Robin

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Oh hey, Rex.

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Yeah, I'm just thinking again.

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Well, back when I was just starting out there was a researcher I was friends with. Their name was Robin. Yeah. Like the bird. Anyways, we got to be pretty good friends back then. We were both brand new in the Foundation and our lunch hours just so happened to match. We spent a lot of time talking about our theses and what we wanted to accomplish, and a little about ourselves.

They said they wanted to be the best at their field, but they weren't sure what they wanted to do just yet. Just that they wanted to be the best. I always felt that was admirable, and Robin really had a passion for what they did. They always put their best foot forward on every project and stayed up way later than anyone else working. I remember I would join them sometimes, just shooting the shit while they poured over documents and historical accounts just to write a damn report. They weren't kidding about wanting to be the best.

Robin was always getting assigned to the weirdest anomalies. And when I say weird, I do mean weird. Not our usual 'Wondertainment' weird. I mean, for crying out loud, at some point they were assigned to a guy who had the ghost of a Japanese businessman living up his ass. No, I'm not kidding.

Years… yeah I guess it really has been years. It doesn't really feel like it's been that long, but years passed us by. We started getting more and more specialized. I became a group of interest researcher and they focused on the more esoteric kind of anomalies. Our paths crossed less and less often and eventually I got moved here and they stayed back at 81. Despite that, we still stayed in touch via emails and we tried to meet up once a year for tea or coffee. It was a fun little tradition. We haven't practiced it in the most recent years, but I digress.

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Yeah, we kinda fell out of touch. Time just keeps speeding up and there's so many projects and so little time in the day… I regret it, I really do.

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Well, I was going to write Robin an email for old time's sake, but I got on my computer this morning and I found out their email address was disabled. I reached out to the head of RAISA in 81, someone named Alexis Rose. Lovely girl. She jumped through a bunch of hoops just to answer my question, very dedicated. Anyway, it turned out Robin resigned last month and was amnesticized.

No, no, it's okay. They knew what they signed up for when they joined the Foundation, as did I, as did you. Hell, I could quit tomorrow and they'd wipe my memory clean of everything I've seen and done in here. But I can't help but wonder if Robin ever, you know, made it. Maybe they did and because they had nothing else to do, they quit. Or maybe they got stuck in the belief that no matter what they did, they wouldn't make it. Makes me kinda wonder if I'm doing in comparison. I'm Head Researcher, but am I only here because of seniority or because I am the best?

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Ha ha, thank you. I'm sorry about trailing off like that. I guess I'm just feeling down because Robin was my friend, you know? And now they're gone. I've seen a lot of people come and go over the years, but none of their comings and goings have hit me so hard. I wonder if this is how Senior Staff feel. I wonder if it's all just a big blur of faces to them. I wonder if some of them ever felt how I feel now. They tell us not to make friends at orientation and I guess this is why, but I can't help but feel like no one listens to that. I mean, look at us. We're talking about non-work related stuff right now. Just like how I used to talk with Robin.

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You're right, I shouldn't dwell on these thoughts, and I'm starting to ramble anyway. I'll join you in the lab in a little bit. I need to wrap up an email first.