Chapter 13: New Management and New Jobs

Aoki Takashi had never thought that working for his friend, Yagoo, would flip his lifestyle upside down. He met the CEO during their time in college and was hired later on when he founded the company. His passion was photography and technology, which fitted perfectly into their line of work and he was having fun learning the practice of advanced camera gear.

However, Takashi nearly had a heart attack when he was told to go on a mandatory vacation for an indefinite time. He thought it was some black company's way of secretly laying off workers and his wife was going to have fit for him losing the job. Thankfully, Takashi's increased wage saved him on the second day of his vacation, avoiding the wrath of his wife and also went away to Hawaii for two months after the dates for his return to the company came. He had inspected the company building in case Yagoo was just trying to run off, but after seeing the hundred of construction workers, he was relieved that his job was secure.

Takashi felt like he was enjoying one of the best moments of his life. Lounging at home, getting better paid for doing nothing, playing video games with his daughter and lovely dates with his wife. Alas, all good things must come to an end as the date for Cover's reconstruction approached closer and closer.

"Papa, why do you have to go to work? Surely you can ask for more vacation! It's still winter break and I can't play video games with Mama" his daughter whined as he was preparing at the front door.

"Sorry, sweetie. I can play after work with you. At least I get to work for the money again." Takashi hugged his daughter before kissing his wife.

"Honey," His wife returned the lovely exchange and playfully neaten up his tie, "Please don't let this vacation be an excuse that you were actually fired and you are just trying to make it look like you're employed."

"Don't you have any faith in me?! I even showed you Yagoo's email!" Takashi helplessly persuaded his wife again.

"I'm just joking, have a good day at work." The wife gave her husband a firm hug before he left.

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Takashi was looking at his new office nervously, wondering if he was still in a dream. The first day at work was a great celebration, hosted by Yagoo and their new 'Chief', and made the renovation super exciting. When he was confronted with his new workspace actually having privacy, more office space and a separate team meeting room, he quickly sobered up. It was always a part of his culture to have the small cubicle as a 'workspace' for lower-position employees. Hell, even his team leader, Emi, was shell-shocked when she was handed an office bigger than her subordinates.

"How long are you going to stand there, Takashi-san? We got to go and meet Emi-san for the meeting."

His colleague, Jiro, was also baffled by their office space and even rushed to Emi-san to make sure they had the right offices.

At the Team 6 Meeting Office, 5 Cover employees were discussing their vacation until their team leader finally arrived.

"Okay, welcome back Team 6. I hope all of you had a fantastic paid vacation! I had a terrific ryokan trip in Kyoto and I'm sure the rest of you also have a lot to talk about our trips. However, we got to do something first." Emi announced and handed some printouts to her subordinates.

"As you have been informed, management and work had changed to be more reflective of our higher salaries so management had to instate new projects. However, we have a choice from a selection of projects to choose from. Never heard of something like this but we gotta do what we gotta do. So have a read real quick and we'll decide together."

Takashi looked at the printout, wondering what his leader was talking about.

[CURRENT PROJECTS FOR TEAMS] [EXPECT MORE PROJECTS IN THE FUTURE]

SLOTS ARE LIMITED IN SOME PROJECT

HIGH-PERFORMING TEAMS WILL BE GIVEN PRIORITY FOR THEIR SELECTION OF PROJECTS

SAMPLE COLLECTION: A team will be assigned a local/international location to collect specified categories of items. Rotations will last for two months and can not be picked twice in a row. Expenditure will be adjusted accordingly to the location and it is advised for one team member to be in the office to receive and deliver samples. SLOTS ARE LIMITED TO 7 TEAMS.

DATA ORGANISATION: Location will be based in the main office. Teams will receive sample collections and other data sets to be categorised into folders for management. Additional information will be given on-site. Rotations will last two months and can be repeated by teams. UNLIMITED SLOTS.

IDOL & TECHNOLOGY RESEARCH: Collection of anything idol related for the company's new business model. This will include costume designs, referencing artworks and photographs, attending concerts, going to meet-ups, acquiring merchandise, studying songs etc. Expenditure will be allocated based on the current tasks and popularity of idols. Rotations will last two months and can be repeated by teams. SLOTS ARE LIMITED TO 5 TEAMS

MARKETING AND PRESS: Preparation for advertising and telecommunication with Japanese media or authorities. Expenditure will be provided for searching lawyers and related industries. No rotations as only one team will be needed and fully concentrate on this project. ONE TEAM SLOT

From what Takashi had read, it was indeed a jump from a tech company to the idol industry. However, he was very confused by the terms and descriptions of their projects.

