4 Ch-1 Part-2: Can't Wait Any Longer!

"Sigh...."

.....

"SIGH..."

"Mom, sis' has been sighing like this since morning now. Do something..."

Said my lil' brother, Tom, while playing a shooter game on the console, while I was lying dejected on the couch due to all the unfortunate events happening today.

"Don't worry son, your sister's going through something... I guess?" She said with a slight grin.

I mean, YES! Of course I was going through something right now. Although it wouldn't be what mom's thinking about. I bet she must be thinking that her daughter's finally sighing for love at this age, or some sort of stupid stuffs like that, but NO!

But then I thought of it and arrived to the conclusion that it would be even more tiring to explain them my situation, rather than to listen at them talk about it like they wish to.

I jumped out of the couch and headed to my room upstairs.

"Oh yeah, uh.. Mom, when will dad be coming back from the business trip?" I inquired, from the middle of the stairs.

"Umm.. I think your father said he'd be coming after a month." Said mom, with a slight uncertainty.

"Arrgh!!" I yelled inside my mind.

"You had some business with your dad?"

I took a moment to answer. "Well, kinda.." and headed upstairs.

I entered my room, and threw myself on the bed. And then I started to think of several ways to correct this situation.

_after a while of deep thinking_

I grabbed my phone...

...sent an email to RifRits Entertainment...

...changed into my outdoor gaming hoodie outfit, grabbed my bag, along with my headphones, and headed out.

Meanwhile, in RifRits Entertainment—

"Eeek!!"

"What happened?" The vice-director asked the employee who screamed.

"Si-si-si-sir!"

The employee's anxious behavior created a commotion among the nearby people.

"What is it? In fact, calm down."

"Si-sir! We've received a-a mail fro-from.."

"From.. who?" The vice-director asked.

"From the di-direc-DIRECTOR'S DAUGHTER!!"

The whole room got silent - except for the new employees which joined recently, asking to their seniors about the silence.

"Wha-what does it say?" The employee nearby asked.

"It sa-says tha-that she's coming over here at any moment now!"

"What!" The vice-director exclaimed.

Then he left the room, headed up to his office, and dialed me up. Meanwhile the room from where he just left was in a state of mediocre panic.

(Rings)

"Hello, this is the director's daughter, right?" He asked me, while I was already onboard the subway train.

"Oh, if it ain't vice-director Spectacles. What is it?" I replied back, with a humorous tone.

"I've said this for like the 64th time, please stop calling me glasses. I have a proper name, you know. Well, anyway, I got to know that we've received an email from you stating that you are coming over here."

"Oh yeah, I did. In fact, I am coming right now."

"Eh.. kid, you can't just come directly without arranging an appointment."

"Oh really, then I guess I should just post some negative comments about your globally-proclaimed splen~did game... Starting with the fact that it erases accounts of players randomly!"

I replied, with a slight frustration.

"Please refrain from doing that. We've already talked about your missing account just a while back in the morning. We are doing everything we can to find your missing account."

"Like hell I can wait anymore longer.." I whispered to myself.

"Sorry, what?"

"No, it's nothing. Anyway, I am coming over there, and that's it. Later." And ended the call.

(Beep, beep)

Before heading over the company - well actually, after I was kicked out of the virtual world, I dialed up the support group of RifRits Entertainment in a haste. Good thing mom went out for shopping in the morning, because during the phone call with them.... I kinda kept yelling over and over. Probably because I wanted to release the pent up stress inside me.

"Hello, this is RifRits Entertai-" I interrupted the reciever's sentence in between.

"Listen, I am facing a great problem here. Uh.. my beta account seems to be missing from the game."

"What is your AWA-ID?"

"#1AWAaaryk001.."

"Let me see..."

I waited, patiently, with a little hope emerging in me.

"Uh, sorry miss, but your ID doesn't exist."

"....."

"Uh..miss, hello miss?"

The phone slipped out of my hand as I remained standing — half-dead.

Just when I got a lil' hope..

After that, my emotions took control of most of my actions. I, sort of, yelled over and over on the phone, and started to frustrate them by saying stuffs like reviewing negative stuffs in their global fan page about the game, asking for compensation, and many more.

To be frank, I was basically blackmailing them...

Then I forced them to connect me to their vice-director. I called him Spectacles because the way he wears them makes him look smart and arrogant — kind of like a condescending type of person.

I talked with him about the matter. And he too didn't know how to fix it. Then I just hung up the phone in utter despair, and kept sighing since then.

And thus, we come to the current situation.

-RifRits Entertainment-

"Sir, we have a girl here asking for you."

The receptionist informed the vice-director through the phone about my arrival to the company.

