Leona’s supervisor is not happy. She suddenly took vacation time, but
promised to return soon. Then she extended it. Then she extended it again.
She didn’t deliver any new data that whole time, so Petra is starting to
think that there’s something fishy going on. She’s not rageful, or anything,
and she hasn’t already made the decision to fire Leona, but she’s getting
there. “You’re back.”
“Yes,” Leona confirms.
“I was beginning to think that you defected to a competitor. I’m still not
sure that you haven’t.”
“I haven’t,” Leona says simply.
“Did you have fun on your vacation?”
“It wasn’t a vacation,” Leona reveals. This statement is true in the end,
but where the lie begins is the explanation of what she was doing while she
was claiming to be on vacation. She drops a tablet on Petra’s desk. “Plans
for a tritium extraction facility. This is decades beyond what anyone
already has, and once I’m done designing the reactor, we’ll actually be able
to do something with all those isotopes you create.”
Skeptical, Petra lifts the tablet, and starts to tour the 3D model. She
narrows her eyes in some places, and widens them in others. She then swipes
over to the next page, which details specifications and production
objectives. This is where she gasps. “Are these efficiency numbers
accurate?”
“Completely,” Leona claims. “I’ve been working, I just haven’t been in the
office.”
“Why would you keep that a secret? Did you go somewhere?”
Leona doesn’t respond, instead looking like she doesn’t know if she can say
anything at all.
“What did you do?” Petra questions, becoming nervous as well.
“I think it’s best if you don’t know. Plausible deniability.”
Petra stands up straighter, and exhales through her nose. “Nothing illegal,
I trust.”
Leona bobs her head. “More like...internationally complicated and delicate.”
Petra clears her throat. “You’re right, I don’t wanna know.”
“I’ll probably have to take more trips. I’m not just some genius who
randomly came up with this stuff on my own. It’s borne from my experiences,
and contacts. Sometimes I might have to reach out to these contacts, or
conduct field research.”
“Very well. If you ever need to take time off,” Petra says with airquotes,
“then let me know, and now I know that I shouldn’t ask any more questions.”
“You won’t be disappointed,” Leona assures her. She leaves the office, and
begins to walk down the stairs when she notices someone she never thought
she would ever have to see again, standing on the bottom step, looking up at
her. Leona’s former observer—and prolific sexual harasser—who Petra agreed
to dismiss three weeks ago, is staring at her menacingly. “How did you get
in here?” she asks him impolitely.
Holger Bandoni shows his most evilest grin. Suddenly, he’s standing right in
front of her, having somehow teleported up the steps, despite that being
unheard of in this reality. He takes her by the shoulders, and tosses her
over the edge, only to teleport down just in time to catch her. “Love knows
no boundaries. Love walks through walls.”
No comments :
Post a Comment