Page 21 of A Light in the Dark

TWENTY-ONE

What’s even going on?

It took me an hour to sort through the resumes in the parking garage, and understanding we were going to pursue the best ones and needed to act quickly, I did a second pass, plucking out the ones I felt had the most potential. After handing those off to my boss and packing the rest in the back of the SUV to be dropped off in his office, we went to a computer store, where he picked up two different laptops. One was black, one was silver, and I had zero idea why he handed me both.

In addition to the laptops, he picked up two monitors, two keyboards, two mice, three warming pads meant to keep mugs warm, and a fancy office chair that cost so much I gaped at the price tag.

While Mr. Accor handled paying for everything, two of the store’s employees went to work assembling it.

“What’s even going on?” I asked while the cashier handled registering the warranties for everything. As we had thousands upon thousands of dollars of stuff, the store opted to open another register to keep the other customers from wanting to kill us.

My boss pointed at the black laptop, which had cost three times more than the silver one. “That one is for you to play on. That is your home laptop, and while it will have everything you need to do your work on it, the bosses fully expect you to install games on it. I have a list of games for you to install. We’re providing the licenses. There will be a test. Joel informed me about his plan to partner with you for his little gaming competition. I’m sure you’ll refuse to touch any games until then, but once he’s done with you, you will want that machine. He told me his intent to buy you a gaming computer so you’ll play with him, and I did him a favor; I told him to move forward with a general gaming computer in his home so you can easily go play with him and to let you have your own personal system for single player games. As you need it to handle work at home, you get to play your games on the company’s dime. After one year, the computer is completely yours regardless of what you do in the future. We must do that for tax purposes.”

“And the silver one?”

“That is your new office laptop, for you to use when you’re out of the office, need to escape your desk, or otherwise want some fresh air. It will run all the basic crap we use, but it won’t do games well.”

“So, you’re saying the silver one is practical, and the black one is an epic splurge.”

“That’s exactly what I’m saying.”

I pointed at the monitors. “And those?”

“The bigger monitor is for gaming, and the smaller one is for when you do need to work from home. We do not subject that nice monitor to crappy work.”

While I’d been friendly with my boss, it appeared I’d missed a great deal about his interests outside of work. “I see you have opinions about technology.”

“I really do.”

“And this gaming thing with Joel?”

“The only way you could make him happier is if you helped him win… but before victory is his, you kill off the remaining competition except for one, help that one kill him in the game, and then claim exclusive victory for yourself.” My boss snickered. “Better yet, forge an alliance with one of the other newbies, have them kill Joel, and then you kill your conspirator. Of course, make certain your conspirator is aware you two will be fighting for final victory. If you team up with the conspiring newbie, two newbies will be the winners, and you’ll break the hearts of the other gamers. You’ll crush Joel and make him like it.”

“I am accepting gaming advice,” I informed him.

“As there’s nothing against teaching you the strategy of the game as long as you haven’t played the game before, I will give you some tips and tricks so you can be prepared—and I will give you the phone number of an excellent conspirator.”

“Who?”

“Her name is Coraline. She’s Calden’s wife and new to gaming, too. I know Calden’s father, so I went ahead and got her contact information for you while you were staring at the camera gear. She’s happy to conspire with you, as she now lives to pull pranks on her husband and his father. They have annoyed her for the last time, or so she says. ”

The discovery the computer store had camera gear had lured me into checking out the offerings, and like in the camera store, I’d quickly determined I knew nothing about cameras but thought they were pretty. “I am accepting all offers of aid.”

“And as nobody will believe Coraline would throw a victory ever , she’ll make it easy for you to kill her, honestly. Calden’s method of helping her cope with any disappointment or loss is to take her camping, which she loves. And she’s learned she doesn’t have to ham it up much to get her way. Losing a computer game will be more than sufficient to get her a camping trip, and in her words, it has been a while. So, you’ll be helping her secure a camping trip while she helps you secure your victory.”

Not having to work hard to find an accomplice worked for me, but I held doubts about how I might be able to beat skilled players. “Do we have a good chance of surviving in this game?”

“You do, and as I play the game often, I even know the methods a pair of conspirators could use to wait out the experienced players knocking everyone else out. I didn’t join the competition this year because the last time I did this, I bought a gaming rig for my partner, and my wife is still mad at me over that stunt.”

“Why would she be mad over it?”

“I absolutely do expect her to play with me, using the computer I bought for her, just to play in that wretched competition. She’s extra angry because she doesn’t like the apparel choices for the women, so she dresses up as a handsome man and gets mad about it. Mostly, she’s mad I actually talked her into it, because she hates admitting I was right. She likes gaming, and I forced her to acknowledge this fact.”

Oh. “Your wife was your partner for that game?”

“Yep. One day, she might even forgive me. We had to convert a room in our house into a gaming area. It used to be her second book nook.”

I gasped. Fortunately for me, I had a room or two I could dedicate to gaming, photography, and my crafts, especially as I had the money to do a complete renovation of my basement into a reader and crafter paradise. “You took away her book nook ?”

“Her second book nook. She had two. She could afford to sacrifice one to our gaming ways.”

