-*-*-*-*-*-*-Simon The Not-So-Super-Spy-*-*-*-*-*-*-
Chapter 2:
Tech Support Troubles
Chapter Complete!The usual proofing at work, hope it's okay…
*~********~*~********~* Simon-Simon-Simon-Simon-Simon *~********~*~********~*"Simon wher-"
He shook his head, quickly waving Kevin off,
"I know, I know, I'm late- did they notice?"
Kevin shook his head,
"Nah, I got you covered, figured you wouldn't be too late, just told Mike you called and said you forgot you were on call outs today so you had to run back home to grab your ID in case we had any, you're good."
Simon slumped faintly in relief, giving a grateful smile,
"Thanks dude, don't know what I'd do without you."
Kevin grinned, shrugging,
"You never have to worry about that…I always got your back."
Simon nodded,
"Ditto…so what's up today? Did I miss anything interesting in the morning rally/meeting/team building thing?"
Kevin snorted, rolling his eyes,
"Yeah like there's ever anything interesting here. Same old, same old; Mike wants us to push the new Expedition consol, try to keep sales up, we got all caught up on the back log of repairs so all we have is whatever comes in today…
All in all it should be a pretty easy day."
Simon nodded,
"Thank goodness, maybe I'll get a chance to figure out what's up with my computer."
Kevin tilted his head, just now noticing Simon had his laptop case,
"What's wrong with your computer?"
He huffed, rolling his eyes at his own stupidity,
"The damn hard drive is fried…It was my own fault- how many times a day do we caution people about opening unknown downloads?"
Kevin snickered faintly before giving a sheepish, guilty shrug,
"Sorry…"
Simon waved him off,
"Like I said I brought it on myself, I should have known better."
"I know but still I didn't mean to laugh, that really does suck..." he paused, giving a slightly playful smirk, quirking his eyebrow in an expression he absolutely picked up from Magnus,
"Hopefully the download was at least worth the trouble."
Simon blushed, rolling his eyes,
"It was nothing like THAT! And you're officially hanging out with Magnus way too much- I need to limit your guys's time together. Always knew he was a bad influence."
Kevin giggled,
"Uh huh…of course it wasn't, good deflection by the way,"
Simon sputtered,
"Oh my god I was NOT downloading porn!" he exclaimed, startling slightly, realizing how loud that came out, sending a faintly apologetic look towards the couple customers standing within earshot, a group of teens and a guy in a football jersey.
"Sorry…I really wasn't…"
Football dude outright snorted, shaking his head. The teens laughed, giving totally disbelieving smirks,
"Sure you weren't."
Simon flushed brighter, moving quickly away from them, making his way to the Nerd Herd desk, Kevin falling into step beside him, still snickering faintly.
Simon glared, Kevin just gave a faint shrug,
"Sorry dude but you kinda started it…I can't believe you downloaded a-"
Simon groaned,
"It was not P-that thing that I am not gonna shout out at work again. It was nothing like that. It was an attachment from an email from someone I knew from high school. I heard he was working at Metamorphosis Dynamics and they're supposed to be doing the reboot of High Thrills Power Gate…I kinda thought it was a bootleg copy. I knew I shouldn't have opened it but it was my absolute favorite game growing up and I just couldn't resist."
Kevin paused a second, giving a faint nod,
"Okay…that I get taking the risk for…"
Simon scoffed,
"Yeah only I really should've just went with my first instinct when I saw Jace's name and trash it…it didn't work and now my hard drive's fried! I sure hope it's salvageable cause I don't have enough for a new one yet." he paused, shrugging faintly,
"Though gotta admit a computer virus is probably slightly more preferable to what I would generally expect Jace to send…so at least there's that."
Kevin snickered, eyes widening faintly,
"Ah, one of those guys huh?"
Simon sighed, nodded,
"Oh yeah, big time."
"Yeah, computer virus can be fixed, hard drives replaced…to the best of my recollection they have yet to prefect brain bleach so definitely for the best."
Simon chuckled, nodding enthusiastically,
"Definitely, and a-"
"Ahem…"
They both startled at the sound of a throat clearing, turning from each other to the guy standing patiently at the Nerd Herd desk, quirking his eyebrow, giving a slightly amused smile.
Simon gave a sheepish, apologetic smile back,
"Sorry dude, I didn't see you there- been one of those days already and it's not even twenty minutes into my shift you know?"
