If I wanted you gone, [Noa hisses lowly, thoroughly insulted himself,] I would hardly waste time playing games to do so,.

[Anyway.] ....I need to make a public announcement in a short while, [He continues, changing the subject.] ...Someone's broken into the labs. Here. Most likely a shade, but not one we know, given it was a messy job. Messy enough that they could target network hardware, and not know what specifically was worth taking, [he adds.]

If we're going to stop rumors, our easiest option is to work off of that. It wouldn't be surprising, for me to cover up an 'earlier theft'- which could in turn mean that related projects back then simply....malfunctioned, [He trails off. AM can connect the dots- he keeps his reputation of skill, but the nasty dark stain moves to someone else.]