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So she wouldn’t. She wouldn’t press Play, even though everyone on Floor 12 had apparently listened to the episode and was asking her, in conspicuous glances over the course of that morning, whether she had too. Ava tuned out the whispering, S-Chat dings and murmuring. It reminded her of Mat’s first week at STÄDA, except that time the feeling had been of one giant, mutual contact high. This time it was as though everyone smelled something strange wafting from Ava’s desk. She could ignore the attention. She had years of practice ignoring people, and she would put that practice to use once again.
She met Jaime on Floor 2 at noon, as planned. Floor 2 was a modest, expansive floor, tightly carpeted, with rows of well-organized wooden drawers full of every tool, screw, bolt, and peg necessa
