The mask is an essential part of corporate life, at least when Tokyo comes calling. Think or feel anything you want, but keep it safely hidden. The Japanese model for the efficient corporate executive places an emphasis on business, getting the job done and done right and to hell with everything else. That poses a problem for Laurena because, simply, she has heart. She cares about people and has no natural reserve. That’s one of the main reasons why Amy picked her for an aide. She’s very un-Japanese: open, expressive, empathic. She’s very human, very warm, and she cares, and not just about the organization. She cares about people. To Amy’s mind, the corporate world in general and Hurley-Cooper Laboratories in particular need as much of those sorts of qualities as it can possibly acquire.