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Posted: Wed Mar 20, 2013 11:35 pm
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Jubei had just finished faxing six-million forms for his immediate boss, stamping and collecting the little piece of paper their printer spat out saying that it was done faxing his unreasonably huge request and it hoped that he never set foot in its papery domain again- and retreated from the floor for lunch when he heard his boss looking for him and noticed the large stack of yet more forms to be faxed. Fearing the machine might get the wrong impression if he pressed its buttons so soon after last time, he did what any intelligent man, attempting to have a good, hearty meal would do- he snuck out, bento still in one hand into the company lift.
Now Jubei wasn't one to shirke his duties or even avoid doing arduous tasks, however, the fax machine was widely held to have been sired by some sort of yokai back during the meiji era, for its habit of randomly eating faxes, spitting out instructions in Portuguese from time to time and generally vibrating its way across the room when it was asked to photocopy. It had, not two years ago, broken an intern's leg whilst beeping inanely after the poor woman had the audacity to try and use the colour function. Oddly, it wasn't until Jubei threatened to get it replaced, that the beast decided to function normally and only occasionally eat a few important documents. Since his last tangle with the demon in the paper room, he had applied within the division budget to have it replaced with something, anything, born after the fall of the shogunate.
It was nearly three in the afternoon when he stepped into the lift, bento in one hand, drink in the other, nodded to the man already inside with the large white parcel under his arm, not even glance at the numbers and lean superstitiously against the back wall with a delighted sigh.
His bento was somewhat monotone, three onigiri balls and a solid block of what looked like tamagoyaki but shaped more like a brick. Apparently he liked egg.
He was just about to bite into one of his onigiri when the lift lurched under the only two occupants and gave off a very queer grinding noise. Since it vaguely reminiscent of the photocopier about to rip open the lift doors and scale the cabling, Jubei was understandably alarmed. "What was that?"
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Posted: Thu Mar 21, 2013 5:55 pm
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Johnny didn't really hate anything, but sign-only deliveries in business complexes were pretty close. He had gotten up around 5 that morning for class, taken a particularly complicated exam, and then been thrown mercilessly into another monotonous work day. That was not to say, of course, that he disliked his job; it supported him, it got him out and meeting new people. It was a good job. He only wished that Mr. Shiro Yamada would stay o one damn floor and take his damn package. Already he could see that he was going to be late to his next delivery. Please don't let it be time-sensitive...
He smiled to the man that entered the elevator, pleased to at least have a superficial companion for the moment. The man seemed a bit odd. Johnny himself had been taught to never eat in public, and there the businessman was, chowing down on a rice ball... well, almost.
The sharp grinding sound startled the man, and he shrank against the wall reflexively, gripping the otherwise-unnecessary safety railing. His heart pounded in his chest as his head screamed. He began to panic. Luckily, this was not the first time he had been startled in recent memory, and so when he realized that he was breathing especially heavily and beginning to sweat, Johnny relaxed and laughed slightly. The whole ordeal had taken maybe 2 seconds, and they weren't even plummeting to the bottom of the shaft. Without responding to the businessman before him, he walked to the buttons and jabbed at his floor... it wasn't lit. Wonderful. He laughed again.
"I hate to say it, but I think we're stuck." He looked upward as if bidding someone to come to their rescue, and then leaned against the wall with a sigh. Late indeed. Life always had ways of reminding you how lucky you really were.
"It might be a while."
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Posted: Wed Apr 03, 2013 1:19 am
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Jubei was the sort that took stock of his surroundings, and the people therein, but more of a casual observance than deeper scruntiny sometimes; so he didn't really think much of the courier next to him other than he had very pale skin. Until of course it was that they were stuck in the lift.
"It's broken?" He stabbed his chopsticks into his food and reached toward the button, pressing it a little harder and longer, long enough that it was evident much more pressure would break it.
Nothing happened.
Jubei's mouth curled in disdain of the lift. "You have got to be ******** kidding me."
He stood back for a moment, pondering their predicament before he jabed his thumb into the emergency phone ******** hell." He stood back and exhaled through his nose, a tiny piece of rice still stuck to one lip. "Well, they'll get it fixed pretty quickly, everyone uses this lift." Of course, how quickly was that? It was past midday, what if a technician couldn't come out until tomorrow?
The idea of spending all night in his office building made his insides shudder. And his cellphone was back at his desk.
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Posted: Wed Apr 03, 2013 1:56 pm
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"Maybe if you jab it a few more times, the electricity will re-wire itself," Johnny offered, all in good fun. He found it amusing when people willed broken things to work by trying to use them repeatedly. It very rarely worked, and never with elevators. How many horror movies had this guy seen, exactly? As far as the deliveryman was concerned, they were lucky to not have been falsely led on and then begun plummeting through the shaft to their demise.
Grinning, he removed himself from the wall and went to the doors, trying to wedge his fingers between the gaps. The fact that the elevator wasn't responding reassured him that the electricity had gone out. Was it just the elevator, or the whole building? It was impossible to tel from here.
"They'll notice quick for sure, but who knows how long it'll take to fix the damn thing," he offered unhelpfully, "...I mean, not to ruin your mood. I just hope you didn't have to pee." With a little chuckle, the doors finally slid open on their rails to reveal... cement. Not only were they stuck, it appeared as if they were between floors.
"...awesome."
Although there was a disappointed tone in his voice, that single word was the extent of Johnny's bitching. No amount of ranting and raving was going to make the elevator start cooperating again. Now it was their only job to not kill each other before it did.
"There's nothing we can do, yeah? I'm John, it's a pleasure to meet you." He offered his hand to shake and a little head bow. "I only wish it had been under different circumstances. Do you know who Yamada Shiro is?"
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Posted: Wed Apr 17, 2013 12:46 am
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Posted: Sat Apr 20, 2013 12:17 pm
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"A-ha," Johnny nodded, peering down at the package he'd abandoned on the floor. He'd been on the right track when the elevator has ground to a stop, at least. Now he'd just have to continue when it was working, be berated by the marketing worker, then his boss, and go visit Cel for a good drink. It could be worse! Much worse, as a matter of fact...
"The pleasure's all mine," he assured the man and slid back down to a sitting position against the wall. If he wanted a quiet lunch, he could get one.
"Not much is quieter than being stuck in a failed elevator, is it? If I shut up, anyway." Johnny chuckled then and did just that. His own stomach was rumbling, actually. Damnable elevator.
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Posted: Sat Jun 08, 2013 3:13 am
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