Number Six stared at Alex’s profile as she cleared away the remains of his lunch. Lucky was right. He had to win her trust somehow. He had to find a way to break the ice. Why not just ask her? He smiled inwardly. It was the one thing that none of the others would ever do.

'Why so tense?' he said.

'I’m not tense,' said Alex.

'She said, tensely,' said Six.

'Putting it like that doesn’t make it any more true.' Alex left the room with the lunch trays.

Maybe it was a mistake to go after her like that? Maybe he should focus on whatever they weren’t telling him about Five? Maybe if he pushed that angle she would loosen up about everything else? One more try and then he’d switch track.

Alex returned. For a moment, when she was framed in the doorway, Six was struck again by her beauty. Then he remembered the mess she’d made of the magus and the moment was gone.

'If tense isn’t the right word, what is?' said Six.

'There’s nothing wrong with me,' said Alex.

'Half my job is knowing when people are hiding something. You keep taking a breath like you’re going to say something, and then stopping yourself, and then sighing.'

'I do not.'

'Once during breakfast. Three times over the crossword. Four times since our visit from Seven and his new flame,' said Six.

'You really think she’s his new flame? She said they hadn’t done anything yet,' said Alex.

'Yet. It’s just a matter of time. I bet she’s already seen him with his shirt off. If she enjoys men at all, she's already picturing it every time she looks at him.'

'How much time do you spend thinking about your colleague with his shirt off?' said Alex.

'I think about a lot of people with their tops off. And while we’re being honest why don’t you tell me what it is that you’re not letting yourself talk about?'

'A truth for a truth?' said Alex.

'Depends on the truth,' said Six.

'Tell me about that nightmare you had.'

'You first. I don’t want to open my very soul to you and then have you decide my bad dream wasn’t authentic enough,' said Six.

'I suppose you did ask first,' said Alex.

She sat and stared down at her hands for a moment before speaking. 'Not long after the last time we worked together I delegated some of my responsibilities to one of my subordinates. Specifically I passed on the Historian of Secrets job. Which is why I’m sitting here with you and not in my office looking through the entire Blank Program archive for suspects.'

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'And it’s killing you that you can’t look in our files,' said Six.

'I wouldn’t go that far but it is annoying,' said Alex.

'You’re the boss. Demand copies,' said Six.

'I could. But I really shouldn’t,' said Alex.

'You’re scared of your own subordinate?' said Six.

'I’m not scared of her.' She sounded incredulous enough at the suggestion for that to be true. 'It’s more that I’m worried about the consequences of interfering.'

'She’s fragile?'

'Not really.' Alex sagged a little. 'This is my fault. This is a lesson not to delegate when you’re angry. She thinks I gave her the job because I was angry that you turned me down. She thinks her promotion was a fuck you aimed at you.'

'And it wasn't?' said Six.

'No. I was angry with myself not you. I picked her because she’s the best person for the job. I probably should have passed the job on much earlier. She’s more grounded than I am. Much less prone to showing off.'

'I bet you’ve never actually told her that,' said Six.

'No. And if I’d just waited until I was calm I would have. I’d have handed the job over properly. Maybe split some of it. Instead I dumped the whole thing in her lap and told her to get on with it. She knew I was angry. She heard what triggered my decision.'

'And she thought she was being punished?' said Six.

'No. She thinks you’re being punished. With her. She thinks I gave her the job because I think that she’s repulsive, or unfuckable, or something. If I ask to look at the files she’ll think I think she’s incompetent too.'

'And if you try to set her mind at rest at some point you’re going to find yourself telling your subordinate that you think she’s totally fuckable?' said Six.

'Or trying to tell her that I think she looks fine but she’s not my type. Either one will lead to a very intense, and potentially final, conversation with Cepha,' said Alex.

There was something behind all this. Something that grabbed for Six’s attention. 'She knows,' he said.

'Who?'

'Cepha. She already knows. That’s why you’re here and not in your office. And why she didn’t tell you to share the work. Reviewing all our files must be a huge task. It would make sense to have you work on it too. But she’s put you in my room and put your subordinate firmly in charge of the job. Your boss is admirably devious.'

'So about your nightmare,' said Alex.

'It’s just a dream. It doesn’t mean anything,' said Six.

'Let me be the judge of that,' said Alex.

'Fine. But no complaints. I have this dream a lot. I’m in the desert. It’s dark but I know it will be morning soon. I hear a noise in the distance. It’s halfway between screaming and crying. In the dream I don’t want to see what’s making the noise. So I start running away from it.'

'Are you scared of the noise?' said Alex.

'It’s more like dread or revulsion than fear. I know the thing is horrible and I don’t want to have to look at it. So I run but it keeps getting closer. And then I realise my feet are slowing down. The harder I try the slower I move. Eventually I can hear the noise right behind me. And I know that it’s death. Not my death but the deaths I’ve caused. Usually that’s when I wake up. But sometimes I can’t resist turning to look at death. It’s a person all wrapped up in cloth like a shroud. Only the eyes are showing. I always recognise the eyes but they’re never the same. Sometimes it’s someone I’ve killed. Sometimes it’s someone who died because of things I did, or didn’t do. Sometimes it’s someone who lost someone because of me. When I wake up I can’t stop thinking about the person I saw.'

Alex scowled at him as if she thought he was hiding something. 'That’s a pretty standard regret dream. Why would you lie about it?' she said.

'I can’t afford regrets in my line of work,' said Six.

'That doesn’t sound very sustainable,' said Alex.

#