The guy chuckled, shaking his head, waving him off, greenish hazel eyes sparking in amusement,
"It's no problem, I get it…" He glanced around the counter, eyes flickering over Simon, head tilting curiously,
"So…Simon…you're a part of the 'Nerd Herd'?" he asked, eyes flickering to Simon's nametag, giving a charming smile,
Simon blinked, glancing over in confusion at Kevin who gave a baffled shrug, then over the counter with the giant 'Nerd Herd' sign in near foot high letters emblazoned on the front, quirking his eyebrow,
"Uhh…y-yeah…That's kinda why I'm here. I'm not just some random dude who put on a bad clip on tie and ducked behind the counter to avoid detection or whatever."
The guy laughed, smiling, leaning in a bit, reaching over catching Simon's hand, shaking it, lingering for a moment.
"You're funny Simon. I'm Alec; it's really nice to meet you."
Simon blinked in confusion,
"Uhh…n-nice to meet you too Alec…so umm…did you need help with something or…?"
Alec chuckled again, eyes flickering over him before seemingly startling, blushing faintly,
"Oh umm…yeah…yeah I did…" he paused, reaching in his pocket, fishing out his phone, holding it out,
"I'm not really the best with the tech thing and I kinda locked myself out of my phone. Is there any way you can fix it for me?" he asked hopefully,
Simon shrugged,
"Uh…y-yeah…no problem, it's actually really easy on this model to reset the password. All you have to do is hold the home button and the power button for five seconds till the screen shuts off, then hold the power button until it goes to the splash screen. Than just hit 11001102 and the power button three times. It resets back to the default passcode from when the phone was first activated."
Alec blinked, giving a kind of sheepish shrug, shaking his head,
"I don't really know what most of that means…sorry."
Simon shrugged,
"It's okay, here I'll show you."
Alec smiled gratefully, leaning in to see what Simon was doing. Simon swallowed nervously, feeling kind of confused by this whole thing. Unless he was reading things WAY wrong the dude was hitting on him. The instructions weren't overly complicated, and he was way closer than necessary….
Plus Alec didn't seem to be focusing on the phone; rather he kept glancing over at Simon curiously. Also He's 90% sure when he hit the power button the screen was actually unlocked…
And he didn't have the phone out when he came up; he had to kind of fumble for it like an afterthought…
Plus he had on a top of the line iwatch…
If he has that he knows how to work tech…at least enough to unlock his own phone…
Alright that was weird…
Why was some random- admittedly hot- guy pretending to be tech illiterate just to strike up a conversation with him?
That just did not happen…not to him in any case…
He was not the 'make up an excuse to flirt with guy'- that as Magnus…or sometimes Kevin. He was the 'make up an excuse to get out of this conversation on the merits of a Doctor Who/Doctor Strange crossover guy'.
Random GQ model looking guys didn't just randomly wander up and make excuses to chat with a dude with 'nerd' in his literal job title- not unless said nerd herder is standing next to Magnus as a way in…
There had to be something up here…
He glanced around furtively,
This had to be some set up for a prank…
That was the only explanation he could come up with…
Alright, this day was already weird enough, he didn't need to be made the butt of a joke or a piece in a nerd scavenger hunt or whatever the hell this was…nevertheless he was at work and the guy was a customer…
He had to remain professional…
He finished the password reset, handing it back to Alec with a slight smile,
"There you go, all set."
Alec gave a bright, relieved smile,
"Thank you Simon- you're a life saver."
He shook his head,
"No problem, just doing my job…have a great day Alec."
Alec blinked in surprise at the slight dismissal quirking his eyebrow, before shaking it off, shrugging,
"I really do appreciate it…how much do I owe you?"
Simon shook his head, waving him off,
"Oh, no charge, it really was nothing…"
Alec smiled,
"Thanks just the same, I really do appreciate the help. I'd be pretty lost without that damn phone…" he paused, eyes flickering over Simon once more, giving a slightly flirtatious smirk, eyes brightening in amusement,
"Though you do know the measqe reset is far quicker than the Xian reset you used, right? Bit more complicated to talk a layman through though," he smirked winking at Simon and Kevin's shocked expressions, shrugging,
"Gotta admit the extra wait was totally worth it. Really great meeting you… I had no idea there were such cute guys in tech support, may have to find something else to be 'baffled' by…" He winked, eyes flickering over Simon once more, giving a slight shrug, before turning, beginning for the door,
"Have a good day Simon…you too Kevin." he called over his shoulder with a bit of a wave, leisurely making his way out of the store.
