Work Text:
Laplace was known to be a place full of eccentric people.
The Foundation always regarded them with caution, but to be honest, Enigma thought, even those that worked for Laplace regarded their fellow researchers with caution. Occupational hazard, one could say. Enigma preferred to call it self-preservation and avoid the other researchers like the plague.
He couldn't do that now, though, since Lucy had decided to retire and put him in charge within the same breath. And someone had quietly suggested that he get to know some of the more eccentric workers that he'd be working with so that he knew who exactly he was dealing with, and well, it had been a good suggestion.
But perhaps he shouldn't have started with Medicine Pocket.
Or rather, he should've just ignored the 'get to know the others' advice he'd been given entirely.
Because there was no amount of preparation that could've prepared him for the onslaught of requests and complaints that Medicine Pocket had. It wasn't as if Enigma didn't already know who Medicine Pocket was—everyone in both Laplace and the Foundation knew who they were—but if he hadn't at least swung by to see the researcher after Lucy's departure… well he didn't want to think about that. So here he was, listening to Medicine Pocket rant on and on about something he'd long forgotten the point of, and Enigma sorely regretted leaving his office that morning.
But then again, he'd seen Ulrich approaching it as he'd rounded the corner, so really, it was a lose-lose situation from the beginning.
"Medicine Pocket," Enigma sighed, dragging a hand down his face and ignoring the irritated huff the researcher let out at the interruption, "funding is limited right now, I cannot approve more until I meet with the Foundation."
"Well why haven't you?" Medicine Pocket snapped and waved their hand about. "Ulrich's getting things but I'm not allowed? That's not fair!"
"Ulrich is not—" Enigma began to say and regretted it immediately when papers were shoved into his chest, the corners chewed or torn off completely. He should've known better, Medicine Pocket was still upset about the Awakened taking all the assymetrical nuclide R, and if there was anyone that could hold a grudge, it was them. Carefully, he read through the papers; they were approvals for materials from the warehouses. With his signature on them. And yet, he had never seen them before now. He sighed, "I will talk to Ulrich, but I stand by my decision. I am not approving what you need yet."
Medicine Pocket's glare was venomous but they nodded once, "you better or that fish bowl's gonna find some cracks in him!"
And before Enigma could get another word in, they were gone, storming out of their own lab and off to who knew where. Enigma sighed and glanced down at the papers again before he turned and followed the researcher with the intention of tracking Ulrich down to demand some answers. Was he surprised that the Awakened had forged his signature? No, not in the slightest. Was he annoyed that Ulrich had forged his signature? Beyond reasonable measures.
It didn't take long for him to get to Ulrich's lab, only to discover that the Awakened wasn't there. An assistant poked her head up and asked, "yes, Mr Enigma, sir? Can I help you?"
"I'm looking for Ulrich, where is he?"
"He stepped out for a moment, I believe to look for you, actually." The assistant said and glanced at the papers in his arms, "I take it that Medicine Pocket had some complaints?"
Enigma grunted, "some is putting it lightly. If he doesn't find me, I want him in my office and not to leave until I find him."
"Yes, sir, I'll let him know."
With that sorted, Enigma decided a fresh coffee was in order and made his way to the elevator with the intention of going down to the cafeteria and grabbing a mug.
Only for X to be in the elevator when the doors opened.
Enigma stared at the smiling teen before him and contemplated whether it was worth dealing with whatever the boy clearly wanted to talk to him about or just let him continue onto his destination. He sighed and ran a hand through his hair before stepping into the elevator. Once the doors closed, trapping the two of them together, he asked, "X, were you looking for me?"
"Not really looking, but hoping we might cross paths." X said, smiling at him, but not quite looking at him.
"If it's about funding, leave a note on my desk," Enigma huffed, "I've heard enough about it from Medicine Pocket."
X sighed, "it was a little about funding, but also about Medicine Pocket. I lent them something for an experiment and they won't give it back."
"It's not like that hasn't stopped you from just taking things back before." Enigma said.
"I tried." X deadpanned. "They bit me."
Enigma was beginning to regret ever taking over command of Laplace. Was this to be his life now? Dealing with young researchers that were incapable of solving their own social problems? He should have never left his office during the Vienna Storm, it wasn't worth all this. He sighed, "is it important what they have?"
X hummed, tilting his head to the side before shaking it, "I don't need it now, but I do need it before next week. And I'd like to avoid destroying another lab."
You and me both, Enigma grumbled to himself. "I will try talking to them. Soon. They're having problems with Ulrich that might explain why they've been in such a foul mood lately."
"Good luck, Enigma, sir." X said as the elevator doors opened on the floor his own lab was on. "Oh, and Madam Butterfly sends her congratulations on taking over Madam Lucy's position."
Enigma gave a stiff nod, unsure if he was more uncomfortable with the congratulations or that Lorentz and watched it all go down from wherever she was holed up. But he pushed the discomfort away now that he was finally alone and could continue on his mission to get coffee. He kept his head down once he got to the bottom floor, ignoring everyone that tried to catch his attention. To him, the cafeteria was a no work zone, and even if he was now technically leadership, he was sticking to that rule. No one was getting between him and his coffee.
