Sharp took a good look at his coworker’s face. There was a mixture of shame and humiliation with frustration. He had no idea if she was new around her or not, but nobody likes being made to feel stupid.

"Look. I can't prove it, but you probably got punked." Sharp rolled his eyes in the direction of the gossipy bunch. They may have been making a big show of talking about him, but Sharp could tell the girl finally noticed that he wasn’t actually the object of their attention. The panic dropped from her face as hot magma began to pool in her narrowed eyes. Her eavesdropping coworker peeked her head above the cubicle wall again, but this time she looked as if she could kill somebody with her mouse.

"How about I fix your mouse problems by switching them out for new ones, and then you two can fill out the reports for me? I hate those things, I’ve had a long day, I wanna get home, and you two look like you can fill them out in your sleep. Just blame everything on bad mouse optics. Those chuckleheads who punked you won't say anything 'cuz they'd have to admit they knew what was really wrong."

“Isn’t the AI supposed to fill all that stuff out for you?” said the girl beside him.

“Well, yeah, but the AI will also dutifully report that you had your coworkers mouse in your station. In fact, the AI report’s already filled out. I just need to sign off on it.”

“And if we fill it out manually, we get to report that the mice worked once they were replaced?” the other girl asked hesitantly.

“You want us to do your work for you?,” the first girl replied with suspicion.

“It’s easier for me to just sign off on the already written report.” Sharp smirked, raised his eyebrows, and looked down at them expectantly. It didn’t take them long to come to a decision.

"Deal!," both girls agreed in the same instant.

Sharp held out his hand for the mouse from the other cubicle, then swapped it with the one on the desk in front of him.

“There. I’ve switched your mice for ones that work.” Then he logged them into his IT portal and shared the screen with their decks. His AR contacts were programmed to patch into the network using override codes so that everybody else’s AR screens could be made available as a remote screen on his virtua display. The contacts were the only working prototype he had from his company before he shut it all down. It broke rules, but what Darity didn’t know…

"Hey," the first girl said from behind her AR shades. She was already filling out his report in one of the virtua screens that hovered before her. "Aren't you worried about us having access to your account?"

This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

"What are you going to do? Fill out all my reports for me? I should be so lucky.” Both girls laughed as Sharp gathered his tools into his bag. “Just log me out when you’re done.”

Sharp walked away, chuckling to himself, then came to a stop in front of the other group.

“What do you want?” said the obvious ringleader. She managed to look down at him while she stood two heads below him. With haughty eyes filled with disdain, she brushed back her wavy, dark brown hair. Maybe to some people that move would be attractive, but Sharp only saw a person who was used to stepping on others for her amusement.

“Nothing much. Just thinking about how good security cameras are at catching pranks and stuff on video. I just submitted a report of possible trespassing, criminal tampering, and vandalism to security. This conversation is being recorded for both of our protection. Have a nice day.”

"Hey!"

Sharp kept walking. The queen bee wouldn't be the one caught on camera, but her flunkies might be less willing to stick their necks out for her in the future. At least, that's what he hoped. He’d probably be back again when they escalated the pranks, assuming they didn’t get themselves fired first.

─── ·⋆⋅🚪⋅⋆· ───

"Hikoboshi!"

Sharp looked up from the AR Deck he was working on just as a teleprot rolled around the corner. A coworker's surprised face filled the screen. The teleprot’s arms hung limp by its side as the self-balancing gyro brought it to a graceful stop to his side.

"Devi, right? What can I do for you?"

"Do you know what you've done?"

"Uh…"

"Dude! You caught a theft ring!"

Sharp thought he would be used to this by now. People were always coming up to him and asking about the latest rumors involving him. If people were talking about it online, it must be true. Where there is smoke…the reasoning went. This time might be different, though. He had to admit that people usually didn't use telepresence robots to gossip, nor did it ever involve good news.

"No kidding…," Sharp said noncommittally while turning back to his current assignment.

"Who would have thought a haunted mouse report would expose so much theft? Haunted mouse!” Devi took a moment to laugh and make ghost sounds. The mechanical hands on the teleprot wiggled awkwardly in the air.

“So…I’ve been busy today. What’s the latest on that?”

“Right! Well, you sicced security on the haunted mouse and the ghost busters noticed the ‘ghost’ stopped at another cubicle and pocketed an AR headset. The owner of that cubicle had been fired later that day for losing gear repeatedly. CS has been going through a lot of employees lately because of lost or stolen property.”

“And the ring leader? Was it a girl with snotty eyes and wavy hair?”

“Are you thinking of Suárez? She fled the country. Went back to Venezuela. But we got the rest. Even reclaimed some of the gear! What clued you in?”

“Well, it was pretty obvious, you know? Anybody could have made the call,” Sharp bluffed in reply.

“I don’t know, dude. I thought you were washed up, but that was pretty cool.”

Sharp let the comment slide. He was happy to take the credit because he knew it would please Novell and Darity while annoying Wudgepuck. He might have been even happier if he wasn’t fixing a bank of smart urinals next.