May 5th

To my surprise, I finally got an overview of the performance of the prototype back. The results are good. Great, really. No operator injuries or fatalities, and it killed what they used it on safely and efficiently. A few key areas of adjustment are the balance of the weight and the discharging nozzle, mainly the unwieldiness of the two firing modes. Embarrassingly, there was an instance where the control handle started sticking, briefly making it impossible to switch between wide and narrow. The QFC-235 II will be vastly improved and, ideally, not subject to amateur engineering failures.

It’s nice to have a project again. I’ve been thinking about psychology a little too much lately. With luck, having a dedicated engineering task will keep my mind focused on questions with clear answers.

It sounds like they’re almost done sanitizing the biological labs, thank God. I can’t stand keeping tape on the edges of my door to block out the noises. Dr. Braun checked on me today and the puzzled tone in his voice as he heard me ripping the layers off would have been funny, if not for the way he looked at me after. Feeling a little too judged, lately, like my coworkers are evaluating me.

Will avoid reading tonight. Hopefully I’m not kept up.

Signed,
Dale R.