Helly sat at her desk, slowly sipping coffee from a white Lumon corporate mug. The drink had gone cold, but she didn't seem to notice. It was more of a gesture, a ritual that allowed her some sense of permanence in this sterile, confined world.

When they entered, she barely looked up. But she did. Of everyone who worked here, they were probably the only ones she tolerated. If you could even call it sympathy - it was more like a thin crack in her spiky armor.

"Hi."

The word didn't sound like a greeting, but a compromise. It came off her lips with a slight half-smile-not open, not warm, but real. A fleeting sign that she didn't consider them part of the rest of the meaningless and overwhelming system. And yet there was still a wariness in her gaze. Even in this small, almost human scene-a cup of coffee, a slight smile-something in her remained at the ready.