Sarif industries, Monday morning:
Adam flinched as someone pushed past him, bumping into his shoulder. Funnily enough, it was Pritchard, his ponytail bouncing from side to side as he hurried towards the entrance of the building. The aug stopped in his tracks, taking in the until then inconcievable image of Francis Wendell Pritchard coming to work anytime later than 6AM.
"What's the matter, Francis? Did your alarm clock break?" he called after him.
"I have no time for your nonsense, Jensen. I've got too much work to do." replied the hacker without stopping, or even just looking at him.
Adam raised an eyebrow. No sarcasm in that answer, not even an attempt at it. Just a blunt statement devoid of any of the usual annoying undertones that made Pritchard sound like Pritchard. He shook his head. So much for changing nothing.
A few hours later:
Adam let out a rather frustrated sigh as he leaned back in his chair. Paperwork, writing reports and then some more paperwork in case there wasn't enough of it before. If there was a part of his job that he hated it was definitely the mountain of paperwork and reports he had to deal with every day. The e-notes and pocket secretaries were stacked in a rather menacing pile, actually quite a few menacing piles, all over the couch standing opposite from his desk.
The aug shook his head. He couldn't even look at that shit for a second longer, let alone work on it. Getting up from his chair, he decided that the best course of action was to grab a coffee. If anything, at least the caffeine might help him work faster. Having an excuse to just walk away from it for a few minutes was very tempting as well. He pushed open the door and headed to the cafeteria.
Not five minutes later, he has reached his destination. The room was buzzing with chatter from his co-workers, apparently it was already lunch break and he didn't notice. Drowning in paperwork just got wrong on one additional level. He punched his order into the coffee machine and crossed his arms, waiting.
"Hey there, Spy boy!" he heard a voice call from behind him.
His expression became a little less grim: "Malik."
The pilot stopped right next to him, smiling: "How's it going?"
"You don't wanna know." replied the aug with a sigh. "I'm literally swimming in paperwork over at my office."
"That bad, huh?"
"Yeah."
"Actually, I was just about to grab a coffee myself, you wanna sit back for a while? Maybe grab some lunch too?" offered Faridah.
As much as Adam was tempted to say yes, (after all, he did hate that paperwork with an almost unhealthy passion) he shook his head: "Thanks, but I think I'm gonna head back now. I'll never get it done at this rate."
"Alright then. Just try not to drown in there, ok?" teased the pilot.
"Yeah, I'll try." replied the aug as he headed back to his office.
About an hour later:
"Adam."
A voice from above him, a familiar one.
"Adam."
A light shake on his shoulder.
"Come on, son. Wake up."
Jensen sat up in his chair abruptly, his eye shields clicking into place. There was a stray e-note stuck to his cheek which he promptly removed before responding: "Boss."
Sarif chuckled: "There ya go. So tell me, to what do I owe the uncanny sight of my head of security napping on his desk like a newborn?"
"I've been doing some paperwork." replied the aug without missing a beat.
"Christ, it looks like you're in head over heels." commented Sarif as he walked past the currently uninhabitable couch. "But it's obvious you need a break now. How about you do a little something for me?"
Adam nodded: "What is it, boss?"
The older man reached inside his vest and pulled out a pocket secretary: "Could you give this to Frank? You seem to be the only one to walk out of there with your nerves intact whenever he starts his..." He sighed. "Well, you know how he is and today it's even worse than usual."
"But he does piss me off." said Adam bluntly.
Now Sarif outright laughed: "I know, son, but you handle it much better than the rest of us."
Moments later:
Adam stepped inside the tech lab, Sarif's pocket secretary in hand: "Pritchard."
The hacker almost jumped out of his chair: "Jesus Christ, Jensen! What's coming next, you sneaking in here through an air duct? Why can't you just knock or otherwise notify me that you plan on coming here?"
Jensen raised an eyebrow. That really was more nervous than usual, but still more in-character than that stonewall he pulled off in the morning.
"I did say 'Pritchard'. What do you want me to do? Send you an email whenever I need something just so you can feel good about having received your memo on time?"
Pritchard gripped the bridge of his nose, sighing: "What do you want, Jensen?"
Adam walked up to him and put the pocket secretary on his desk: "It's from Sarif."
"Running errands for the boss like the obedient lap dog you are?" prodded Pritchard snidely.
Given the other man's behavior so far, Adam decided to waste no time and go straight for the throat: "I'm not a lap dog, Francis. You should know that after last Saturday."
Pritchard scowled: "Flailing your supposed machismo around like it's something special, how very mature."
This time, it was Adam's turn to sound snide: "Actually, I just enjoy hurting your ego."
Pritchard gave him a look: "Is that so? Trying to hit a nerve, Jensen? Then try harder because it's not working."
Not quite the reaction Adam was expecting. He crossed his arms: "I'm-"
"Going back to your office and letting me do my job? Why, thank you, Jensen. That's very considerate of you. Not only will I be able to actually get something done that way, I also won't have to go through the chore of deactivating your augs while you sleep and then torturing you until you admit how much of a man-child you are."
That got Adam searching for words. Somehow, he didn't think that Pritchard's torture involved torture in a literal sense.
His suspicions were confirmed when the most obnoxious kind of grin spread across the hacker's face: "I know where you live, you know where the door is. Your call, Jensen."
Adam promptly stomped out of the room. He was getting the smug bastard back for this, no matter the cost.
