9. The Big Boss

Saroma clicked the button to the top floor. He awkwardly waited in the elevator. The subtle music did not ease his anxiety. It was the first time he was seeing the top boss and it was for a dumb reason. What if the security cameras picked up the entire incident? What if they saw the squabble with Query? What if he showed up and there were police officers in there? He would never get to see his new nephew and he his family would disown him.

Saroma stopped out of the elevator and made a right just as Moritie said. The walls were painted a hue of red and it was in wealthy taste. The pictures on the walls looked to be hand painted and skillfully done.

Saroma approached the appropriate door and paused before entering. He looked at the office number and label: 014 Luke Terrick. He was definitely at the right place.

He took a deep breath and knocked on the door. He heard a loud voice from within beckon him inside.

"Hello, Mr. Terrick." Saroma said as joyfully as he possibly could.

The big boss motioned for him to sit down as he tried to find something to write on. "We're going to discuss your contract." He found what he was looking for and quickly wrote something down.

Saroma opened his mouth without thinking, "Am I being fired?" Terrick didn't have time to give him a confused look. Instead, he kept looking at the piece of copy paper with a concerned look.

He flatly replied, "No," Saroma waited there for Terrick to be finished, "I can't do that." He paused.

"You're not?" Saroma foolishly asked.

Terrick explained, "It would be very difficult to just replace you, so we'll do everything we can to keep you." He continued writing on a few papers. "You need verify your address here, here and your email, here." He spread a few prices of paper on the desk. Terrick offered a pen, but Saroma held up his own, and Terrick put his pen back on the desk.

Terrick looked up from the papers on the desk and asked, "How is work going? Have you developed a good daily rhythm?" He wasn't entirely interested, it seemed, but curious enough to ask. The motivation of asking wasn't immediately obvious which made Saroma suspicious.

He replied, "I have although I'm a bit curious of some... responsibilities I have."

Terrick seemed concerned yet somehow confident, "I haven't had any issues thus far with your work. What could you possibly not understand?" Saroma was caught off guard by the reply. He didn't want trouble from Moritie, so he abandoned the idea of bothering the big boss.

He treated his response with care, like he did with Rocca, "Well, if you are pleased, then I must be doing something right. That and I don't want to ask anything I'm not allowed to know. I understand that there are things I'm not supposed to know." Terrick seemed to understand.

He replied as he straightened up his desk, "You may ask freely."

Saroma paused only to make the conversation feel a bit more natural. He asked something that he didn't think would be denied, "The numbers on my computer sometimes increase in irregular patterns. Is that something I should report? I feel like I could do my job better if I understood what they represented." Terrick was casual and understanding.

He gave Saroma a good response, "Honestly, you could work here for years and never report anything. Your only job is to input variables from the other workers and enter them in the computer. That is all that you're really needed to do since there are analysts that are making the reports. You only have the ability to make reports as a safety precaution. If someone were to give you false, incorrect or skewed data, for example. Does that clear things up?" He waited on a response from Saroma. He was hoping that he would receive some clarity, but that didn't happen.

Saroma could only say, "Yes, thank you."

Terrick added, "If you have a discretion, do not hesitate to talk to Mr. Osik." He went back to his computer.

Saroma asked, "Who is that?"

"That isn't your overseer? Oh! It was Miss Moritie. I apologize. If you have any discrepancies, talk to your overseer. They alone have the security clearance to see everything in your cell." He got back to work and Saroma dipped his head.

"Thank you, Mr. Terrick, have a nice day." Saroma said as he left.

He saw another man waiting on the elevator. He was bald and had on a nice suit and a bright yellow-orange tie. Saroma wasn't dressed as nicely but since Saroma was fairly handsome, he wasn't completely out-classed and overshadowed.

Saroma punched in the number to his floor, and he turned to the man, "Floor?" The man just looked at Saroma and punched in the next floor down without saying anything.

He officially got the creeps. He only looked forward and said nothing. Even his eyes didn't move. Just before the elevator door opened at the bald man's stop, he tossed a piece of paper at Saroma's feet.

"Hey, you dropped your... thing?" Saroma looked at it. It was a folded note with a key taped to the inside. Again, he saw the code. This was definitely for him.

He looked around for witnesses. He shrugged and put it in his pocket. The elevator door closed and he went back to his floor and to his desk.

Moritie saw him walk in, but didn't question him about anything. He unfurled the crumpled note and decoded it:

The spare key. Goes to nothing but it is a spare. Unlock something with it in 2 days. Look for more messages.

More messages? How could he look for more more messages when his work was piling up? It wasn't like he could just stop doing his job. He had rent, cell phone bill, and Netflix to pay for.

But who was that bald guy? Was he the one who sent the messages all along? Was he the one behind all of this? Why would someone from the upper floors go through the trouble of contacting him? They had all the secrets up there.... right?