The story rolls on! Unfortunately, we've yet to get to any actual action, explosions, or anything particularly fascinating, but I'd still be greatly touched if you read this chapter anyhow. Give me as much feedback as possible! If Amber is a thinly veiled Mary Sue or some such thing, send a flame my way. The heat should get me working to improve the situation. ^_^
The same day, at around 11 in the morning, a bleary Amber rode her motorcycle back to RM Corp, to arrange her things. She was supposed to be showing up for work, but in her mind, she had already quit. Only a few more days of playing the role, and she make a break and run. Parking her treasured machine, she staggered to the entrance and the nearest elevator.
'This settles it. When I finish today, I'm going to go take a looooooong nap...' thought Amber to herself as she made her way down the hallways to her workshop. 'When planning acts of terrorism, it's best to be well rested...' Smirking slightly to herself, she swiped her ID card, scanned her hand, and walked into her workshop. What greeted her there was a surprise.
On her secondary workbench, amidst the chips and various parts, rested a vase of irridescent blue orchids. Most definitely not a regular fixture of the room. Staring openly, she walked over and let the door swish shut behind her. "ASCOT, you there?" Seeing that she recieved no answer, she backed up and flipped the on switch on her computer. Of course, he wouldn't be there if it wasn't on. Stupid.
As she waited for it to boot up, she returned to the other bench and studied the flowers. They were beautiful, that much could be said for them. Their scent was sweet, and they almost sparkled in the light. "Musta cost an arm and a leg...." she mumbled, gently looking through the flowers for a card or a note. Anything to reveal the identity of the giver. Nothing could be found.
ASCOT's voice broke in on her thoughts. "Very nice flowers, Amber. Did you buy them?"
Amber jumped slightly and turned, but shook her head when she realized it was just the AI. "You scared me! ...and no, I didn't! They were just here when I arrived!"
"That is unusual." he replied, sounding the smallest bit surprised. "Excuse me for a moment, will you?" With that, ASCOT fell silent.
Once again, Amber was left pondering the source of the flowers on her own. However, she did need to get some work done, so she started to clean her office while letting her thoughts wander. As she sorted bits and pieces into piles, and discarded old papers and wrappers, she couldn't keep the mystery of the flowers off her mind. Who would give her something like THAT? For that matter, who would be able to get into her workshop to put the flowers there? The place had some serious security measures imposed on it. The entire situation was strange...
Just then, ASCOT returned, with a bit of fanfare and some applause piped through the computer's sound system. "I have found something very... interesting, Amber!" There was genuine enthusiasm in the AI's simulated voice.
Amber flew over to stand in front of the monitor, looking just as enthusiastic. "What? What? What did you find? Is it about the flowers?!"
"Indeed it is. I reviewed the security tapes, and logs. Someone very....unexpected brought them in."
"Who, who?! Who did?!" The young inventor was practically jumping up and down in excitement. The mystery would be solved!
ASCOT didn't hesitate to demonstrate. A window popped up on the screen, showing the security footage. Though it was slightly blurred, the person delivering the flowers could easily be seen. Not to mention the person's form. It was completely unmistakeable; it was that of Dr. Hiss. "I told you that it was someone unexpected."
Amber was left gaping, staring at the video in shock. "He... he brought me flowers..? Why would he bring me flowers...?"
"I have no idea, Amber." said ASCOT flatly. "It is not something one would expect him to do, right?"
"Damn straight! He doesn't strike me as being a flower-giving person!" The young woman's gaze moved up to look into the camera. "Why would he do THAT?"
"I do not know. But normally, flowers are given as a sign of affection." the AI replied flatly.
"Affection?" Amber's voice took on a somewhat funny tone. "He can be affectionate?"
The footage ceased playing, and ASCOT's tone became irritated. "Amber, please stop acting silly. I knew this would be something unusual for you, but you are overreacting. This should not matter right now, as you are leaving the Corp. You are not supposed to have anything to do with him or anyone else any longer. Logically, a vase of flowers should not make a difference."
"Hey!" Sounding quite offended, she backed away from the computer. "I have a lot of things to think about! If he's got a crush on me or something, that sort of DOES affect things! At least a bit."
