Contribution

The meeting droned on, mired in the details, everyone guzzling coffee and trying to stay engaged (awake), except for Oates, who was as checked out as ever, doodling on a sheet of paper. The others peered over with increasing frequency and irritation until, at last, Danner groaned and spun away from the white board, blasting, "OATES, WOULD IT BE TOO MUCH TO ASK FOR YOU TO QUIT YOUR ARTS BREAK AND CONTRIBUTE SOMETHING TO OUR WORK TODAY?" It hung in the air, an axe prepared to grind, and Oates looked up. "If Spock had adopted a dog, the perfect name would be 'Infinite Variables' - maybe 'Vary' for short." The room fell silent. "Oh, and I've completed a foundational schematic of the changes you're proposing to the database (here, Oates turned the sketch over and held up a page of maths and paths that resembled space mission planning), and I think it could work if we can all agree on a range instead of a set marker for predictive variance." Danner's mouth fell open. "Spock should totally have a dog," Berg whispered, transfixed.