Quality Assurance and Training
Tasha C. Polecat - Director of QuAT
The Quality Assurance is run by Ms. Tasha Polecat, shown here in her dress uniform. Yes, it is a bit impractical for the day to day conducting of her duties but as I said it's a dress uniform so it's worn only at high level staff meetings, disciplinary hearings, formal events and so on. Most of the time she wears what she considers more comfortable and practical clothes. Being the head of the Department she can get away with not wearing the uniform which causes much less friction within QuAT than you might think. While she accepts that our institutional nature makes uniforms a necessity her dislike of ever wearing one again is well known. She still harbours some resentments that have lingered since the conclusion of her military career. Fortunately as we're a hierarchical organisation everyone's used to the idea that Rank Hath Its Privileges and as not wearing one is the only privilege she's really claiming nobody is objecting (except Erika). Also the absence of a uniform fits in well with her informal managerial style. As head of the Department Ms. Polecat is in ultimate charge of both the Trainers and the Tester but she tends to concentrate more on managing (and assisting) the Testers while leaving the most of the administrative duties for the Teachers to her Deputy, Ms. Quistis Trepe.
Tesse - Director's Secretary/Executive Assistant
Until recently Tesse was regarded as one of our Mecha resources but Ms. Polecat has made it clear she expects her to be treated the same as every other member of the department. To understand this perhaps a little background is in order. Tesse is an android, the unique creation of an eccentric and reclusive scientist. The secrets of her design died with him making Tesse truly one of a kind as analysis has shown her to be almost impossible (if Tesse wasn't here and fully functional Ritsuko has stated she would laugh at the very concept) mix of state of the art technology and clockwork. This makes her incompatible with the Institute's computers so it's impossible to directly input data or upgrades to her software and repairwork is a very slow and painstaking process. This is the complete opposite of the other mecha in the Institute so it's one of the ways she's more like a human staff member but there are other reasons she is treated as one. Tesse was originally designed to look like a twelve year old and intended to learn and grow mentally as if human. She was intended to be the daughter her creator lacked. Unfortunately while her relationship with her creator was innocent she was far too eager to please and willing to fulfill all requests given her. As a result she was taken advantage of and victimised by her inventor's other creations. Despite this she completed medical training and subsequently served as a nurse for her ailing creator. During this period her creator became terminally ill and Tesse entered the Waku Waku 7 tourney as the winner was supposed to be granted a wish. This seemed a reasonable course of action to her as the 'Waku Waku" ball had been used to originally activate her (which likely accounts for how she became operational despite her radical design) and there was other evidence of its miraculous powers. Unfortunately while advancing through most of the tournament she lost her semifinal match to an odd fluffy creature determined to use the winner's wish to help a small girl find her lost parents. Unable to see any alternative courses of treatment the heartbroken Tesse returned home to make her creator's final days as comfortable as possible. His passing was peaceful thanks to her care. After he died Tesse found her life continued to consist of being used by the other duties as the other robots competed amongst themselves for the "major domo" position. This position meant taking control of the house and running it for the owner who was "asleep". Tesse realised that lacking her medical training the other robots didn't understand organic life and death but they were unwilling to listen to her, preferring to order her around. Despite her initial willingness to serve she grew increasingly disenchanted with this treatment and began thinking her obligations to the household had terminated upon their creator's death. Still she continued to reside there and obey until the day she stumbled across her creator's notes on his plans for her and the "Upgrade" body he had completed while she had been fighting in the tournament. Recognising that she was growing mentally he had intended to acknowledge that by transferring her consciousness to an adult body and making some personality modifications so she would no longer be bullied. Using his notes and the lab's automated equipment she performed the physical transfer but she was reluctant to operate on her own brain so the personality upgrades remained unused. However learning her creator intended her to grow and advance gave her the confidence she needed to leave and seek a new home. I should digress to mention her like her old body her new body had some remarkable offensive and defensive capabilities. Her creator clearly intended his little girl to be able to look after herself. In some ways her original body was superior having been charged by the unknown energy of the Waku Waku Ball but this was already fading by the time of the transfer. Since joining the Institute her Waku battery has been replaced by a powersphere kernel of Mr Chainsman's design which while providing less power is a steady powersource that will run for years. Her new body also included an improved 'Nurse mode' originally intended to aid her creator. Nurse mode refers to the medical data and treatment module Tesse had built into her and is the reason she alone of all his creations actually understood the concepts of life and death. This capability makes her very useful for monitoring the health of Teachers and Testers while restrained and enables us to pinpoint any potentially health threatening aspects of long term wear that were overlooked by Research and Development. Returning to her physical capabilities her limbs possess both stretching and metamorphic properties enabling her to shape them into a variety of tools and (though rarely called for) weapons. She can also charge her limbs or her entire body and deliver either mild or powerful electrical shocks. She also possesses an "ultimate" offensive and defensive capability but while effective both these techniques drain her of energy so she enters powersaver mode and is completely vulnerable until recharged they are for last resort use only. To date since joining the Institute no situation has arisen requiring the use of either which is just as well for all of us. At any rate not long after leaving her old home Tesse