Korwin had done it again, messed up the parameters and molten a crystal we were on the verge of creating. I was livid. Furious.

— "That's it ! I'm reporting it this time!"

Anger was one of the only emotions I allowed myself to feel; it was a convenient drive when one had to fight. And even if I didn't use it daily, people cowered away from me when I glared.

— "Clean that mess up !", I snapped.

Then I turned to the closest droid.

— "List me all the fried components and order new ones. This cell must be decommissioned until we're sure it's safe enough to operate"

The helper droid started on its work, seconded by Dr Gubacher who always had a good contact with machines; it probably came from his background in artificial intelligence. His blue tentacles danced about the cell as he assisted the machine and I retreated, intend on filing a damage report on my datapad.

— "No need to get on your high horse, princess", grumbled a familiar voice.

— "Sahali !", Dr Gubacher warned from his seat.

I whirled around, coming face to face with a bitter old man, pissed that his lack of genius didn't gain him to be second in command of Galen. Plump and short, Sahali's hair had probably grayed out during the years he'd been trying to decode Erso's work.

— "There's certainly no need to whine either, Sahali. This mistake had caused damage, and might have seriously injured someone. So spare the sarcasm, and get back to whatever you were doing"

His thin lips curled in anger, but he didn't intimidate me. That man was the past, and he knew it. His insight didn't reach Galen's ankle, and it made him jealous to the point of destructiveness. His dark eyes flashed dangerously as he snarled.

— "Seconding Erso doesn't give you rights to speak to me that way. I was head of the…"

— "…Secret Weapon Section before I was born, I know."

I rolled my eyes there; it wasn't the first time he reminded me how young and inexperienced I was. Yet, I had made more headway with Erso's notes than he ever had. I took a step back to level him with a hard look.

— "And I'm sorry they had to hire me to pick up the torch because of your fumblings. Deal with it"

The scientist scoffed demeaningly, and a quick look around told me our little commotion had gathered quite some attention. Gubacher's main eye, especially, was narrowed behind the binoculars he always sported. But his frown didn't deter Sahali from his line of attack.

— "You're one to boast", he spat. "You didn't manage either"

True, how very true. And for a while, when I couldn't make heads or tails of Galen's notes, I really doubted myself. But now that I worked alongside the man, I had come to realise that despite my very peculiar intelligence, I could never come close to his way of thinking. Sometimes, he just fell outside of reality, so strongly that I had to remind him to sleep or eat. What that man could do was just unprecedented; every attempt to reproduce his work had been doomed to fail. And I was learning so much, just by being by his side, that I didn't feel undermined by his greatness.

Hence the need to put things back in order one last time. I stared into Sahali's pale eyes, considering how far he had fallen in his jealousy.

— "Nope, but I don't feel sore about it, and don't make the others pay for it. Now if you'll excuse me, I got a report to write"

— "Yeah, do that", he hissed. "Don't want to know how you gained your favours with Krennic, uh ? Special services ?"

I should have felt insulted, but it wasn't the first time I had heard such accusations. Many people had wondered why Krennic had chosen to hoist me to that rank. I was his protegee, rather untouchable and it pissed them. I know people thought me to be only a pretty face, or, more crudely, a pretty ass. I just shrugged, channeling my anger in a sly retort.

— "I'll be sure to let him know your opinion. I'm sure my mentor will appreciate you launching such rumours"

Stunned silence was my only response, and I resumed my course to the main desk. I didn't play the 'Krennic' card too often, but those insinuations were as insulting to him as they were to me. The director had never, ever, suggested anything of the sort between us. Never leered at me, or made any indecent proposal. There was affection between us, but I viewed him like a surrogate father – an uncle, perhaps ? – more than anything.

Galen was scribbling things in his office, seemingly unaffected by the mess and the horrible smell of carbonized components. Good. I wasn't so keen on explaining the confrontation to him. So I proceeded to my datapad to file up an incident complaint. But before I could send it, a warm hand suddenly grabbed my wrist. I whirled around, ready to strike at whomever had the gall to touch me without permission. My mind went blank when I suddenly faced a broad chest, my skin humming from the contact. I arched my neck, finding Galen's stubbled chin too close for my own comfort.

— "Don't do it", he said.