"So, what are your thoughts, Team 6?" Emi asked, "If none of these resonates with you guys, I can inquire if we can look at the previous projects we were working on."

"Um, while the Sample Collection sounds like an extended business trip, what would we actually look for?" a colleague, Kenzo, inquired.

"Good question, it might be clothes, food, or local specialities but it varies depending on the location. I like the project as well, but the international aspect and rotation duration are quite difficult for me. If you guys do want to go, I'll stay in the office for the collections." (Emi)

"What about Idol & Technology Research? At the very least, we are still comfortable with the project." Jiro asked.

"I don't know much about idols, so I might not be much of a help for that project." another colleague, Himari, confessed her worries about the proposal.

"Sample Collection might be the easiest out of the new projects, while the other projects are quite new and we might struggle with actually getting any good progress." Takashi voiced his opinion, "We have to at least make a good impression with Yagoo-san and the new 'Chief'-san."

"Hmm," Emi nodded in agreement, "It would be good to display a decent report to Yagoo-san and management. If we agree on the collection projection, I'll go right now to hand in our slots."

"Are there any objections to this project?" Emi asked for a final time and all her subordinates posed no answer to the question, "Okay! Hopefully, I'll get more details. You guys can go…to the cafeteria or check out the company tablets in the office. There should be instructions on how to use them. Just do something so it doesn't look like our team is idle."

Emi walked out of the office, leaving the rest of the employees to discuss their plans for the rest of the day.

"I'll go and visit Kelp, Nori and Moss!" Himari went off to the cafeteria straight away.

"What?! You already know those things' names yet you keep on forgetting your house keys," Kenzo teased her as he followed behind, intending on having some lunch.

"S-shut up, BAKA!" Himari growled, "They're cute and loveable! Don't call them things!"

"Ah, a lover's quarrel. So cute!" Jiro witnessed the scene and felt joy from getting his daily dose of romance, "I'll hang around my office and check out those company tablets. What about you, Takashi-san?"

"Um, I'll check and see if Genji-san is free and we can plan for a drink or something after work." (Takashi)

"Cool, let me know when it's happening."

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A few days had passed and Emi received an update on their new project. Surprisingly, there were some empty slots left in the rotation so management decided to split Team 6 in half to cover more area for their project.

"So, we have to be split up into groups of three, unfortunately," Emi expressed her concerns with her colleagues in the meeting office, "Himari-chan, Kenzo-kun and Jiro-kun are assigned to….Sapporo, yeah, Sapporo. Then Takashi-kun, Daisuke-kun and I are assigned to Yokohama."

"WHAT?! Why do I have to be paired up with him again?!" Himari protested, only to be shut down by her leader.

"You both have the best synergy and are most efficient when working together. I don't see a problem with this grouping." Emi winked.

"Um, w-w-well I was-" Himari fumbled her words, trying to make some excuse.

"Himari-san, do you not like working with me?" Kenzo whimpered, seiza'd towards Himari with puppy eyes.

Himari's protesting crumbled under the pleading eyes and gave up arguing.

"I-it's not like I want to work with you! Since Emi-san said so, I can't refute it anymore!" Himari turned away to hide her blush.

"What is the plan for tackling this project, Emi-san?" Takashi asked as he was reading all the accommodations and notes for the project.

It was….concerningly easy.

The project allocated a separate small office in the location and every day, they had to buy whatever and bring it back to be repackaged and sent back to the main HQ. Takashi was allowed to buy various things each working day; clothes, fabrics, food, antiques, accessories etc. Even vehicles were considered in the list, as long as they were different or unique. For the small items, they were told to be separated and placed in special containers in the office. Occasionally, one member brings the containers back to the main office to be organised by a separate team.

But the one point that concerned him the most was…

"Are you sure this figure is correct, Emi-san?" Takashi nearly lost his marbles after seeing their spending funds.

"Yes, I have confirmed with Yagoo-san and it will be 100,000 Yen each day for each person." Emi also shook her head helplessly after seeing the amount, "We'll each receive a company credit card and it'll be topped up each day. He also emphasised that the project doesn't need to be rushed and we shouldn't try to get everything done in two months. He explained the team only needed to focus on one or two categories and leave the rest for other teams if they are assigned to the same location."

"What about transportation and accommodation? I'm not too keen on running back and forth between Yokohama and Tokyo." Daisuke asked.

"As mentioned before, all expenses will be paid by Cover. This will include rented vehicles or luxury bullet trains. Hotel stays will be paid or we can stay in the small bedrooms in the office, though Yagoo-san highly advised us to keep them empty. Not sure why and he didn't elaborate."

