kafka.
the keeper of the files is still waiting for your final summation of the erlanger claim.
you didn't give it to me.
did you see him?
he's usually in the storage room sorting things out. he can't close the file on a case until he has the concluding report.
who's to say he ever will? he's a timid old man and quite careful not to tread on anyone's toes -- in fact, i'm the only one he trusts and he wouldn't even look at a document if it didn't first come through me.
in an organization as efficient as ours, if a document once in a great while gets lost it might never be found at all.
but i'm the messenger. an error like this damages my credibility.
when i deliver a message the very act of delivering it, you might say, gives it an official stamp, and only in this way are both the sender and the receiver satisfied that it was delivered at all.
your position in this firm is not unassailable.
you're late -- i knew it would happen one day.
good morning -- or should i say good afternoon?
oh, don't they? i think you underestimate my station in this office and overrate your own.
it's my place to offer advice, not yours -- and by advising the chief clerk of your unpunctuality it's certainly not my situation that's compromised, if that's what you're implying.
it's what i'm paid to do.
and you're late!
are you looking for gabriela rossmann?
suddenly hovering by kafka's side, handing him something.
the chief clerk would like this ready for tomorrow morning. he says it should only take you an extra hour or two.