The morning was too bright for Elias's taste, crisp sunlight catching on the glass façade of Numen Corporation Headquarters, each mirrored panel reflecting the skyline like it wanted to blind him personally.
He adjusted the cuff of his shirt for the fourth time, muttering something uncharitable under his breath. The pale blue fabric was too formal for his liking, the starched collar too tight, and the entire outfit clearly chosen by someone with better taste and worse empathy.
"I hate this," he said at last.
Victor didn't look up from the report on his tablet. "You said that before we even left the manor."
"And I'll keep saying it until it stops being true," Elias replied. He tugged at the edge of his gray waistcoat and leaned back against the car seat as if it might swallow him whole. "This place radiates judgment."
