"This," the guide declared, voice polished to perfection, "is one of our nation's most prestigious structures. A symbol of how far we've progressed scientifically, technologically and in every sense that matters."
The words landed exactly how they were meant to.
"How impressive."
Blake tried to pay attention anyway.
There was always a chance, buried somewhere in the scripted speech, that something useful might slip through. A detail the guide didn't realize mattered. A contradiction.
Anything he could pocket for later.
So he listened.
Or, at least, he kept his ears open while his eyes wandered.
'God. This is so boring...'
It wasn't entirely the guide's fault.
Something about the timing of these missions always threw him off. They dropped into his days without warning, demanding focus he didn't always have ready to give.
And today he just wasn't feeling it. He had known two days in advance, sure, but he was so anxious about its dangers he couldn't do it properly.