Just my intuition, but I think he must've already seen me coming inside through the gate from his big office windows.

"The vice director called you up." The receptionist said, after placing the phone back.

As I went towards the elevator, I observed new faces in the company. They must've joined the company recently, since the last time I visited this place was like three months ago - when my DG busted. Meanwhile, the other people who knew about me tried to maintain their distance from me.

As I entered the entered the elevator, I noticed the adults inside averting their eyes from me. Except there was a new worker inside, suspicious of the behavior of others upon my arrival.

"What happened, Steve? Why acting strange all of a sudden?" Whispered someone behind me. Might've been the new worker.

"Ssshh, I will tell you once we're out of here..." Whispered someone again behind me. Must've been this- 'Steve' guy the previous guy was whispering to.

The elevator door opened. I stood for a moment to see if anyone would leave the elevator before me, since I was the only one standing closest to the elevator door. But they didn't even show a sign for wanting to leave the elevator.

Then I left the elevator and headed to spectacles's office, rather than to prolong my observation further and to halt them in their work.

— - — - —

"Sighs, why did she had to come today?" Steve muttered to himself, while sighing in relief.

"What are you talking about? More importantly, what happened back there? Why were you all acting strange?" The bewildered new worker asked.

"Oh about that? We were all just not trying to create attention towards ourselves. In fact, Ron, yo-"

"Wait, why was there any need of that?"

"It's better if you don't interact with her, Ron — especially when she's irritated about something. Because she can be really haughty and cold-hearted in that mood."

"She? You mean that girl from the elevator? I did see her coming here sometimes, but never knew that much about her."

"Oh you just joined two months back so can't help that." Steve continued, "Anyway, if you love this current job of yours, then it's better if you don't interact with her."

"Why?" Ron asked.

......

"That's just because she's.... The future director of our company."

- — - — -

Yes, I am the future director of this company — or so everyone thinks. Just because my dad declared to everyone one year back that he will make me the future director of this company without consulting me, everyone looks at me differently now. And I hate it.

I even told them I am not going to become one, but still they believe in my dad's nonsense. If I had to think of a reason, it was probably because dad was a man who fulfills his promises, and everyone in the company were aware of that. Which was why I stopped visiting this place after a few days of my dad's stupid declaration.

But then I kind of created a commotion in here three months back because of my broken DG. Since then, everyone is now wary of me. But atleast the people who worked here for longer were still a bit nice to me, including the vice-director.

— - — - —

"Have a seat."

Spectacles said right after I opened the door and entered his office.

I went and lied myself down above the three-seater couch, and took a few almonds from the nearby table to eat.

"I think there is a proper way of sitting, kid?"

"Do you really think I am in the mood for that nonsense?"

"You insolent brat!"

"Well thank you," I answered cheekily, "also won't you bring something to eat for your guest who's sitting here?"

"You finally show up here after like three months, and this is how you behave?" He said sternly.

"Don't mind me. I've never asked for your hospitality in the first place. But you can atleast get some snacks, right?"

He showed a scowl on his face for a moment, and cleared his throat.

He took a remote and ordered something from the cafeteria, and then I heard a thud sound behind his desk. He went to check it, and bought back a large packet of choco sticks, one of my favorite snacks.

"How generous of you!" I said, with a cheeky grin.

"Well then, what business do you have here? As we've said in the morning, your problem will be shortly fixed."

"And like I've been sayin' since mornin', I can't wait anymore!"

"Then what do you plan to do here, kid?"

.....

"I've come to fix my own problems by myself!" I said with a serious face.

He raised an eyebrow, and asked, "You kidding, right?"

I didn't speak. I let my stern face do the talking. And he understood it in no time.

"Well, how? Even the remaining top debuggers weren't able to find the source of your problem through our computers."

"Just to be sure, all the top staffs in this company aren't available currently due to their business trip in California, right?

"Well that's true. What about it?"

"That means none of you have used the Master Computer, right?"

"Hey kid, what are you trying to say?"

......

"I'll use the Master Computer to solve the issue." I said, blatantly.

The Master Computer is a mega super computer developed by the company itself. It runs the whole management of the company, and also runs the VR game AWA.

"Huh! That computer is only accessible to the top staffs and programmers of this company. What gives you the right to use it?"

He yelled.

Well that was not unexpected. No sane company would let a kid handle a billion dollar computer. That'd be the same as a kid roaming around a nuclear lab.

But it ain't like I came here unprepared for this.

I pulled out something from my bag, and he was surprised looking at it.

"Wh-why do you have the Master Card?" He asked, with a irritated surprised look.

