25
Even sitting on thin carpet over implacable concrete floor, Dale found sorting the jumble of plastic connectors soothing. The comforting smell of the plastic bags and polymer parts reminded him of unpacking new servers. He’d had worse work environments. His feet still ached from those abominable too-narrow new sneakers, but the miracle of peanut butter had cleared his head. The hallway wasn’t exactly isolated from the main conference, but the hallway’s curve kept the crowds out of sight and the noise to a distant rumble.
Dancing around the Chaos Machine, Imena’s deft fingers quickly finished the top of the scaffold and began clipping gears and wheels to the frame. Whatever skill she’d needed to craft her hair into those spectacular waves and curves seemed perfectly applicable to assem