Once he had a mug in hand, he decided to venture back to his office, perhaps take a nap even, before tackling the mountain of paperwork that awaited him… well, the seventh mountain of paperwork. Honestly, one would think they'd had dealt with the sheer amount of paper required within Laplace by now, but apparently not. And since he had enough on his plate already, he certainly wasn't going to be the one that got that particular ball rolling. Maybe John Titor could, or even Hissabeth, but certainly not him.
As if just by thinking about her, Enigma literally ran into Hissabeth, and his freshly made mug of coffee, went flying as they both stumbled back. The mug shattered against the ground and Enigma sighed, staring forlornly at his lifesaving coffee. Hissabeth gave him a sheepish grin, her snakes peering out to see what the loud noise had been. "Oops?"
"Oops indeed, Hissabeth," Enigma sighed again and turned back towards the cafeteria, both to get a new coffee and to let the staff know what had happened so they could deal with it. He could've cleaned it up himself but quite frankly, he didn't want to. What he didn't appreciate was the way that Hissabeth followed him down the hall, and sighed for a third time. "What is it, Hissabeth?"
"Pointer's locked me out of our lab. Deliberately."
Enigma just stared at the melusine. This was what he looked forward to dealing with?
He didn't get paid enough for this.
"Do you want me to break into your lab, or do you want me to talk to Pointer?" Enigma asked.
"Break into it preferably. She can't avoid talking to me if I'm in the lab with her." Hissabeth smiled sweetly, and Enigma shuddered, uncertain whether or not he should feel sorry for Pointer. Part of him wanted to ask what had caused Hissabeth to be locked out of the lab in the first place, but he knew better by now. Disagreements between researchers could range from simple to complex, and he not the time nor energy, to deal with the latter.
He turned away from the cafeteria and shuffled towards the elevator again, "come on then… you also owe me a new mug."
"I have like fifty mugs in my lab, take your pick," Hissabeth said cheerily, far too cheerily for Enigma's liking, but he said nothing as he followed Hissabeth down the hall that led to the lab she shared with Pointer. He knew that both researchers had their own labs and that this one was just for when they collaborated on something, so he hoped that it was just a simple lock that he needed to crack open. He was starting to run low on energy for diplomacy.
As it turned out, it was easy enough to crack the lock and soon the door was opening. Inside the lab, Pointer scowled, but she straightened upon seeing it was him in the doorway. "Enigma, sir—"
Enigma raised a hand to stop her. "I do not care whatever dispute you two are having, but if you have to drag others into it, I will get involved again. Figure it out without breaking anything." He scanned the lab and found a big mug sitting abandoned on a desk. "And I want that mug."
Behind him, one of Hissabeth's snakes hissed in irritation, but the melusine was quick to quiet the creature. She stepped into the lab, grabbed the mug and handed it off to him without a word.
"Thanks." Enigma said, and then turned and left. He heard arguing start up behind him and walked just that little bit faster.
All he'd wanted was coffee.
By the time he got back to his lab, he was exhausted and ready for a nap, and decided to do just that when Ulrich walked into his office, without knocking. Enigma blinked once, twice, and then remembered that it was he who had asked the Awakened to come and see him. He sighed and pulled out the papers that Medicine Pocket had given him. "You forged my signature?"
It was hard to tell what Ulrich was thinking when he didn't have the typical human face, but his posture became one of caution. It seemed his fellow researcher knew he'd done something he wasn't supposed to.
"What's done is done, just don't do it again," Enigma said and then added on, "and stop taking the supplies allocated to Medicine Pocket, you know how they get when they get riled up."
"I told them I would replace them the next time our research materials arrived, which is next week. I checked that they didn't have any urgent experiments before I took them." Ulrich said defensively.
"Just…" Enigma waved a hand in the air uselessly. He was too tired for this. "Just try to think about others before you do things, okay? Communicate."
The ferrofluid moved into the shape of an exclamation mark. "Communication advice from you of all people? Becoming leader of Laplace really has changed you."
Enigma glared at the Awakened.
Ulrich stared back at him, seemingly unbothered.
Finally, Enigma broke the silence. "I have enough paperwork and complaints already, Ulrich, I don't need more coming from within Laplace itself. Do you understand?"
"Yes, of course."
"And you will both replace Medicine Pocket's research materials and apologise to them for taking them in the first place using my signature." Engima pressed and was pleased when Ulrich shifted uneasily. Good, he was getting through Ulrich's stubbornness. He waited, locking his fingers together to rest his head upon as he stared at the Awakened.
"I will… do both of those things." Ulrich finally said. "Is that all you wanted me for?"
"Yes, you may go. I want to drink my coffee without seeing anymore researchers thank you very much." Enigma said and sighed the moment the door shut behind Ulrich as he left. Finally, peace and quiet—as much peace and quiet as he would ever get nowadays; if he didn't lock himself in his lab, his office often became a revolving door of problems, and considering it was now his job to deal with those problems, he tried not to be bothered by it too much… although it was hard at times. He had no idea how Madam Lucy had managed to run Laplace as efficiently as she had, but he hoped that his own tenure as its director would yield similar results.
Laplace was home in a way, even with all the eccentric and strange people he worked with.