lineage."
Javier blinked and sat up partway. "Situate? Did you say situate?"
Edna shrugged smugly. "Contrary to popular belief, Titans can read, you know—and some of us do."
(Cantata-57 w/ Crucible Prestige)