"Oh this," I said in a cheeky way, "Come on, vice-director spectacles. You have known my father for like ten years. Of course you can think up of a reason why I have this Master Card currently in my possession?"

— - — - —

My father was the type of dad who was highly devoted to their daughter. Because of that character of him, I've faced several embarrassing hardships in my life.

Mom often advised, sometimes even yelled at dad to not spoil me so much because of the fear that I might become a spoiled, ill-mannered girl in the future. But as soon as dad realized that I was a smart girl, he removed every boundaries which were restricting him from spoiling me.

But I too figured out a way to use this annoying quality of my dad.

Just before dad was about to go to his business trip about two weeks ago, I asked him for his Master Card in case anymore problems arrive when I start to play AWA again, and I was eventually right in doing so.

My dad happily offered me his Master Card and in return, I gave him a hug.

For some reason the way he left home, grinning, made me feel like he was planning to come back with lots of souvenirs. Now I feel like I should've just thanked him with an honest smile.

A hug's too powerful for a dad like him!

- — - — - — -

"Tch! That daughter-complex dad of yours!" He whispered to himself with a slight frustration.

"You just clicked your tongue, didn't you?"

"Oh, shut up," He continued, "But still, just because you have the Master Card doesn't necessarily mean that you can access the Master Computer, kid!"

"Oh, really? Just wonder what'll happen when I tell dad about you not letting me access it. I bet it can't be, in anyway, good!"

Vice-director spectacles was very well aware of my dad's annoying stubbornness, and unwillingly led me to the room to the Master Computer below the company building, instead of getting yelled at by dad in the near future.

"Well, there you go. That's the entrance to the room where the Master Computer is."

He said, while pointing at the door in front of us with an unnecessary large amount of locks and gears.

I went near the door, and swiped the card at the slot next to the door. All the gears started functioning, and the door unlocked.

"Couldn't you guys just have settled with a normal sliding door, rather than this?"

"This door can withstand even a missile. Is that reason enough?" He said, while raising his spectacles.

"You say it as if there's something really valuable in here."

"You'll know about it eventually.." he continued, "also just because you are a skilled programmer who's many ranks above us doesn't mean you can make changes in the company's management system through that computer, kid."

"!"

"Hmmm?"

"O-o-ok, um.. I-I will uh.. keep that in mind."

I felt uneasy for a second there when he mentioned 'programmer'.

Seriously, it ain't like I'm going to change anything in the management system. Plus that's the least thing I care about right now.

....well with the number of pranks I did before in this company might explain why he warned me about not messing with the master computer.

— - — - —

I forgot to mention this before, but I am a programmer too. A skilled one at that too.

I learned programming in an elite programming academy where my dad recommended me to study during my third grade. It was boring at first, but I continued the teaching program for three more years till sixth grade.

It might sound impossible because, normally, no grade schooler can understand the basics of programming and its language, but I did.

The school even nicknamed me the 'Programming Prodigy' because of my pro-level programming skills at a young age.

The teachers and the principal were very nice to me as well. I remember myself receiving lots of sweets; well most of them were choco sticks.

But I stopped attending the academy after that incident during my third year at that academy which taught me the way people below look at the people above them.

Sigh, just thinking about it makes my head spin.

Ever since that, I've always felt tense whenever I hear something related to programming.

"What a lame terror I've developed.." I thought to myself while being a little remorseful about it.

- — - — - — -

Then I made him wait outside the room and entered the hallway. The place was really spacey and the walls were flashing different sorts of lights, as if it was a spaceship. As I went deeper through the passage, I reached another door and opened it to see lots of monitors hanging above the ceiling and a gigantic keyboard in front of me. I went and sat down the chair which somewhat smelled like dad, and turned on the main monitor.

The front wall (main monitor) brightened up in a sudden, and I was all ready to start finding the roots of my problem.

_after a while of pointless struggling_

I didn't found the source of the problem afterall. And here I came in with a little bit of regaining hope in me which has all shattered to tiny bits now.

SIGH!!!

Just then, the room turned dark all of a sudden, and every monitors turned black. Few words appeared on the main monitor and when I read it, it said, "Are you Rayka Miler?"

.......

Instinctively, I looked around me as to check whether was there anyone else in this room other than me.

But it didn't seemed there was anyone. So I said a little loudly, "Who are you?" while facing the main monitor.

......

There was no change in the monitor.

Then I said, "Yes, I am Rayka Miler." But there was still no change in the monitor.

After a while, new sentences appeared on the monitor which read:

"Eh, if you are trying to communicate by speaking then connect a microphone to the computer. Or just type what you want to convey through the keyboard. Don't you even know that?"

Ok, whoever's doing this prank has just pissed me off.

