Page 45 - Demo

Natch!31personalities, sometimes abiding and sometimes colliding. Thethought reassured her as she joined the herd shuffling throughthe massive front doors and into the elevators. %u201cI can do this.%u201dWill was ensconced behind his desk when she knocked.%u201cCome!%u201d He hardly looked up but gestured for her to sit. Hisoffice was all warm oak and leather. The walls were lined withshelves, each crammed with books, random specimens, whatlooked like ancient cultural artifacts, and numerous awards. Theawards were not exactly on display, more like stuffed here andthere on the shelves, as if he couldn%u2019t be bothered either to hangthem or throw them away. Many of the plaques had gold lemurfigurines or photos of So-and-So shaking hands or cutting aribbon with an impassive Will. %u201cHave a seat.%u201d Will gestured to awooden chair next to his desk. He removed a short stack ofbooks and binders with photos of glaciers and penguins on thecovers to make room for her.%u201cYou%u2019re already into it, huh?%u201d Jean ventured a soft question.%u201cAmity dropped those off yesterday on her way out. No pointin putting it off.%u201d%u201cAre you able to just jump right in? Yesterday, I mean, itseemed like the mess created by the Homps, you know, with allthe carbon. It seemed like maybe everyone was already dealingwith so much.%u201d%u201cThat%u2019s true enough,%u201d Will nodded and sat more upright,impressed by her observation. %u201cLife is always happening aroundus, coming and going, growing and fading, sometimes more andsometimes less. It doesn%u2019t always go in the direction we wouldlike. It doesn%u2019t often go in that direction.%u201d His chuckle made hersmile. %u201cBut the work is the work. To answer your question, yes,it%u2019s been a bit of a strain the past few years, more cascadingchanges than normal, more than most of us can remember. Weall had plenty to do already. But if it wasn%u2019t this, it%u2019d be somethingelse.%u201d He picked up one of the glacier books. %u201cBetter to just get onwith it.%u201d%u201cHow would you frame this design challenge?%u201d Jean asked. Shewas working from a sheet of questions that Amity had provided,