Simon blinked uncomprehendingly, glancing over at Kevin pointing towards the door Alec had just gone out.
"Umm…dude w-"
He shrugged, giving a slightly disbelieving sound,
"I don't even know dude..."
Simon nodded,
"Oookay least we're on the same page here."
*~********~*~********~* Simon-Simon-Simon-Simon-Simon *~********~*~********~*Oh my god this was a weird freaking day!
The thing with his computer, being late to work (he's NEVER late for work!), accidently shouting about porn at work- thanks a lot Kev-, that weird hot guy randomly making up an excuse to flirt with him (And seriously what was up with that?) and all that was just in the first hour of his shift.
After that it was yet more bizarreness…and yeah with their crew at Technorama that's kinda expected but still, this was just never ending.
There was a shoplifter who tried to make a run with a TV…it didn't work, he was on a bike, he made it ten feet before dropping the TV and falling on his ass. The TV wasn't damaged and there was an off duty cop in the freaking parking lot…so at least they wouldn't have to deal with that moron for a while- how he thought he was gonna make a get-a-way with a 40inch TV on a freaking bike Simon will never know.
They had two laptops come in for repair, should've been easy enough; it was slow enough they were able to handle it at the nerd herd desk rather than taking them to the back room to fix. Well…it seemed like a good idea at the time. It would have been simple, except when one of the laptops booted back up it opened on something Simon would have been perfectly happy never seeing…or hearing…the thing came on with the speakers full blast…that was awkward as hell- and those damn teens from this morning were STILL in the store, didn't they have anything better to do damnit? It was a school day! Who ditches school to hang out at a freaking department store?
He blamed Kevin; he put the whole 'porn' thing out in the universe, totally his doing.
Though he got the idea he was having a better day than the lady who brought it in's husband was gonna have…it was his laptop.
She was going to meet him for lunch and wanted to surprise him with it as he hadn't had the time to bring it to get checked out and their anniversary was coming up…
Ouch…
So at least his day wasn't THAT bad…
He had only one call out for a repair but it went nowhere- literally the address he was given was clear across town and when he got there it was a boarded up Pizza Hut. He tried calling back but the number but it just rang.
Damn prank callers.
So he wasted over two hours and braved rush hour traffic on a completely useless trip.
Add in the idiots with nothing better to do than try to come up with questions to 'stump the nerds', the guy who argued with him for thirty minutes that he didn't know what he was talking about when he said a flashdrive and a hard drive were not in fact the same thing, two guys who were either drunk or high spending over an hour setting in the media center watching cartoons before security chased them off, and the frazzled lady who nearly had the store on lockdown because she couldn't find one of her kids, only to remember nearly thirty minutes later- after the police had been called- that the kid spent the night at his grandparents the night before and was still there…
ugh…
Yeah...he doesn't know what the hell's going on today…
Maybe it's a full moon, or mercury's in retrograde or whatever.
He never did get a chance to work on his computer, he just left it in the back room, hopefully he'll get a chance tomorrow.
In any case he's done and gets to go home. It kinda sucks he won't have his computer but after today even he could use a bit of a break from tech…plus he always has his phone.
He sighed faintly, relieved to pull up in front of the condo. Climbing out of the car he paused, stretching slightly, glad to be out of the car, eager to just go in and relax. Slipping into the gate, making his way through the courtyard, pausing momentarily by the fountain. It was always so soothing out here, he really needed to find a roommate, and maybe he'll have some good news on that front. He checked his emails at lunch but there weren't any other applicants.
Well there was another email from the cat dude…saying he couldn't take the room as Mr. Fluffers didn't like the blue paint on the walls in the photos he showed him. He said he was out unless Simon agreed to have the place painted one of the shades of the paint swatches he sent.
Yeah, sorry to Mr. Fluffers… but he's not taking interior design tips from a cat…
Especially one that thinks eye searing lime is an appropriate wall color, I mean if he'd be reasonable with the color choices t-
Aaand…he is now mentally arguing color schemes with a cat that isn't even here…
That's it, he's done for the day.
Clearly he needs to just regroup, relax and try again tomorrow. Hopefully he got all the crazy out today.
Maybe he'll just settle in for the night, order in something and have dinner out here on one of the benches around the fountain…
That might be kinda nice. A way to get a bit of a reset after the day he had.
Yeah, that'd do it...