"When can we start going? I'll have to inform my wife that I will be constantly away from the area." (Takashi)

"Next week or even in two days, the date for us to move isn't set yet…..Let's go in three days then. I don't want us to be hanging in the office doing nothing nor do I want us to rush the project so I'll just go around and talk with other team leaders to see what they are doing."

The Yokohama team didn't do much work for that day, nor did other teams in the company as they were still sorting the logistics with multiple people going on 'business' trips. Takashi had permission to return to work early and report his project to his wife, who persistently forced him to return for the weekends. Despite how smoothly plans were progressing and the ease of the project, he felt like something was wrong.

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(Two weeks into the new project location in Yokohama)

IT WAS A TRAP!

Takashi knew something was up with the project and within one week, the team was holed up in the office for the whole second week to clean up their mess. Most of the blame could be said to belong to the team leader, Emi, but it was bound to happen in the future.

The trick: the money!

By the incentive of the project having basically infinite money, the team lost their sense of restraint and went on shopping sprees across the office. Food was brought since they could buy one for 'quality testing' and another for repackaging. However, they avoided food after a week since it needed to be dipped in some kind of resin; rested for around 6 hours and then stored in a weird container. There was even a bedroom filled with food containers all waiting to settle down with the resin.

After the ordeal with food, Takashi and Daisuke found it a bit harder to find things since hobbies don't fit into the project. The best they could come up with were books and manga magazines. However, the same couldn't be said for the team leader Emi. When you placed a woman's favourite hobby of shopping and possessed no spending limit, she lost control with trying out hundreds of fashion items and sent them back to the Yokohama office.

Which resulted in clothing delivery packages littering the whole office, barely allowing moving space for the three tired employees. It was tiring, having to separate a piece of clothing, clean it and neatly packed in one container. There could only be one piece of clothing for each container! Emi ordered around 50 different items for each delivery and that entailed nearly 100 more packages.

"I'm debating whether I should have reported to management to get the Sapporo team over to support us." Takashi collapsed on a chair, surrounded by towers of containers that needed to be delivered back to the main office.

"Let me take a quick break before I take this tower," Daisuke also collapsed on a chair nearby, dizzy from all the driving, "I reckon my body can drive back and forth with my eyes closed because of how many times I drove the same road."

"Please don't do that." (Takashi)

"Hehe," Daisuke chuckled, "It was just a joke unless you want to drive."

"Nah, I'm good." (Takashi)

"Wow, you guys sure like to joke around. Why don't you use the time to HELP ME UNPACK ALL OF THIS!" Emi was exhausted, unpacking all the clothes out of their packages.

"In all fairness, Emi-san, this was your fault for buying all the clothes and we are trying our best to pack them as quickly as possible." Takashi sighed and slumped over his chair, "We've only been packing for a whole week and we still haven't made it halfway with your packages."

"Listen, I said I'm sorry already! Can you guys just help?" Emi begged as she was folding the container with its content.

"Yeah yeah, let me finish this coffee," Takashi sipped on his favourite black coffee brewed by his wife, "Also, how are the Sapporo team doing?"

Emi used a free hand to tap on her tablet and read the report from Jiro.

"Hmm, they seem fine? Jiro-san only brought a few accessories each day and the other two lovebirds haven't even written a report yet, though Jiro-san assured me that they are working."

"I have a feeling that they are having a date." Takashi went back and started to prepare the containers.

"Same, but Jiro-san is a responsible person. He'll be fine taking care of the team." (Emi-san)

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"Hi, do you have two more of this belt size?" Jiro asked a clothes attendant that passed by, pointing at which belt he wanted.

"We should have some in the back, please wait a moment."

"Thank you, also, can I eat these in the store?" Jiro asked as he pointed to his fresh chewy dangos in his hand.

"Yes, as long as nothing is spilt. Please wait while I get those belts." the attendant went off, leaving Jiro to eat his sweet snacks.

'What should I write for the report today? Or should I deliver the boxes back to the main office?' Jiro thought as he watched the lovebirds continue with their love banter inside the store.

"Why are you picking clothes for me? Can't I just try these clothes in peace?"

"No! Everyone knows you have a bad fashion sense! Now try these on!"

Kenzo was casually trying out some clothes after seeing the brand's new releases, but as he was done, Himari appeared in front of his change room with a few clothes in hand.

"Why? They don't look comfortable. We only came here because I wanted to try this brand." (Kenzo)

"No, you need variety and these might look good on you." (Himari)

"You should listen to your girlfriend's opinion, mister. She has good taste." the store attendant commented as she was passing by the lovebirds.

