You didn't? Well, happy marriages can have their secrets. Vita Clotilde-Morris took it upon herself to teach me that, she said, since I'd never have one.

[Oh, it's delicious to get that in, the blood in the water from the shards, but he's really supposed to be over this now.]

As for our chain of command. IT is the one really watching all the time from between the clusters, and he directly relays to us the information pertinent to our work. We knew about the whip that way, for example. That's why I can file reports from this chair instead of the desk, too.