Swamped

"What were you thinking of, then?" you ask, sounding as calm as you can.

"Just a weird dream I had. That's all," Tallow answers hurriedly. You're definitely hitting a nerve here.

"Can we get on with this damn meeting already?" someone else asks. You don't recognize them off the top of your head. "Or are you waiting for Toobles to get back?"

At precisely that moment, Toobles steps back into the room.

"Nearly done, sorry. I hope I didn't miss too much."

That seems... almost a little too well-timed. But you can tell the mood's turning impatient. And you've got plenty to look into later.

"Just had to make sure people were paying attention," you say, walking back to the front of the room. "So. That covers basically all the strange exceptions. Moving on to desert creature sightings..."

"That's all right, Crosswinds," Razor says, getting up. "I've had enough of a break. I'll take it from here."

Thank goodness. Not that you aren't irritated with him for making you do that in the first place.

"Do I need to be here for this? Someone ought to check on how things are going out there."

"You have my permission to do so. Just be sure you're back in an hour. Preferably with Bigfoot and Mantis."

"How come the grebling gets to leave?" someone asks. Razor simply gives the heckler a pointed glare.

Funny. Isn't that the same officer who spoke up just before Toobles got back?

Well, it's not your problem right now. Razor can be thickheaded at times, but he's not an idiot. He should have picked up on the same cues you did. That was, after all, the whole point.

So. Time to check how things are going in the rest of the fortress. Where are you looking first?