[Inhale, exhale. It's a sharp little thing; if she's surprised by the allowance, it doesn't register even to herself. The line of her gaze stays steady, pointed, bores a hole in the back wall of the conference room. Maybe later in her quarters she'll close her eyes and still be able to see the lines on the wall against the backs of her eyelids.]

I understand that-- [There's bite there. A flicker of heat and something in her throat jumps. She closes her teeth around the words. Exhales.] --Green is here to protect people from outside threats. Red is here to protect them from themselves. Orange is supposed to arm us and Blue should be telling everyone how to fire the gun. If we're a team, we should be acting like one.

If there's something we're supposed to be getting out of acting independently instead of together, then I don't know what it is. In my experience, only talking to your own people gets everyone killed faster. [The urge to look at him burns at the back of her eyes, but she refuses the inclination. A beat. Nothing in the way she holds herself has changed since she entered the conference room.]

Am I dismissed?