My eyebrows knitted, and Erso released my hand as I took a step back. I was fuming still, and pissed that he would dare confronting me on the safety of my team.

— "I cannot allow this lab to become the definition of entropy"

His lips twitched so imperceptibly that I wondered if I had seen correctly. But then, just when I thought he'd been amused by my reference to the principles of thermodynamics, his features hardened.

— "We can find another place for Korwin in this lab. Don't file that report"

— "Why ever not ?", I grit through my teeth.

I took another step back from Erso to prevent any of my colleagues from gathering that something was wrong. This was between me and my so called boss. Except that, in general, Erso was more than happy to give me the reins of the team, especially when it concerned material and human resources.

Flustered, the tall man bypassed me and turned his back to the main camera.

— "Hand me your notes", he ordered.

His voice was stern, his jaw clenched tightly and I wondered why the incident had affected him so badly. Especially since, a minute ago, I was quite sure he had not even noticed it. I took the booknote out of my uniform, and handed it to him with an exasperated huff.

If you report him, you sign his death warrant, he scribbled hastily.

I rolled my eyes. Way to be overly dramatic ! We didn't execute people from failing in the repub… in the galactic empire. A quick once over told me the diagnostics were being run and no one was paying attention to us. Good, because Erso's flair for dramatics was really getting on my nerves. Yet, the horrid smell remained and churned my stomach. Ugh ! What a shitty day. I took a deep breath, and returned to my surrealistic conversation with my paranoid colleague.

They'll just assign him to a less critical project

Galen glared at me, his teeth grinding against each other as he set his hands flat upon the desk. I'd never been the recipient of such a harsh look and it left me … floored. Damn, I hoped he didn't give his ten years old such glares because he sure as hell could be intimidating. To be honest, the fact that he towered over me, even bend over the desk, did help prove his point.

Fortunately, the matter was taken out of my hands with the arrival of the security brigade who demanded why the sensors had recorded a foreign chemical substance outside of the containment chamber. I hastily turned the page of our conversation so that my notebook only showed notes, and we all filed paperwork of reports without mentioning Korwin's name. The scientists were accustomed to those kind of incidents, and we knew how to cover our mistakes.

At the end of the day, young Korwin was still livid, and I took him aside to ensure that he would, by now, learn all our safety protocols by heart. As I lectured him, I could feel Erso's eyes boring holes in my back. I left this evening with a bitter taste in my mouth. Galen was even more paranoid than I thought, and I had not gained his trust at all. All those months, working alongside him, dealing with the lab to give his mind some space, for nothing !

All thoughts of his daughter and wife, the guilt and confusion flew through the window, leaving me with a furious envy to spend an evening drinking with the pilots. So I drank, and played simple card games, and gambled a little until I stumbled in my room. Alone. None of them had struck my fancy this night.

But the next day… the next day, Korwin was gone. I expected him to show up at any time. I waited. Waited, until an officer came to me and told me that he had been summoned to a disciplinary action and would be shipped to a less sensitive project. From his office, Erso gave me a meaningful look. One that said 'I told you so'. I shrugged, Korwin had probably been reaffected. What annoyed me, though, was that one of our team had spoken against him behind my back. And out of my ten scientists, I had no idea which one of them reported to my mentor.

Surely not Sahali, after he'd confronted me about being so harsh. It unsettled me not to know. Even I, a spy apprentice under his command, was not privy to every single ant that watched the facility. Who, in my team, reported directly to Krennic ?

The arcanes of war.

Uneasiness followed me for a few days, and while talk flew about a deeper containment chamber, about using pressure or the outer space cold to prevent flawed chemicals reactions, my mind couldn't help but wonder. What if Erso was right ?

A quick research on Korwin on my datapad gave nothing in the internal HoloNet; it meant nothing, he could have been reaffected anywhere. And I couldn't continue my research without anyone becoming suspicious. Well. I'd ask Director Krennic the next time he hopped by, surely he would know where our fellow teammate had been reaffected, and I would stop being paranoid.

So, we get to see how the lab works and the many paths of the scientists that are attempting to create the death star ultimate weapon. Don't hesitate to leave a comment, it feeds my muse. And since Star wars is not a worl I know well, you can also point out if you find inconcistencies. Nicely, of course :p