"She's not my girlfriend, we are just colleagues." Kenzo sighed.

"Even so, her opinion on clothing is quite valuable." the attendant went off to give the belts to Jiro.

"See! I told you so! Hurry up and change into these." Himari pushed the clothes to Kenzo, making him stumble from the sudden push. He panicked and waved his hand to quickly grab something to stabilise himself. Unsurprisingly, Kenzo grabbed Himari out of instinct and they both fell into the change room.

"Kyaaahhhh!" (Himari)

"Wooooooaahhhhhh!" (Kenzo)

As though nothing was wrong, the store attendant passed the change room and closed the door. She looked unbothered by the startled couple and went to Jiro to finalise his purchase of belts.

"I hope my colleagues weren't bothering you too much," Jiro said as he grabbed his bag of new belts.

"It's fine," the attendant waved her hand dismissively, "It makes me feel young again seeing such a cute couple."

"Exactly," Jiro said excitedly, "I heard that they were lovey dovey since highschool and even went to University together..."

Himari and Kenzo were both blushing, each in the other's embrace, as they were listening to the attendant and Jiro talk about their love life.

"Um-" Kenzo was to speak, only to feel a soft finger press on his lips.

"Sshh, not a single sound," Himari managed to move her finger, despite the tight space with her on top of him.

"But-"

"Ssshhh…." Himari interrupted him again and leaned closer, making Kenzo more conscious of their current position.

"Himari-san, we need to-"

Upset by Kenzo not shutting his mouth and combined with the complex feelings of being so close to each other, Himari decisively shut his mouth with her lips. It wasn't a light peck but a full-on assault in an attempt to shut him up.

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(Another week later)

Emi was reading the newest report from Jiro.

"Himari and Kenzo are dating now," Emi-san reported from Jiro's notes.

"Hahaha, took them long enough," Daisuke laughed.

"Jiro's on cloud nine, being able to watch romcom right in front of him," Takashi remarked.

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{Little Segment}

Numerous scientists were all intensely watching the monitors that were surveilling a white room that looked like a prison room, despite how spacious it was. It lacked substance as a room, with a dull bed in the corner and toys, books, games, and other recreational devices in another corner. However, the scientists didn't care about the little details and were more nervous about the test that was currently happening.

Inside the room was a little girl, looking no older than 3 years old, who was happily playing with her toys with a young adult in front of her. Usually, the girl interacted with frightened people in orange clothes or stoic people in white coats, but today, it was just a person in completely black clothing. SCP-053 was very happy, having to play with someone. She didn't even remember the last time she had a friend to play with but it didn't matter to her right now.

"How much time left, Dr Gears?" One of the scientists outside of the containment asked. He was busy concentrating on his gun, ready to break in if something went wrong.

"12 seconds left. Get ready!" Dr Gears informed the team, making all the scientists and armed personnel tense.

11

10

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4

3

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1

10 minutes had passed.

….

Nothing happened. The Chief did not rush up to the girl and tried all means to kill her. The two people in containment were still fine, playing around with the girl's toy horses. Chief even gave a cheeky grin to the scientist before picking SCP-053 and placing her on her bed to read a bedtime story.

"...What happened?" Dr Humid asked to break the overwhelming silence. Instantly, scientists ran around and typed up addendums to document the situation. Dr Gears was grinning, ready to fire hundreds of questions to Chief when he leaves the containment room. Scientists were lined up at the exit door, looking like they were hungry for days, all waiting for Chief to finish his experimentation.

With a flick of his wrist, the lights in the room dimmed to emulate a darker setting to better coax the little girl to sleep. When SCP-053 was finally asleep, the scientist on the other side of the door sighed in relief and felt like they had to wait for an eternity. Chief softly tucked the girl into her bed and started to walk to the exit. Scientists flocked around the door, while also some little leeway so the door could open. Even Dr Gears was standing on top of his assistant to get a better view.

But as Chief approached the exit, he gave a simple smile to the people on the other side of the one-way glass door and waved his hand.

[WARP]

And he fled from the facility, not wanting to entertain some of the fanatics.

'The O5 is probably going to try and use this as an excuse for something. Might need to threaten them with some demonstrations.' Chief thought as he randomly teleported to the middle of an arid desert, 'Let's check if there are new books in The Wanderer's Library.'

[WARP]

===A/N: Was going to post this much earlier but hey, it is on my birthday so yay? Not quite a chapter I like but fundamental for the world building. Can't just have Cover Corp have nothing to do in its early stages if Chief took care of all aspects of technology===