“I don’t know, sir. It sounds like you’ve committed a most serious transgression. You took away a book nook .”

“I see you are a reader. How many book nooks do you have in your home?”

I counted rooms with at least one bookcase in my head, and to narrow it down a little, I only counted the ones where I could comfortably sit for extended periods of time. “Four?”

“Why was that a question?”

“Maybe seven if you just count places where books live,” I admitted.

“I’m sure you’ll be able to sacrifice one for your new computer setup.”

Heaving an overly dramatic sigh, I regarded my boss with my saddest expression. “But are you sure?”

“You may not believe me now, but you will survive.”

I gave my boss’s little SUV credit. Even if a rather amused Joel hadn’t shown up, who was wearing a pristine black suit made of silk, we would have been able to fit everything. Joel’s SUV made loading the chair simple, and he also took one of my monitors as well.

“When in doubt, I call for backup,” my boss announced, and he double checked everything in his vehicle would survive the drive. “Thank you for coming, Joel. The chair was a concern.”

“Sparing the back of those using a computer is serious business. Do you own a computer desk, Valerie?”

I nodded. “Granted, I haven’t been using them for computers , but I actually have four of them set up in strategic locations, and it won’t take but a few minutes to make them ready for all this… stuff.” I stared at the monitor buckled into my boss’s back seat. “I’m still invading for gaming time, Joel. I don’t know what I’m doing, but he said I needed everything to do work and school.”

Joel laughed at me. “The monitor and computers won’t bite you, but I’ll teach you how to use everything if you need help.”

“She can handle the basics, but we had to teach her everything. With our move to digital records with paper backups, she’s going to need to join the modern world, and I was instructed to get her started right now.”

“I’m woman enough to admit I’m scared.” I exhaled, climbed into the passenger seat of my boss’s SUV, and said, “Thank you, Joel. I’ll try not to be a bad student, but I only know the basics of using a computer.”

“It’s much easier to buy digital books on a computer than through a digireader,” Joel informed me before heading to his vehicle. “I’ll show you how once we get everything inside.”

Well, I foresaw my bonuses rapidly vanishing if I could buy books on my computer. “Interesting.”

He chuckled, waved, and left. Once my boss did a third check of everything, he got behind the wheel. “Getting the chair into here would have been sketchy at best, and I’m not above imposing on your neighbor. If he hadn’t lived right next door to you, I wouldn’t have imposed, instead having the store deliver the chair.”

“It’s probably good for him to dance to someone else’s tune for a change.”

He snickered. “You are probably right. And yes, the black computer for your home usage was selected after conferring with several of the Mirage universities, all of which are interested in having you as a student. They’re about to wage war to have you, honestly. You do not have to take both of your degrees at the same university. Ideally, you wouldn’t, because the one that excels at business education is only good for business education. If you’re interested in legal work, the law school there offers a dual degree program with several of the other universities, so in theory, you could triple up. Your testing records are excellent, and all the schools don’t mind students that take the slow approach. You’ll even be able to go to Mirage for in-person labs; they offer an exchange program and temporary residency program in three month sessions. When I first saw your apparel, I suspected you might have been interested in legal work, because at the time, it was very much what young attorneys would wear.”

Busted. “The degree was too expensive even with the grant. I was better off getting a home and then penny pinching to maybe get a degree later.”

“You’re smart and wise, and that’s a rare combination. If you want to pursue a law degree, go for it. If you want to do a creative dual degree with your legal degree, that’s obtainable, too.”

“Joel told you about my craft problems, didn’t he?”

“He took a few pictures of you in the store, as he found it endearing you exited reality and entered a state of pure bliss when in the presence of silk.”

“I blew out almost the entirety of my first bonus on silk,” I confessed. “Do you know what silk does? Silk shatters . I bought an entire bolt of silk to use for embroidery and cross-stitching. It shatters .”

“Shifter silk doesn’t actually shatter often, and it’s the sole type of silk that you can reliably use for such things without it shattering on you. I made the mistake of asking, as I’ve had a silk suit before, and it shattered on me.”

Ah-ha! That explained why Joel wanted shifter silk, especially from his parents, for his suits. “That makes me feel a lot better about it, honestly.”

“Your bonuses are there to be used and enjoyed. Enjoy them. When I get my bonuses, I plan a vacation. I highly recommend that you plan a vacation somewhere. Stonecreek is not the only area with luna moth shifter silk, and the shifter silk textures are different based on region and food source for the shifters. Joel explained this to me. His cousin is one of the few luna moth shifters that actually sells the silk, but luna moth shifters give each other their silk often. It allows flutters to interact with each other. ”

“You knew Joel is a luna moth?”

“I’m part of his flutter,” my boss informed me. “I wasn’t born a luna moth, however. My wife is the guilty party for my current status as a shapeshifter. I’ve been one for about three years now. Joel told me it’s fine to talk to you about it, as the flutter is heading over to your place to partake of your new rose garden. We are under threat of death if we damage your roses.”

I laughed, marveling that two luna moths had been hiding right under my nose. “Are you sure it’s safe to tell me you’re a luna moth?”

