Sharp rolled up the windows and mussed his black hair back in place, then gave his one blue lock a careless push off his forehead. The tanzaku stopped its spastic dance.
“Isn’t murder against company regulations?” Sharp spoke his reply, then focused on traffic. The AI he used could handle the boring parts of generating the text and sending it, leaving him free to interface with his virtua display, read his car’s HUD, or sometimes drive without cutting somebody off.
Turning onto the road that led to the Bloop complex, he made his way to his new gleaming prison. The time on his virtua display showed he had just enough time to park, stroll across the parking lot, and punch in. He didn’t want any lectures from Darity today.
Darity petitioned for an exception just in your case. Don’t make her mad.
Novell’s text rolled off screen as Sharp’s ETA timer gained a minute a moment after the traffic ahead came to a stop. He clicked his tongue in disgust. No matter how little he slept, he never seemed to have enough time, but even Sharp had to admit he pushed things too far today. His CEO startup life clashed horribly with his worker bee 9 to 5 grind. He could blow off a dead end job, but not his friends. He kicked himself mentally, and gripped his steering wheel in frustration.
Sharp was proud of his friend. He understood what Novell Jackson had accomplished. The long hours, the lack of sleep, the worry, the fear, and the exhilaration of success was the lifeblood of startups. Sharp’s corporation, BitStorm, may have stolen headlines for a time, but it was dwarfed by the size and scope of Bloop, even in BitStorm’s heyday—though Sharp felt his company had the better name. It was a pathetic victory by any standard. Novell’s company was massive in the way that battleships are massive when moored on a private beach. Sharp’s cryptocurrency corporation had been a dinghy in comparison.
Despite the towering business park in his destination’s view, most of Bloop’s research facilities were situated underground because of the Heavy Graviton Collider. It coiled for miles under the desert floor, with the main buildings clustered together at the center, complete with post office, shops, and food court. As the line of cars slowly inched closer to the parking facilities, Sharp had a beautiful view of his new home away from home. The campus was only a few years old, so the buildings still felt newly made with their shiny modern look of matte-ebony, solar paint grids framing iridescent reflective windows. They screamed success to all who beheld them, including bitter CEOs reduced to employee status.
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
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“Hey”, said Sharp sourly as he strode into the maintenance building’s small lobby. He reasoned that if he strode, as opposed to simply walked, they’d never figure out that he didn’t want to be there.
“Somebody’s in a good mood,” said the older twenty-something girl who worked the front desk. “You look fine as always, but your hair’s a mess. Come here.” She wasn’t wrong about his hair. It was possible his head hadn’t been near a comb in days, but he wasn’t sure he wanted her to be anywhere near his head either. He took a step back to dissuade her from whatever it was she had in mind.
He saw her every workday and it was always like this. He just wanted to clock in, and she just wanted to set his clock. She made him nervous. He couldn’t tell if she wanted to date him or destroy him. Possibly both. He decided to pretend to chat as he backed towards the elevator.
“Yeah, I had my window down as I was driving over. Some birds flew in. Made a nest. You know how it is.”
“Maybe they were attracted to those shiny, brown eyes of yours.” She smirked as she blocked his way.
“Hey, I’ve got to clock in. The grace period’s almost up.”
“This will only take a sec.” Not waiting for his permission, the pretty girl pushed at his head here and there to make his hair more presentable, all the while her sparkling manicured nails flashed in the light like daggers.
“Wow. You’re so tall,” she said with outstretched arms. Sharp stood at six feet tall which gave the girl the appearance of a child desperate for cookies just out of their reach.
“Ow! Hey, c’mon!” Sharp pulled back, but she didn’t relent.
“Oh, my ring is caught in your hair. Hold on,” she said as she pulled randomly on his hair to free her hand. “There we go. All better.” She stepped back with a smile.
“You made me late!”
“What?” the girl looked back at him in surprise. “You’re the one strolling in here past the top of the hour. I was only trying to help you look presentable. We have a dress code you know. I just hope my ring’s alright after getting caught in that cute rat’s nest of yours.” The girl pouted, then bit her lip in worry before moving back to her desk.
Cute‽ Is this her idea of flirting? Or is she setting me up?
Sharp hurried over to the elevator. He used to have a security detail at his side to prevent interactions like that. People were often overly familiar, forward, or furious with him. He could report her if he wanted, but it sounded like a hassle.
Sharp mussed his hair back the way he liked it as he stepped into the elevator. The time clock sensed his NFC badge and clocked him in seven minutes late. As he turned around to face the front, he could see the girl excitedly chatting with somebody on the phone as she glanced back at him and waved. His eyes flicked onto the icon for augmented audio in his virtua display, and her side of the conversation played in his earpiece.
“…did it as planned…made him late, though…he’s super grumpy lately…”
Reporting in, are we?
The doors closed with a whoosh and he headed down to the bottom floor.