The Results

"Morning, sir."

"Morning, Roland. You're looking awfully cheery today."

As Roland entered the office, he was immediately greeted by some of the office workers, including Barov.

With a huge smile plastered on his lips, Roland replied, "Yes, I suppose I am rather cheery; I finally received some good news, a nice contrast to everything that's been going on recently."

"Oh?"

"Yes, Tilly's finally found herself a partner, a lovely young woman; they obviously care for each other a lot, and they seem to get along well."

"My, that is good news." Barov smiled. He'd known Tilly almost as long as he'd known Roland.

"The only thing is… she was so nervous when she introduced her girlfriend, like she was scared I'd be angry that she's gay. Tsk, really, I can't believe she even doubted me."

"It's only natural, sir. Coming out to those closest to them is a daunting event for anyone, regardless of their age."

"Age? What's that got to— Never mind. I guess, you're right. Drats, look how long we've stood here nattering; I'd better get to work now. Have a good day."

Roland made to go into his office but was soon stopped by Barov. "Sir."

When Roland turned around he saw Barov standing still; it looked like he was mulling something over internally. Eventually, he steeled his resolve and said, "Sir, on the topic of coming out…"

He paused and bit his lip, further deliberating within. "I'm glad you were so accepting of your sister; that was good of you. Have a good day then."

Barov swiftly turned around and walked away from Roland, his face bright red. When he walked around a corner, he quickly slumped against the wall. A sigh left his lips. 'The same again. One day I'll be able to tell him who I really am. One day…'

…

'What was that about?' thought Roland. He thought about going after Barov to see what was going on, but he decided against it and went into his office to begin the day.

Barov's weird actions were soon forgotten because something even more important was awaiting Roland: the results of the system scan.

"What?!" Roland exclaimed.

Shock and puzzlement covered Roland's face as he stared at the screen. The results of the scan were completely out of his expectations. There were only two outcomes he had expected: coming up with nothing or finding a lead on Nightingale.

However, neither of those were the case. Instead, his multimillion-dollar system, which running state of the art software that had been design by Roland himself and maintained by technicians he had personally hired, had crashed, gone kaput.

Although his software was resource intensive, for this to have happened… just what was going on?

He immediately activated the intercom. "Barov, get tech up here, I have some questions I need to ask them."

"Eh? Why would you need tech support? Have you tried turning it off and on again?"

Roland was not in the mood for jokes. He said chillingly, "Just get someone from tech up here."