snsant

Really? It's already been sent?

Mmhm. Handed a printed copy to the Messenger just this morning, and he took off with it right away. Now it's all up to the reviewers' feedback whether the journal picks it up.

Thank you so much, Closure — I mean, Advisor!

Oh jeez, don't call me that. I'm nowhere near qualified to give you advice in your own field. The best I could do was help you sort through your ideas.

Umm...

But you're the one who gave me the idea of writing this paper in the first place!

Sure, but I just figured it'd be a waste letting a gem like you go undiscovered.

You also steered me in the right direction while I was writing it!

I mean, yeah, it's the first academic paper you've ever written. Of course you'd need some pointers.

You even helped me put the finishing touches on it last night!

Snowsant, when you put it that way, I—

(Yawns)

—Don't feel so sleepy anymore.

Huh...?

I know you're a self-taught prodigy and all, and that you've always buried yourself in your research without paying much attention to academic journals and stuff...

But putting me down as the lead author? Really? Was that like a trap so you could say I plagiarized you?

I-I didn't think the order of the authors mattered. So, as a way of showing my gratitude, I—

I'm the corresponding author, thank you very much! My name goes after!

*sniffles*...

And let's not even get into all the punctuation errors, mixed up heading levels, poorly marked citations, just dumping all the references at the end...

If it's gonna be like this next time, I'll have to start charging an editing fee! One thousand LMD per word!

I'm sorry!

Lastly, can you tell why, just why, you sent it to me...

(Lets out a pained yawn)

...Handwritten?

No one even accepts handwritten manuscripts these days! I spent half the night just typing it all out so I could proofread it, and the other half trying to squeeze in all those charts and diagrams somehow!

But I calculated the price of paper and ink, and found that printing it would be two LMD more expensive than writing it by hand...

(Clutches her head with both hands)

Snowsant, correct me if I'm wrong, but you wanna be a great scientist, right?

That's right.

And to be a great scientist, you have to publish a lot of papers, right?

Mhm. That's what you told me.

And do you realize that there are expenses other than paper and ink?

Such as?

Publication fees.

Publication fees? H-How much?

Depends on the journal, but it's always at least four figures.

F-F-F-F-Four figures???

L-L-L-Let me figure out what expenses I can cut...

(Takes out her tablet)

(First, I can't touch the money that's supposed to be sent home...)

(Then, there are the self-research topics... Right now, there are three items...)

(Lets out a long yawn)

I wouldn't worry about it too much—

(No, I can't move around the funds I've already allocated for the projects either...)

Snowsant?

(The only area I can afford to cut is food expenses... Waah...)

Are you listening?

Fine, whatever.

If you're gonna be like this, I'm gonna catch me some shut-eye. I've got a meeting with Kal'tsit in ten minutes.

Closure casually grabs a nearby book and drapes it over her face before slumping back into her chair and letting out even, rhythmic snores.

(I don't know even know when this fee is due... But if I can have it pushed back, maybe I can scrounge up enough money...)

Um, C-Closure...

She's asleep?

Snowsant?

Is Closure asleep?

Um, yes... It's all my fault...

I don't think you did anything wrong.

Things never go right the first time. As long as you apologize and don't make the same mistakes next time, it'll be fine. That's what Liskarm always tells me, anyway.

Mm... Thank you...

Sorry for bringing you all the way to the cafeteria just to drink plain water with me.

Don't worry about it.

So, were you looking for Closure for something?

There's something wrong with my communications terminal, but Engineering's had its hands full of late. If I went through the standard channels, it'd take three whole months to get it fixed.

Yesterday I finally mustered the courage to head to Lutra to ask Mayer for help, but she's also really busy...

So I made up my mind to report the problem to Closure directly... but she was asleep.

Is it serious?

Well, it's not like it's unusable. The main issue is that the signal gets choppy sometimes, but Engineering's been pushing it back because it's low priority.

Have you tried taking it apart? If it's a bad connection or something along those lines, maybe you could fix it yourself.

I'm afraid of breaking the parts inside...

Um, maybe I can give it a try?

Really? You'd do that for me?

If it's not something I can handle on my own, I'll just put it back together, so don't worry.

You fixed it already?

There was a small metal component in its Originium circuitry that rusted, so I replaced it. You shouldn't have any more issues with choppiness.

Here you go!

Woah... Let me give it a try.

Umm...

Is something wrong?

I want to test it, but I'm not sure who to call... I wouldn't want to bother anyone.

Why not just... pick one at random?

I-I'll figure something out.

Umm... Is this Liskarm?

Yes... My terminal's been fixed...

It's not cutting out at all... or making any static...

Oh right, now I won't have to guess whether Franka's being serious or just joking around...

Sounds good!

Mmhmm! Bye!

Thanks again, Snowsant. How much do I owe you?

Huh? Umm...

Let's not worry about that... It was just a tiny metal part, and I basically recycled it from the Engineering Department. It's not like I had to buy it or anything...

Materials are one thing, but your labor is another.

Just now, Liskarm mentioned that she'll go to you if she needs a terminal fixed. More people might need things fixed too, so we can't have you going into the red for them.

I think you should charge something. It's only fair.

(More people... Need things fixed... Charge something... It's only fair...)

(The publication fees!)

Th-Th-Then... I'll take you up on that!

Mhm.

(Breathes deeply)

Then... How about twenty LMD?