I did have a microphone attached to my headphones, but I didn't want to talk with this suspicious person. I just went to the letters & symbols section of the keyboard at the middle and typed, "Who are you?" And pressed enter.

There was a quick response this time. It read, "You can just call me K."

Okay, then I typed back, "What do you want?" and pressed enter.

Another quick response which read, "Did you forget that I asked you something?"

Being a little infuriated, I typed back, "Why do you need to know that?" And pressed enter.

Another quick response which read, "Okay. Whoever it is, answer the question or else I will activate the webcam in there and check you out myself."

The response itself seemed threatening. So I answered the question.

"So you really are Rayka. You are the first beta tester to ever complain so much about your lost avatar."

Wait, the first? So there are more victims like me? I asked that to him.

"So do you really want your avatar back?"

Oh so he's just gonna ignore my question, huh? But I typed back, "Yes" and pressed enter.

"You don't have to press enter at the end of your sentences, Rayka. We're not using some sort of instant messaging software at the moment."

This guy's just pissing me off!

Another message appeared that read, "Well, you can't get it back! Just go and restart your adventure."

"Eh, what?" I typed back.

_no response_

"Hey, hey, hey, hey!!!" I repeatedly typed back. Didn't take me much time to realize that the prankster left.

The room brightened back, and the monitors started functioning like normal. Everything turned back to the way it was, but I was left completely bewildered from what happened.

My last hope's crushed as well. Now I am completely out of options.

That's when I realized, it was of no use to cry over spilled milk, although i didn't know who spilled it.

I got back to my senses, and I realized how rude I was to everyone today — just because of a game. I felt really horrible and remorseful. Thinking all that, I headed out of the room.

I found spectacles waiting outside the door. He walked up to me and said, "Geez, what were you doing in there for so long, kid?"

I bowed down and said, "I am uh... sorry for uhm.. my behavior." in a soft, honest tone.

He didn't reply anything so I looked up and found him grinning. I've never saw him with that facial reaction. Or did I see him do that before?

Well I had no idea, but looking at him grin definitely annoyed me.

"Why are you grinning?"

"Oh nothing. It's nothing. Anyways, apology accepted!" He said in the most cheerful way ever.

It kind of made me relieved when he forgave me, and smiled back.

"So.... Were you able to fix your problem?"

"No."

"Don't worry. We will try to solve it with the remaining staff we have currently as soon as possible." He said enthusiastically.

"Ah, about that. Don't worry about it anymore?"

"What do you mean, kid?"

"I'll just start from beginning!"

"Yo- you mean it kid?" He said with an astonished look at his face.

"Yes. Oh, by the way, since I am going to start anew, can I get some nice equipments for my adventure, in exchange of my lost account."

"Yes, yes, you can. We will send it over to you."

"Oh and uh.. can you generate an object from the beta version of the game which I had? It's very important to me." I requested earnestly.

"Hmmm... You remember the object ID?"

"Y- yes! Yes I do!" I exclaimed with joy.

"Well then, it's all done!"

I went around inside the company and apologized to those whom I probably yelled at. It was actually tiring, but seeing them forgiving me with a happy smile, gave me the energy to go around inside the building.

Gradually, everyone with whom I interacted in this company before greeted me and offered me treats. It kind of felt embarrassing and childish, but I appreciated it a lot.

_at the same time_

"So Steve, you were saying before.." Ron said, looking at Steve who was looking extremely happy, and continued, "Woah, woah, Steve, what's with that expression?"

"Nothing, it's nothing." Steve replied childishly, while turning his face away from Ron.

- — - — -

After apologising to everyone, I was ready to leave the place. The sun started to set. As I bade farewell to them, the vice-director walked up and said, "Do come back again, future director!"

I smiled upon hearing his words, and cheerfully said:

"Like hell I will become the future director."

[TO BE CONTINUED]

Back in the vice-director's office—

Spectacles: How many years has it been since she behaved politely and smiled like that? You missed it big-time, Hughes!

While returning home—

Sharrel: (looking at the bag of treats) I guess I'll share some of these to Tom & mom as a token of apology for being rude.

Sharrel: (looking inside the bag, grinning) Oh-ho-ho~, these choco sticks are all mine.

.......

Sharrel: What the? There's only choco sticks in here?

Back in RifRits Entertainment—

Worker 1: How many years has it been since she last came here?

Worker 2: Looking at her cheerfulness reminds me of my daughter who left me after the divorce.

Worker 3: Hughes is so blessed to have a smart and cheerful daughter like her.

Worker 4: Yes, you are right.

Ron: Whaa~, everyone here's getting emotional after she visited today. And Steve, enough with that grin!