Sharon had mentioned that the communications department was a weak spot in Atlantis purely because it was lacking more support. From what she had looked up it appeared as though this Roman Smith guy was fully capable of handling anything thrown at them, but she knew an extra set of hands wouldn’t hurt. She doubted even half-angels could do everything at once.
Heading towards the department, it didn’t take her long to find exactly who she was looking for.
“Roman Smith?” She asked even though she knew she was right. “I’m Rose Freeman, what can you tell me about your department?” It was direct, but she was trying to decide if she was going to stay or not.
To be honest, Roman hadn’t been doing a whole lot for the last half hour or so. There was a pen in his hand that he’d been balancing on top of his head a minute or two before Rose walked into the office. It wasn’t that there wasn’t plenty to do, and he did normally do a pretty good job at getting things done that needed doing, but some days it was just way too quiet around the department that he would get antsy and bored. Thankfully, he’d just started to attempt to translate a scroll that had arrived on his desk earlier that morning. He hadn’t gotten very far.
“Uhh..” Roman looked up from all of the papers on his desk at the new, unfamiliar face, and took off his glasses. Glasses that he didn’t really need, but wore them for effect sometimes. “My department? Oh, you meant this,” he said and motioned his hands around as if to be referring to more than just his singular office.
“That’s kind of a broad question,” he started. “Is there anything specific you’d like to know?”
Watching him carefully Rose took a moment before answering his question. She’d been curious how he’d answer the open-ended question.
“It is a broad question,” she agreed deciding she’d give a little more information. “I’m trying to decide if I’m going to stay and Sharon mentioned this was the department that needed the most personnel.” She explained. “And I want to know more about it.”
“I see now,” Roman said with a slight nod. He stood up from his seat motioned over to where some of the others that had been in the department used to call their work homes. “It’s a little slow right now, but we’ve had times where it’s much busier, especially during missions. Sometimes we receive intel in other languages or in code or the more tech-savvy side of communications will intercept a message from COS and pass it over to us for translation.”
He poked at the book that was sitting on his desk. “I’ve been continuing to work on a project we’d started a while back that involves using various different languages to pass our own messages over comms.” Roman also had a little pet project going on that involved creating his own language, but it wasn’t anything he’d shared with anyone still left here. It was still in the developmental stages, but studying all of these other languages had given him the motivation to try something new.
Rose moved to the empty area. She got the impression it had been like that for a while, at least it was the vibe she was getting off of it. "How long has it just been you?" She asked flipping a piece of paper over with notes on it.
Glancing back up at Roman she nodded. "How far along are you on it? The different languages for a coded message? Do you have a system for it yet? A code? Would a code change daily? Weekly?" Rose had spent years having to send convert messages, she liked the idea he was talking about and just wanted to know more.
“Two or three weeks, I guess. For a while there were three of us, then two. Now we’re down to just little ‘ole me.” As she started to survey the room, Roman crossed his arms and studied her, taking in how she moved and what training she might have had. You could tell a lot from the way someone moved and took in their surroundings.
Then there were lots of more questions. “We’d gotten a decent way into it, but it’s slowed significantly since the others left. I’m usually able to work on it on the off days when a mission isn’t in progress. This last one has kept me slightly busier. First, solo mission and it’s not been a traditional mission for us given that our people were kidnapped rather than us sending them out. But as for the specs on it… we’ve got a basic system that I’ve tried to continue, and we’re working on how often it would change. Likely less often at first while the officers and squad leaders get adjusted to the system. I’d prefer it to change daily during active missions.”
The attempt at self-depreciation amused her, although she got the impression he already knew that. Rose nodded, she was starting to wonder if time moved slightly different here, but that was a completely different set of questions.
Rose listened taking mental notes and nodded a couple of times. It didn't take a genius to note how understaffed they were and while she got the impression Roman was bright she knew this kind of operation did better with more than one person working.
"Do you get time with the field teams to train them? Work with them?" Rose asked knowing the answer had to be yes, but she liked asking questions she knew the answers to just to see how they were answered it often told her more.