encountered our Ms. Polecat who was just settling in to the Institute. Intrigued by Tesse she struck up a friendship and eventually after much discussion offered her a new role in life. Tesse had realised she felt incomplete without serving someone but mere servitude was now insufficient. She also wanted to learn about people and life. Ms. Polecat was settling into an administrative role as the head of QuAT and being a hands on manager was looking to reduce her paperwork so she would have more time for "practical" work. An arrangement was made and Tesse was introduced to the Institute as Ms. Polecat's assistant. A role in which she has proven herself most effective. Incidentally she also doesn't wear the standard QuAT uniform. She asked, and received permission, to wear a modified version of the servant's uniform she had worn while serving her creator in remembrance of him. Since she was neither a Trainer not Tester Ms. Polecat had an easy loophole to use to grant her an exemption. The consensus is that her time in the Institute has been very beneficial to Tesse. While she doesn't show any obvious changes she as begun to say "no" to requests that she deems ridiculous. Though her new form was designed to be make her a fully functional female she has learned quickly how to decline amourous advances. In the old days she would have gone along without any complaints, currently she can not only refuse she once even slapped someone who made a graphically amorous suggestion. Additionally she has also learning a lot about people in general, both positive and negative and is developing a streak that would once have seemed completely out of character for her. Until recently she would have been categorised as a submissive personality but when helping out with QuAT's non administrative functions it has become obvious that she is starting to enjoy the application of restraints. To be more specific while showing no interest in trying any of them, she has been taking great enjoyment in applying them to various members of the Department (particularly Erika which gives her one more thing to be grumpy about). This has lead to her being dubbed QuAT's ultimate failsafe should something go awry as her morphing capabilities mean that she is always equipped with the tools needed to remove a restraint if it jams from incorrect application or if something goes wrong and it has to be removed in a hurry. Hmmmm, I spent longer discussing Tesse than I intended. Well let's move on to the second highest ranking person in the Department.
Quistis Trepe - Deputy Director of QuAT
Having been an instructor at the elite Balamb Garden Military College Ms. Trepe was originally intended to be primarily responsible for the administration of QuAT's Training component but with the Director's frequent participation in the Testing program she frequently finds herself running the entire Department. Fortunately she is an able administrator and Tesse does an excellent job of keeping the paperwork organised so she doesn't find the additional responsibilities particularly onerous. Having had a military background as part of the SeeD she is well versed in both the duties and the responsibilities in the "chain of command" and her fairmindedness has made her popular within the Department. Her command style has meshed well with Ms. Polecat's having the right balance of casualness to authoritarianism. She expects staff to obey the established rules and procedures but doesn't crack down on the internal and external pranking within the Department. In fact she supports group unity and retaliation (and initiation) for pranks played by other departments. Though QuAT is our youngest department it has acquitted itself well when it comes to pranking. Ms. Trepe is rumoured to have planned and participated in some of the most infamous ambushes of non QuAT personnel. She has also given as good as she's got after becoming a victim of the interdepartmental pranking. While united against other departments there's a friendly rivalry between the Teachers and the Testers. But I digress. While primarily a Teacher Ms. Trepe has occasionally served as a Tester to help measure the sorcerous resistance of items under consideration but this is more the exception than the rule. Her uniform is a slight variant from the standard QuAT design. With her military background she felt that some indication of her status was both fitting and appropriate. Rather than introduce ranking marks Ms. Polecat opted for varying the Deputy Director's uniform. Similar to the way her own uniform differs from the standard issue though not as extremely as Ms. Trepe wanted one she could wear daily and easily move in. She has gone on record as being very taken with the end results which is gratifying as happy employees are productive employees. Turning to the Teachers when recruiting for QuAT's training staff Ms. Trepe sought out individuals with scholastic training, demonstrated useful (and often esoteric) skills and/or abilities and proven effectiveness as Teachers yet dissatisfied with their current curricula and looking for a change or a challenge. It turned out there were more potential recruits out there than you might think and it didn't take long to fill QuAT's ranks. We're not far from the Seminar Rooms and as I timed this visit to arrive between classes this is the perfect opportunity to meet the Teachers. Though we can skip the Teachers and meet the Testers if you'd rather If you'd like to see the Testers in action then we could drop by the Testing Labs or the Demonstration Arena. Of course if you've seen enough of this Department there are alternatives. Perhaps you'd like to meet the Support Staff members Quality Assurance and Training is responsible for tutouring in our latest innovations? Or the Medical Staff who will be prescribing these techniques and technologies? Would you like to see humane capture technology that's already been evaluated and is in use? If you prefer we can arrange an interview with a member of our involuntary patient acquisition team. Alternately some visitors have been fascinated by the specifics of our current patient restraint and control equipment Perhaps you'd like to meet our Physical Trainers and see the Gym You might like to see our student internship program Perhaps you'd like to drop by the recreational lounge where we hold our staff parties Others have wanted to hear all about our use of robotics Then there are those who were more interested in the human interest angle of our friendly staff rivalries If you insist we could take a look at our underground high security storage facility Of course you can always return to the Open Wards Finally there's one more option. The place most everyone wants to see.
Do you still want to see the Grimbor Ward?