"Crazy weather, don't ya think?"

Erin blinked, looking up from the guts of the PC in front of her to see one of her co-workers leaning against the wall, looking out the window. He was... Will? Yes, she thought that was his name. Semi attractive, if you ignored the chipmunk cheeks and the sparse failure of facial hair on his face. Her head tilted to the side, confused as to why he was talking to her.

(She'd come to wonder why people kept talking to her sometime later, in the middle of rain and echoing voices.)

"... Uh?" she said, glancing at the window briefly. Will chuckled, shaking his head and walking over to her 'cave' of computers. It was more the walled off area behind the sales counter that housed all the units being worked on at the time. Several monitors and keyboards lined the back wall, while the front wall had enough space for laptops, the phone repairs, and the occasional all-in-one. The remaining side, to her left, was a hodgepodge of cubbies for tools, an abused filing cabinet you had to whisper sweet nothings to to get open, and the locked cage for the completed units, or units waiting on parts. It was big enough for two techs to work at once. Or just Erin as she hopped between the computers. The repair center was distinctly Erin's and she got very twitchy when anyone else tried to work on her computers.

Like Will.

Especially Will.

"The weather. Crazy fog. Not out of the question, but seems a little... spooky," he made an attempt at 'spirit fingers,' "with all these disappearances. Too bad the fog's keeping business away... I get so bored manning the store." Will waggled his eyebrows at her - the intent completely lost on her, poor boy - and leaned down to her level.

She smacked him with a clipboard.

In her mind, it made sense! He was invading her space, and creeping her out, not to mention if he touched the PC without grounding first, not only would she be replacing the CPU, but they'd be giving the customer almost a brand new one with any potential damage to the harddrive and motherboard. The shop was already under profit for the week as it was, and he'd screwed up the last computer they'd had in so bad, it wasn't salvageable.

Really, why would you wipe the harddrive just because it wouldn't work in normal windows mode?! There is a reason safe mode existed! Or, even better, booting to the diagnostic flashdrive and running the scan. Not just. Wiping the whole computer. 'By accident.'

The young man staggered to one side and stared at her with an expression she could only interpret as '... she really hit me with the onsite clipboard she really did...'

"I guess that means no to coffee later... kay." Will rubbed his cheek and wandered out of the repair center, dazed and confused. No indeed.

Erin shrugged and turned back to the computer in front of her, gently wiggling the old CPU from the motherboard with practiced fingers. The rest of the day went quietly, the other techs and sales associates leaving her graciously alone. The fog clung to the buildings as she made her way home, whispering of something otherwordly and dangerous.

It was just fog though.

Until she woke up the next morning, and it wasn't.

[ WC: 564 ]