“Sometimes. Officially, I’ve been a part of a couple, but often I’ve been stationed back here. Working with them, though, that type of training is something we haven’t delved into very much since it hasn’t been required in the field. Once the new system is closer to being implemented, then that would change.”
Roman tilted his head a bit to the side as he still tried to get a read on her. She seemed skilled at keeping her thoughts and emotions close to the chest which was a signal of training all on its own.
“And though you haven’t specifically asked, I’d rather not get into too much other detail yet,” he said. “Until you’ve been cleared and have decided to stay on.” There were security reasons but also because he didn’t want to give all of the secrets of his department away before she signed onto the team.
“Has what you’ve seen here swayed your decision at all?”
Rose nodded, a lot of her worry was not being in the field she wasn't sure she would handle not going out very well, but she got a clear impression that they needed an extra set of hands here. It was clear Roman was good, but no one could be on all the time.
"No problem," she said although she wished he would have given more information. Rose liked to know as much as possible about a situation before she jumped in. She knew it wasn't always possible, but it was always the goal.
"It's given me a lot to think about. It's an interesting set up here in Atlantis." She wasn't going to say one way or the other what she was thinking.
“Yeah, interesting is one word for it. My background is mostly in linguistics - I’ve taught on the collegiate level in the past - so using the knowledge in this manner was a bit of an adjustment in the beginning. They tend to toss you in and let you hit the ground running here, so that helped with the learning curve.” Not to say that his knowledge needed a learning curve but more so the method to its use. Teaching eighteen to twenty-two-year-olds was much different than decoding possible hidden messages and transcripts from places he had never even heard of until coming here.
“For what it’s worth, you’d be a welcome addition. And I’m not just saying that because you’d be the only extra addition,” Roman said and smiled. Though it would be nice to have someone else in the office to bounce ideas off of or just to have a basic conversation with over lunch - or while they worked through lunch.
“You were a college professor,” she stated with a small nod. “I imagine jumping into this side of it is a little different.” This side of it was the kind of thing Rose was used to, although she was more used to being in the field than not.
“I keep hearing that,” mostly from Sharon and she was sure her brother would love for her to stay not that many people knew she was Grant’s sister. “I’m sure it gets quiet here all alone too.” Rose knew the importance of having someone around to poke holes in plans, that was the only way you got a better plan.
“It was one of the ways I used all of this knowledge up here just waiting to come out,” Roman said and tapped the side of his head. Being a professor was just one of the ways he’d figured out how to earn a living over the last several hundred or thousand years. He had enough stored away to last him a few lifetimes, but sometimes a guy got bored. When he wasn’t plotting and scheming to kill angels or demons, that is.
“Sometimes it does.” He nodded with a shrug. “I’m not a big fan of complete silence, so it can get a little unnervingly quiet at times. And talking to myself just gets sad after a while.” He was kidding about the talking to himself part. Mostly.
“Can I ask about your background before coming here? Professionally, I mean, of course.”
Rose nodded as he told her about teaching and about talking to himself, he got a small smirk out of her.
She tilted her head when he asked about her background she wasn't sure how much she should share but also knew that if she stayed here he'd know and if she didn't stay here he couldn't blow any of her covers.
"CIA Operative." She answered.
“Yeah?” He answered, mildly impressed that she was CIA. He figured she’d had some sort of formal training, but he hadn't specifically guessed CIA. “Huh.” He nodded absent-mindedly and after a moment shrugged a bit.
“Well, Agent Freeman,” he said with a slightly teasing smile. “We, and by we I mean I, would be happy to have you aboard.”
Rose knew she didn't scream CIA Operative and she liked it that way. She laughed slightly at his huh but didn't comment on it any other way.
"Well thank you, Roman, I appreciate the sentiment, and I'll take it into consideration as I make my decision." She smiled teasing with the formal language. "I'll leave you to the rest of your work, but it was nice meeting you."