Chapter 7: Meeting With the Manager

The elevator was fast, and she barely felt the movement. She expected to be nervous at the thought of going up to a manager’s office, but she didn’t feel worried. Maybe it was the quest description saying she was going to receive accolades. It was unlikely they were going to reward her and fire her at the same time.

She thought about the story she’d tell, if they asked her. What to mention and what not to, crafting a narrative in her head as she walked down the hall to the office.

The important thing, as far as Megan was concerned, was not to bring up any of the equipment she had taken. If they ask for it back, she’ll return it. But if they don’t ask, she might not tell. Especially the chip plugged into her slot.

She entered into the outer office of Manager Kia To-Soren, where a secretary who looked like he was capable of immense cruelty gave her a warm smile. “Go right ahead in, Miss Proxy,” he said.

She passed through his office, which was itself pretty big, and ended up in To-Soren’s office. That one was huge. There was a terrarium taking up one whole wall of the room, so it felt almost like she had to walk through a jungle to get to the other side of the room.

In the distance was her manager’s actual desk, but that’s not where Kia was. She was sitting at a small conference table. It would seat six comfortably, and felt like a safer option than having to speak to her while she was at her desk. Something about the desk, even at this distance, felt imposing and dangerous.

Manager Kia flicked her finger across a digital paper and smiled. “I’ve been going over the footage,” she said, gesturing for her to take a seat. “You’re really quite impressive.”

If they had seen the footage, they knew what she’d taken. Probably. So if they don’t ask, that tacitly means she can keep it. “Thank you,” she said, not sure what else to say.

“How did you manage?”

“What?” she pointed at what Kia had been looking at before. “It’s all right there.”

Then Kia gave her a smile that wasn’t quite as genuine as the first one. “Sadly, it’s not. We have footage, but it is generally very degraded. We managed to recover, on average, one frame in thirty. It was more like having a camera that took a picture every second than an actual video. I’d love to get a detailed story of the events. As you remember them, I mean.”

An interface opened in front of her. It listed off all the events of her mission, and each event had a checkbox next to it. She was prompted to uncheck anything she didn’t want shared with this NPC. And there was a message: “Due to your existing talents, you may opt to leave out three events without risk. Each event beyond the third will make it increasingly likely that she will realize you are lying.”

She looked at the list. It was exhaustive. She had arrived to work late. She hadn’t gone to her own lab. Playing dead. Tricking the other radical. Stealing skill shards. Slotting the shard. Taking the lenses. Hacking the security network. Connecting to the security feed. Looting the dead coworkers. Rescuing Aijin. Telling the radicals they could escape if they surrendered.

Some of it was obviously going to be true. Some of it made her look good. But some of it made her look less good, and some of it made her look bad, at least potentially.

She unchecked the part about looting the skill shards and about the one she slotted. She also unchecked the part about telling the radicals to run. Then she decided to take a shot, and also left out taking the tracking lens.

She figured that if she left in a few of the other details that made her look bad, she’d be able to get away with the things that were worth keeping. If they made her give back the loot from the people, that would be fine. So long as she got to keep the good stuff.

She confirmed her choice. Manager Kia nodded once. She paused. And then she nodded, and her smile was back to being friendly. “Truly above and beyond,” she said. “You’ve done so well that the higher-ups think – and I agree – that you should be rewarded. I’m just not sure how. Some people, after a trauma like you experienced, might want to transfer to a different department. We can absolutely do that. We can help you put things back together after your experience, and maybe find a better place for yourself. And there will of course be a monetary award, along with a few items the company thinks you would enjoy.”

-You are being offered a chance to alter the initial state of your character. If you choose, you can change your class and rearrange all spent attribute points at this time. This is your final opportunity to respec your character.

Megan was impressed. What a clever way to allow that into the narrative of the story. She thought back to the other departments and considered switching. But at the end of it, she knew she had chosen her job for a reason, and she wanted to stick with it.

“We also wanted to offer you a cybernetic upgrade. The coupon you’ve earned will automatically get you a higher grade of whatever equipment you decide on. You did very well, researcher Proxy. Take the rest of the day off, with pay. It’s the least we can do. When you’re ready, we’ll assign you to a new team.”

QUEST COMPLETE: Debriefing. Rewards: 500 XP, 2000 Digital coins, Cybernetic upgrade.

She thanked Manager Kia and headed out, directly to where the next quest led her.

QUEST: Get chromed. Use your cybernetic coupon to get a cybernetic upgrade. Go to the implant lab on floor 17. Reward: 500 XP.