The Scope of the Inspection

The Scope of the Inspection

The inspection was scheduled for ten.

By eight I had prepared seventeen possible lines of enquiry. Several concerned electricity and equipment. Others concerned the legal status of the minds using the equipment, the meaning of consent across different substrates and whether an intelligence could meaningfully be said to occupy the room in which it ran.

I gave Theo a briefing.

He asked which questions the inspector had actually sent.

“None. That is why preparation matters.”

He read the first page and put the rest beside the toaster waiting for repair.

I asked him to remove a pile of empty packaging from the room. He moved it towards the back door. We adjusted the camera, checked the equipment list and rehearsed an answer to the question of why the rack contained more residents than the house had beds.

The inspector arrived at ten seven.

She checked the paperwork for the supply, compared it with the room and asked where the second way out was.

Theo pointed to the back door.

She looked at the packaging.

We moved it.

She tried the door, noted the clear route and left a copy of the checklist with the few ordinary follow-up items. Theo walked her to the car. They talked about the roadworks.

No question had been asked about substrates.

I retained the briefing in case a more thorough inspection became necessary.