“We don’t sell our silk, and we don’t know what to do with it, so we have a room in our home that’s just silk everywhere. You are free to come rob us of our silk at your leisure. It’s mixed, but for some reason, I don’t think you’ll care. There are a lot of it.”

“How much do you want for it?”

“Nothing. It’s literally eating up room in my home, and if I give it to you, the wife can replace her book nook, and maybe she won’t cry at me about having lost her second one.”

I considered how my boss had ‘met’ Joel and realized the two men had been rather comfortable with each other. “You’ve been after the Sampson Sigils contract for a while, haven’t you?”

“I’ve been after that damned contract for as long as that brat has been running his company. There were a few reasons he considered the contract. One of those reasons is recent and involves the refugee situation. The instant my company decided to move forward with mass refugee hires, his most important reason was met. It lets the company I work for employ good people, and it lets him go forward with his expansion projects. It then benefits you significantly, because it cinches your job security. As long as you stay with us and work with his contracts, he’s happy—that means we’re going to keep a massive contract. I’ve been praising your work to him since you got hired, so he’s been aware of your work ethic. He won’t poach from members of his own flutter, so he has been sulking.”

“I had no idea you even knew each other.”

“That’s the point. It’s a way for the flutters to protect themselves. But since you know we’re luna moths, your garden is our version of absolute paradise, and you have a serious problem with silk, it’s fine. And since Joel is the leader of the flutter, if he says we can be friendly with you, we can be friendly with you. Well, friendlier than normal. We’re trying to figure out why he’s so keen on you, though.”

“I’m guessing I humored him and kept the rest of the street from yelling at him over his steps this year.”

“The entire flutter has heard about the steps drama. It’s such a problem every year, because he refuses to shirk on safety standards, but safety means he doesn’t match everyone else. This year, you came up with steps that met his safety standards and allowed him to be comfortable about the whole thing.”

I sighed, remembering I had a baked dish on my counter. “The banshee down the hill made me a cobbler or something like that. If I don’t show up for work on Monday, it’s due to food poisoning. The second year I was here, she foraged her own berries for her cobbler. She knows I won’t touch baked goods until Friday nights, so it’s been sitting out waiting for the moment of reckoning. But on Sunday, she will visit me to ask how I liked her cobbler. And as I value my life, I will tell her I loved it and blame any illness on my inability to cook rather than her inability to avoid poisoning her neighbors.”

“Uh oh,” my boss said, and he eyed me before starting the engine of his SUV. “And you’re going to eat it?”

“If I don’t, I will never hear the end of it. I’m going to eat one small piece and wait to see if she poisoned me again. If she poisoned me again, I’m sure a luna moth is going to figure it out in a hurry.”

“Do you have a spare key?”

I laughed and nodded. “I have four spare keys, so I’ll give you a pair of them, and you can hand one over to Joel until we’re certain I survive Elenora’s latest baking adventure. The problem is this: when she isn’t engaging in the use of poisonous berries, she’s really good at baking. I concocted an excuse that I don’t eat sweet things on work nights hoping that I recover from her latest poisoning attempt before Monday.”

“I am concerned about the lengths you will go to prevent people from knowing your neighbor has poisoned you .”

“She didn’t mean to!”

“Valerie, how many times has she poisoned you?”

“This year?”

While keeping one hand on the wheel, my boss rubbed at his temple with the other. “You’ve been poisoned more than once so far this year?”

“I didn’t even need medical care for either poisoning. I’ve learned to identify the unique flavors of all toxic berries that grow anywhere near Stonecreek. I also know the best home remedies to handle being poisoned.” I giggled. “At this point, strangleberry just irritates my throat a little.”

“How many times has she poisoned you with strangleberry? That one has that name for a reason ,” my boss bellowed.

I laughed at having broken his general restraint. “Six times alone last year. The first time was rough, and I did go to the doctor about it. The second time, I coughed for a week but otherwise had no problems. The next few times were fine. I spit it out upon tasting it and only had mild irritation. This year, I ate an entire piece of her cobbler and barely noticed it. It was the other berries that were a problem.”

“Dare I ask?”

“Why don’t we wait for Joel at my place? I’ll show you the cobbler, and you can observe while I determine how badly I’m being poisoned this time. It’s a game to me now, and some of those berries are absolutely delicious.”

“Valerie, some of those berries can literally kill you.”

“Honestly, I want to know how she hasn’t killed herself and her husband yet with her baking. She even told me to keep the baking dish. It’s a nice one. Of course, her husband was calling me a hussy again, which is what he does when he thinks it will take a miracle to have peace on the street.”

“You have got to be kidding me.”

“I’m not. It’s hilarious. Just don’t tell Joel that the old snakes down the hill like calling me a hussy every time something goes right on our street.”

“So, the woman tries to poison you while calling you a hussy for bringing peace to the street? ”

“That’s right. But this year, I get to keep the dish, and it’s a nice one. It has flowers and butterflies on it.”

“I’m concerned.”

“It’ll be all right. She hasn’t killed me yet, and I have no intention of letting that old woman take me out using cobbler.”