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 Posted: Mon Nov 01, 2010 7:53 pm
In the weeks before Halloween, the base had turned oddly festive. Upon inspection, a seized shipment of valuable goods from Camphoreon had turned out to consist half of plush toys for a Halloween celebration. While the main objective had been achieved, black, orange and purple mass-manufactured toys had appeared everywhere, either whole or in many cases, well-chewed into bits. They were given as gifts, used in pranks, ripped up, stolen, put in the cafeteria microwave (but only once) and slowly, slowly, dwindled in number as they found permanent homes on shelves or in the belly of a Houdoom.
Five pairs of beady eyes stared down at Hayes from his monitor. One of them blinked.
Hayes glanced up at the little Chingling nestled between a fluffy black spider and a plush bat that had more in common with a pompom than a real animal. The little animals were cute, but bizarre - apparently in some regions the Zubat were furry or something.
Other plushes had not been so lucky. There was an unfortunate Skitty pinned to the department bulletin board - by its head.
That in itself would tell you enough about the state of the department. The past two weeks had been just like what Hayes realized he was starting to think of as the good old days - when one wrong word (or even right) would get your parentage insulted to the fourth generation if you were lucky, and rewriting a pile of spaghetti code if you weren't. In those situations, the best thing to do was to keep your head down, be productive, and above all, be unobtrusive.
The tapping of keys filled the server room.
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Posted: Mon Nov 01, 2010 8:09 pm
The one responsible for pinning the Skitty to the bulletin board was none less than the man that entered at that very moment. An elite that towered above most at his imposing height of six feet and five inches. There was a seemingly permanent scowl on his face, which he had been wearing for the past couple weeks at least.
With him, he carried what looked to be a sniper rifle that was about three fourths long as he was tall. Gripping the weapon in both of his hands, the brooding man stomped his way through the server room. He paused to glance over the shoulders of some busily working grunts an agents, whom he knew were trying to avoid eye contact with him at all costs. Checking to make sure they were all on task and not fooling around.
Eventually he would stop at Hayes' workspace and the butt of the gun hit the floor with a thump. The plushes and cute Pokemon that decorated the cubicle were ignored. Seth then glowered down at the blonde agent. "Is that energy cell I asked for ready yet?" He demanded in a voice that could instantly chill boiling water.
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Posted: Sat Nov 06, 2010 8:05 pm
Hayes knew something was wrong when the server room got very, very quiet.
Usually, Seth's entrance garnered some sort of reaction - a muttered comment from the very far reaches that turned into a cough, a slight shifting in chairs as the person playing Solitaire (there's always one) switched to what they were actually supposed to be doing. When it was a particularly bad day, the atmosphere was that of a draconian teacher's classroom - sympathetic for the one about to be singled out, glad it wasn't them, and hopeful it would be entertaining. This time, though, the air was still and tension strung high, as in a pen of sheep into which a wolf has casually climbed. And 1337, his favorite target, was gone today.
"Ching?" said Noel in a very small voice.
Great.
The programmer half-turned in his chair and- he had a gun. This explained - and changed - a lot. Hayes sat up a bit straighter in spite of himself, one arm over the back of his chair. "Got dropped off an hour ago, sir," he replied seriously, which was fortunately true.
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Posted: Sat Nov 06, 2010 8:21 pm
If Seth was in a better mood, he would probably be amused with the deafening silence and even Hayes' reaction to the fact that his superior was sporting a rather large weapon. But he wasn't, and the elite simply fixed his underling with a firm scowl, despite the fact that he'd given him new that he wanted to hear. It would spare the tech a verbal lashing at least.
"Where is it?" was the next question. He needed something to keep him busy, to keep his thoughts off of other things. Thus that energy cell was needed.
Blue eyes then lifted as he caught movement, noticing the Chingling. It reminded him of TRP. TRP is a woman. And the thought of women wasn't especially pleasant at that moment.
"Is that a Pokemon or a tacky Christmas ornament?"
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Posted: Sat Nov 06, 2010 8:33 pm
The scowl was nothing new. Hayes was well-versed in the art of the scowl, though only as the receiving party, and the mild, ever-present smile returned to his face as he spoke out of habit. "Should be in your box, sir."
"Ling?" In amongst the plushes, Noel's face fell and her tassels drooped. The little Chingling stared up at the tall man, eyes wide. Tacky?
The other techs relaxed a bit. It looked like it wasn't their turn to be a target today and Hayes was about due for his, lucky b*****d that he was most of the time.
Hayes adjusted his glasses. "Think she just answered your question. But I did get her on Christmas, sir."
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Posted: Sat Nov 06, 2010 8:42 pm
Seth just grunted slightly when he was told the cell was in his mailbox. And he probably would have gone on his "merry" way had Hayes not expounded on his Chingling. The expression on the Pokemon's face going ignored.
"Really. In the month of December it might actually be appropriate, however, any other time of year its just an eyesore. I would expect a girl to own such a Pokemon, but considering its you, I suppose it fits."
Lifting the gun with both hands again, Seth turned his sights toward where the mailboxes were and made his path of woe in that direction.
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Posted: Sat Nov 06, 2010 8:59 pm
The programmer shrugged and smiled in a noncommittal fashion. "Maybe, sir." His boss insulted everyone, so he didn't take it personally.
As Seth stalked off and the Hayes turned back to his work, there was some very surreptitious disappointed mumbling. That was it?
Noel floated down uncertainly to Hayes' shoulder, jingling quietly as she set down and held on to the high collar of his uniform. The blond reached up and gave her a tap, then resumed typing. "Don't worry about it, No."
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Posted: Sun Nov 07, 2010 7:20 am
That smile and casual shrug of his shoulders was annoying, and Seth grumbled irritably as he made his way over to his mailbox to see the package with the energy cell crammed into it. Ya yanked it out, followed by other forms of mail falling on the floor.
More irritable grumbling ensued as he leaned the gun against the wall and bent down to pick up the mail... only to find many of them and torn from chewing. There was a slight eyetwitch.
Soon the thudding footsteps of the tall elite could be heard approaching Hayes desk again. The chewed and slobbered on pieces of mail were thrown onto the man's keyboard. "What the hell is this?!" he roared angrily while ripping open the box that contained the energy cell to make sure it was unharmed.
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