"And in what way would THAT be?" said ASCOT, a large dose of skepticisim added in his expression.
Amber didn't answer for a few moments, as she wasn't sure how. Getting frustrated, she grumbled, "Oh, I don't know... Maybe I could sue him? I don't know... but it does! Really!"
An unamused cartoonish face appeared on the screen. "Alright, fine. I see that I am unable to stop you from acting like this. For a genius, you are certainly not very sensible. If you will excuse me, I am going to finish transfering your funds and altering your records." The screen then went blank, as ASCOT went along his way.
Sighing, Amber flopped down in her chair. "...I had to program it to be snappy too, didn't I?" She shut her eyes and and rubbed her temples, trying to let her thoughts settle down, but they simply wouldn't. If it wasn't one strange thing, it was another. Her workplace was run by people with world domination on their minds, her greatest project ever worked entirely too perfectly, and her boss had a crush on her. Groaning, she ran her fingers through her hair. "No use moping..." Using all the willpower she had, she forced herself back up to her feet and continued to sort and pack.
Hiss felt like hurting something. Preferably the sneaky little annoyance that had broken into the Corp's computer systems. Yes, once he had discovered the guilty party, he would tie them to a table and have hot rivets driven into their body. And if it was Zulander... then it made that mental image all the more entertaining. Cackling slightly to himself, he plugged away at the search for a bit longer. However, even such inspiring thoughts could only carry a person so far. Not long after, the doctor simply threw his hands up in the air and stormed away from the keyboard, fed up beyond all belief. A nice strong cup of coffee would do him some good. With that on his mind, he left his workshop and headed for the nearest vending machine.
As Hiss limped his way down the corridor, his thoughts began to wander. First, to the upcoming production of Brain Grains. Everything should work just perfectly, everything should go off without a hitch. Maximum security restrictions were imposed. No two people were given the same story about the facilities. There was absolutely no way that Zulander could come and ruin things. And oh, when the production was finally done....
"Yeeeeeeek!"
The gleeful thoughts were immediately interupted as the Doctor found himself sprawled awkwardly on the floor, a wastebasket on his head. "What in the HELL isss the meaning of thissss?!"
His vision returned as the basket was pulled from his head by a very appolgetic Amber. "Oh, GOD, I'm sorry! I'm REALLY sorry! I'm really, REALLY sorry!" Shaking slightly, her voice caught. She'd just emptied a full garbage can on her boss. That was never a good thing. Wincing, Amber braced herself for being yelled at.
"Ahh...." Much to her surprise, it never came. Hiss was far too stunned to manage a full sentance, much less an entire tirade. He hadn't expected to run into her, and he most CERTAINLY hadn't expected another thing. She had tucked one of the blue orchids behind her ear. His thoughts circled in place like a hamster running on a wheel. So she recieved the flowers, but did that mean she liked them? If she was wearing one, she liked them, but did she know where they came from? If she knew where they came from, did that mean she liked HIM? No amount of trying to think logically could put an end to his hemming and hawing.
Luckily, for the sake of the story, Amber did it quite nicely with a few choice words. "Uh, sir... you have, um, a piece of gum stuck on your head...." She figured something needed to be said. Just what had him so tongue tied, though?
Hiss blinked, raised a hand, and plucked a large and sticky wad of gum from his bald noggin. Grimacing, he threw it to the ground with distaste. "I ssssee that." Still immensely displeased, he shifted on the ground and attempted to lift himself. It was far from easy. Though his artificial leg worked well enough when walking, it made most other activities a chore. But he would not ask for help. He had far too much pride for that. As far as he was concerned, he didn't require help.
Amber watched him struggle for a few moments, then set the garbage can down and offered him a hand. "Here, sir. Come on, get up, it's my fault...." There was a moment of hesitation, but Hiss reached out with his right hand and grasped Amber's tightly. For someone that seemed so frail, he had a lot of strength in his hand. Amber marveled, but not for too long. With a bit of pulling on her part, the scientist was back on his feet with a minimum of fuss. The instant she was free to do so, she picked the can back up and started to clean up the garbage that had spilled. "There we go. ...er... again, I'm REALLY sorry?"
"You sssSAID that already." