Tilly really is a bizarre personality, isn't she? I mean, I applaud being dedicated to one's work but to be dedicated to the point where you are actually trying to hang on to a location where you are neither
wanted nor needed? I'm not sure if that's crazy dedicated or just crazy! FWIW, I suspect that, at some point, it will come out just how afraid of Beatrice she is and just how thoroughly intimidated into doing this job she was.
However, the 'intimidation' explanation cannot and does not explain Tilly's relentless cheer. One can't help but wonder if she's heard rumours about Hannelore being 'nicer' or something and that the thought of working for her instead of being on the executive level at HQ and thus around Beatrice makes this job simply too sweet to lose!
Jeph does like creating completely weird characters, doesn't he?
Hmm... closest thing to a last-name we have for Tilly... should we pronounce it Key-Hoe-tick, or quick-soh-tick?
Tilly's surname is Birch. Her
middle name is Quixotica. Hey, what can I say? Her dad was a Cervantes fan!
"How would it look to my superiors?"
"... like they'd made a terrible mistake that wasted everyone's time and money."
Which they would blame on Tilly to avoid any embarrassment or blame landing on their desks. She would be demoted or even fired as the embarrassment to the company that she had become, aside from whatever personal revenge Beatrice exacted for not carrying out her plan.
This is the big thing; Hannelore needs to balance her own independence against the fact that Tilly
would be made to suffer if she were perceived by Beatrice to have failed.