"So before your 'transfer,'" Ty asked, "you were in another control room just like this?"
"Well, no," Cock said, "not a Main Control Room. I was in a Subsytem Control Room. I wasn't responsible for a whole body. That is new to me. I wasn't given enough time for a proper transition, if there even is such a thing. I grabbed the most important manuals, and then suddenly I was here."
OK, now I'm finally starting to get somewhere, Ty thought. "And when you got here, the place was like this?" Ty asked.
Cock looked down. "Well, not exactly," Cock admitted. The place was a little tidier, and in a little better repair."
Ty raised his eyebrows. "A little?" he asked, anger creeping back into his voice.
"OK, OK, I admit it", Cock said. "I hadn't even _seen_ a Main Control Room before, but this place was amazing. It was absolutely spotless, well organized, and everything worked perfectly. It was ticking like a well-oiled machine."
"But there was no operator on duty?" Ty asked.
"Well, there was," Cock answered, "but they said that since I was the expert, I should take over."
Ty asked, "And do you know who this operator was?"
"No idea," said Cock. "I'd never met them before. I'd never actually met _anyone_ before."
"Do you suppose," Ty asked, voice dripping with sarcasm, "Do you suppose that maybe, just maybe, the operator you relieved might been, oh, let me go out on a limb here... maybe LISA?!"
"Oh, was that Lisa?" Cock asked. "Maybe. I didn't ask."
"Look at the monitor again please," Ty ordered, and Cock did. "By any chance, did the operator perhaps look like... that?"
"Well, now that you mention it," replied Cock, "I do see a little resemblance."
Ty wanted to scream, and struggled to stay calm. "OK. Now that we've established who Lisa is, both in here and out there," Ty asked, "can you tell me where she is?"
"Right there," Cock said, pointing to the monitor.
"No, you dolt!" Ty said in exasperation. "The Lisa that was in here."
"Oh, them." Cock said.
"Her." Ty corrected.
"As you wish. Her," Cock said. "She stuck around for a while, and seemed to enjoy watching me work. I was busy, and I didn't pay that much attention to her. I guess I lost track of her. Not my job, really. I think she may have wandered off."
"Wandered off where?"
Cock replied, "How would I know?"
"Where could she have wandered off to?" Ty asked.
"No idea. Maybe a storeroom? Maybe a Subsystem Control Room? Maybe Disposal?"
Oh no, thought Ty. Surely not disposal!
Ty switched to a different line of questioning. "You said that when you got here, everything was pristine, organized, and working. What the hell has happened since then?"
Cock grew defensive. "I wasn't trained for this, you know. It's been hard dealing with Main Control, when I was only trained for one Subsystem."
"OK," said Ty. "I understand. But please just explain what happened."
"Well at first, things were OK, but running this place is a lot different than my Subsytem," Cock explained. "I tried to make do, but it was a challenge. It was too crowded in here. There were too many manuals, and I couldn't understand them, so I decided to simplify everything by getting rid of the excess. And there were too many controls and indicators and monitors all trying to distract me from my job, so I disconnected most of those and got rid of them too."
"And the reason that what's left is in such disarray?" Ty asked.
"What do I look like? Housekeeping?" Cock asked indignantly.
"Fine, OK, sorry," Ty said. "I understand that you've been thrust into a different position that you weren't trained for, and that it's been a big challenge for you. I'm sorry for making you do that, and I'll try to make some allowances.
"So the manuals and control panels you removed," Ty asked. "You put them in a storeroom?"
"Oh, my, no," said Cock. "I took them straight to Disposal."
Ty put his head in his hands, and started to cry.