"Hi Phil." Deadly silence fell on the office. All of the women had expected Ralph to keep silent whenever someone else was in the office. In fact, the...y thought his going to the men's room was a way of hiding from Phil, the only other person who could be expected that day."Ralph?" Phil asked, incredulously."Yeah, it's me." Looking at the packages on the floor, he asked "Is that it?" Yeah, ... Ralph ... Unless you guys got something for me?" No, try back this afternoon ... around closing time.". The Commander deployed the two Companies as one large formation, just as he had when John showed up. Twenty dwarves wide, ten files deep they filled the tunnel from wall to wall. Just as before, Skarseac stood in front, awaiting whoever approached. John could barely See beyond the mass of soldiers, even with his height. A large section of the dragon’s golems appeared out of the gloom, and formed a rank facing the dwarves. From behind them, Orisal stepped into view, looking significantly more. One of the children was picked to keep watch. Rather than sleep in the freezer, Jean decided to pull her bed out to the dining room where everyone else was. She did this from time to time, so she could remind herself what it felt like to not fear others.This life she now lived, drowning in anarchy, it was so easy to fall into that dark spiral, to succumb to the desire to completely cut others out of her life. It was exhausting, to automatically tense up and assume the worst whenever she saw. " Very profound, Hermie," Betsy said, smiling."I'm serious," Herm said. "When Shirley realized you'd been looking into her past, and discussing her with us and with Reggie, she just assumed you had decided she would be an easy lay. Naturally, she resented it." No, I don't think so," I said. "Betsy's version is closer to what's going on, I think. I'm pretty sure Shirley realizes that I am -- interested in her; that I really wanted to know her better." Know her in the Biblical sense," Herm.