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Natch!24Chapter 2: Interview NotesGene mulled about in the hallway outside the Stump Room afterthe meeting. He%u2019d hoped to get some direction from Nate abouthis assignment, but Nate had exited briskly without a word.When Gene turned around, Lucky, the only one in the room hehad even talked to, was preoccupied with gathering the last ofthe muffins and making plans to reconnoiter with Chance andJinx to%u2026 well%u2026 reconnoiter. In truth, their plans seemed tocenter mostly around where they would meet and who wasbringing which snacks. It would, after all, be a substantialreconnoiter and it%u2019s not like there were going to be a lot oftravelers%u2019 oases along the way.As Gene was starting to get a little anxious, Gad approachedhim. Gad routinely took newbie interns under his wing, more forhis own benefit than theirs. %u201cYou never know where that nextidea will come from%u201d was one of Gad mantras, and %u201cThey shouldlearn from someone who%u2019s been there%u201d was another. As long asthe intern was useful, Gad was happy to play the mentor role.Interns were not likely to demand any of the credit and theymade handy fall guys if something went to shit (and somethingalways went to shit). When he needed a little ego boost, Gadcould impress them with any number of stories about his pastexploits. It wasn%u2019t hard. They could keep him well stocked withchalk, wipe the boards, clean the erasers, fetch his dry cleaning,and, above all, keep the distractions off his desk. When theyceased being useful, he would pawn them off to Fate or Destiny.Where Nate might be considered the leader of the team(Bureaucrat in Chief, some called him, but you didn%u2019t hear thatfrom me), Gad saw himself as the nuts and bolts of his side of thetwist. It was fine for the team to get together and brainstorm.%u201cThere are no bad ideas in brainstorming!!!%u201d was what Amityalways wrote at the top of the agendas. But Gad knew better.There were tons and tons of bad ideas in brainstorming. Most of