Nobody understands him. Nobody understands the burdens he faces, each and everyday.
When Romani Archaman joined Chaldea, all he was responsible for was the welfare of its staff. A big responsibility, sure, but he never managed things like resources or direction. He simply kept them alive and healthy, and let the others take care of the other things. He didn't need a vision. He didn't need a plan. He simply took care of them, and let the Director Animusphere - Maris-Billy or Olga-Marie - handle all the rest.
Now he's in charge. The Acting-Director, appointed after everyone else died when Lev betrayed them, not by vote of confidence but by necessity as the only member of the senior staff left alive. All the El Mellois and Edelfelts and the rest… everyone who would have succeeded Olga-Marie died before she did.
He intends to do his best, of course, and he wants to save mankind… but it's not easy. And there's no one he can talk to, about the burden suddenly placed on his shoulders. No one would understand. Not even Da Vinci. And certainly not--
The door clicks open, and Ritsuka Tohsaka steps in with a massive stack of papers and tablets, closing the door behind him with his leg like a true professional. "Morning, Director Roman. I've got the next eight micro-singularity teams planned and ready to deploy, according to this schedule over here. Besides that, though, we're going to have to start looking to the future. I need an inventory on our material stores, both mundane and magical, before we start with Servant ascensions. I also need to know our rationing timetable, our facility restoration timetable, and Da Vinci's schedule for bringing Reactor Three and Four back online."
"...Uh," Roman starts.
"I also need to know what the status of our defenses is like. We haven't been attacked yet, but even with Lev dead the legions of Duke Flauros are probably still out there, we have to be prepared for an attack. We also need to be prepared for future invading singularities, like what happened with Okita and Nobunaga, so I also need to know what Da Vinci's progress on that is like. I also need to know our progress on the next Singularity; Lev's death is probably not in their plans, so we should have enough time to regroup a bit, but I need to know if TRISMEGISTUS' data agrees with that course of action. That can wait for another day; for now I just need the inventory manifest."
Roman blinks. He looks up at Ritsuka. "...Good morning to you too, RItsuka."
The Master plants the stack of papers on his desk and puts his arms on his waist. "Also, gonna need you to sign off on all of this." He nods and puts his hands in his pockets. "So… any idea where the inventory manifests are?"
"...Uh."
Ritsuka frowns and looks out the corner of his eye. "Nevermind, I should consult Lord El Melloi II about the statistical modelling first, maybe ask Da Vinci if I can have access to TRISMEGISTUS for a bit… I'll get the manifests later. Have a good day, Director!"
He runs out and closes the door behind him before Roman can get another word in edgewise. It clicks shut and leaves him in silence again. Roman looks at the stack of deployment orders and briefly glances at the one on top first; a twenty-page strike mission order detailing the Servants, his justifications for deployment, what he expects to lose, and what he expects to win, with a list of alternative options in case any Servants in the original team are unable to commit.
He didn't even know deployment orders got this long. How long did he take to do this? Did he even sleep?!
"...Right," Roman says, sucking on his teeth, "I wonder what Magi Mari has to say about my crushing shame..."
"Kill yourself!" the virtual idol chirps from his desktop in an all-too cutesy fashion, "Tee hee~☆"
He looks at the screen. He looks at his empty mug. Roman sighs and picks it up. "Coffee break it is," he mutters, and wanders off ghoulishly.