He took a deep breath, turning from the fountain, making his way to his door, putting his key in beginning to twist before pausing…
W-wait…
It's unlocked…
T-that's…
That's weird…he's sure he locked it when he left, he always locks it…even if he's just home by himself, force of habit from when he was younger- this place was in a pretty nice neighborhood but that hadn't always been the case when he was growing up, and old habits are hard to break.
Oh for god sakes, if there was a break in on top of everything else today…
He shook his head, instantly tense and on high alert. Reaching in his pocket he fished out his phone, hitting 911, finger hovering over the button before cautiously turning the knob, just barely cracking the door to peek inside, heart in his throat.
Alright, so far so good, it looks normal. TV, stereo, gaming consoles, all still there.
It's not ransacked; everything looks like it did when he left this morning. Living room looks fine. He slipped in, looking for something to take with him for protection just in case, eyes falling on the only thing even slightly useful for protection.
Really?
Why couldn't he just be a normal dude with a baseball bat by the door?
Okay, whatever, it has to do…
He reached over slipping one of the replica light sabers out of the holder hitting the button on it, the thing glowing red…
Well…it's the best he can do…
He is SO buying a baseball bat tomorrow, this is just embarrassing…but it's better than nothing…
He thinks…
He sighed, making his way through the living room, slowly going through the rest of the house, room by room. He breathed a sigh of relief when he finished checking the last room, slumping against the wall, turning the light saber off, hanging up his phone, putting it back in his pocket.
He reached up, rubbing at his face, trying to will the tension out of his shoulders. he pushed off, making his way back to the living room, collapsing on the sofa.
Oh thank god…
Okay…
We're good…
He's good. He must have just forgot to lock it. I mean that never happened but, hell he's also never been late to work and never had a random guy play dumb as an excuse to flirt with him so it really just went right along with the rest of the insanity.
And he was in a hurry this morning. He thought he locked it, but it's possible he got distracted or it somehow slipped his mind.
Yeah…yeah…that had to be it.
Everything looked normal, like it did when he'd lef-
His thoughts stalled, tilting his head, looking at the coffee table in confusion. Why was the copy of Gods Of War on top of the stack of PS4 games? He hadn't played that in over a month.
That's odd.
And…a-are they straighter?
He glanced around, tilting his head in confusion, looking for anything unusual. There's nothing missing, but unless his imagination is getting the better of him, some things are moved. The stack of mail is kinda off, the throw pillows on the couch kinda looked fluffed…a-and
Hey…there's a spot on the couch…He remembers that spot! Magnus spilled a garish blue-violet cocktail there and he couldn't get it to come up because it had blueberry juice in it…he'd ended Up just flipping the cushion and call it a day.
Why was the cushion flipped back over?
He did not do that…
There was no reason he would have…
He swallowed, blinking, eyes slipping around the room nervously.
Alright…this was pretty freaky.
Someone was in his house.
They didn't take anything…but they went through things.
Why would someone do that?
He swallowed again, slowly standing up.
Okay this was creepy…he needed to get out of here for a minute. Maybe he's just imagining things. Magnus spilled that months ago…it's possible in that time he'd flipped it over for some reason or another and just didn't realize it.
But he didn't think so.
What should he do? Call the cops? And what, Say someone broke into his house and straightened up and flipped a cushion?
Even HE thought that was crazy…
It had to just be his imagination…he was just freaked out cause he'd left the door unlocked and his imagination was running wild…
That's it…
That had to be it.
In any case he had to get out of here for a little while. Maybe he'd just go grab dinner somewhere, relax a minute.
He took a deep breath nodding to himself, standing up, quickly grabbing his keys wallet and phone, making his way to the door. He slipped out, pulling the door to, this time double checking the lock, before slipping his things in his pocket, making his way back across the courtyard a bit quicker than usual.
It was fine…
It was just a crazy day getting the best of him…
He just needed a bit of a reset.
A nice quiet, relaxing dinner and he'll be fine.
*~********~*~********~* End Of Chapter Notes *~********~*~********~*Yes I know Alec flirting with Simon was odd and confusing…That was totally intentional… no I'm not mixing up the couples… yes I know where I'm going with this…no it doesn't involve any unrequited crushes or jealously drama…this'll be fun I promise.
Think it's fair to say Simon's pretty confused by this point…He's probably not gonna be any less confused anytime soon…
So what do you guys think so far?
-*-*-*-*-*-*-Simon The Not-So-Super-Spy-*-*-*-*-*-*-
* 18 *