Annakitty August's Arc

Chapter 5 of 6

Annakitty placed a stack of receipts on her desk and opened the laboratory's main ledger. The director had asked her to analyze last quarter's expenses and suggest where the budget could improve. She sorted the receipts by department, then cross-referenced each one with the spending limits she had studied at the archive. Supply costs had dropped fifteen percent since she reorganized the ordering system. Equipment repairs stayed under budget for three months straight. She wrote her findings in clear columns, using the colored ink method she had copied from the old filing cabinets. The numbers told a simple story—her systems worked. She closed the ledger and straightened her glasses, allowing herself a small smile before filing everything away. The director called her into his office that afternoon. He sat behind his desk with her report open in front of him. "These improvements are significant," he said, tapping the page. "The board wants to meet the person responsible." Annakitty's tail flicked once. The board only met with senior staff. She nodded and kept her expression neutral, but her paws trembled slightly as she left his office. This was progress she could measure. On her way home, she walked past the new accounting school that had opened near the forest edge. Outside its entrance stood a water feature she had not noticed before—metal gears and numbered dials arranged among smooth stones with water flowing through carved channels. The Calculator Sculpture caught the late sun, its bronze surfaces gleaming. Past it, a wooden pillar rose from a moss-covered base, topped with a bronze plaque. The Pillar of Remembrance listed names of financial professionals who had reached the highest positions in their fields. Annakitty stopped and read three names, committing them to memory. One day her name could be there too. She entered the school's lobby, where glass cases and portrait paintings lined the walls. The Career Hall of Success displayed budget projects from professionals who had built their reputations through careful work. One case showed a hospital's five-year financial plan, annotated in the same colored ink system she used. Another displayed cost reduction charts similar to what she had just presented to the director. These people had started where she was now. They had proven their systems worked, gained recognition, and moved up. Annakitty adjusted her glasses and stepped back outside. The board meeting would be her chance to show she belonged among them.