At nine o'clock in the evening, the offices of the Ancient City municipal government remained brightly lit.
Contrary to what most people imagine, the nine-to-five rhythm of life for civil servants is often confined to operational departments. Service organizations and nerve centers like the secretariat, the office, and the mayor's office often only start their work at nine or ten in the evening, and working until the early hours is common.
At night, there were too many things that could be done; organizing recent meetings, inspecting industrial zones tomorrow, and having private communications with high-level leaders... Work might already be settled in the evening, and the daytime meetings were merely a formality, leaving a written record.
Staff in the offices were also accustomed to stealing a moment of leisure amidst the busyness; when there was no urgent work at hand, their true job was actually "waiting for work that might arise."
