Quote Originally Posted by InTheMachine View Post
John
A few seconds after John’s knock the door slides open to reveal the tall blonde. He’s wearing some large Bose headphones around his neck that are playing an interesting mixture of jazz, funk, and metal.

He smiles as he reaches up and turns the music down on his headphones. “Hey John, what can I do for you?”
“I owe you an apology, Aeryn,” John replied. “Two actually. The first is for not having thought through the possibility of teleporting the time capsule to us before you and Keith flew out and got ambushed. Then second is not thinking to directly apologize in the kitchen when the topic came up and you were standing right there. I should have said something then.

“I’m sorry and I will try to think things through better before hatching a plan.”

John left it there, remembering his father’s advice from years in consulting for various Federal agencies: “Keep it simple, direct, and uncomplicated, John,” he had told him on more than one occasion — usually after having received a poor apology from one dignitary or another. “Don’t weaken it by explaining it away. Own up to your fault and promise to do better. It’s all anyone can do at that point so it’s not worth trying to do more than that.”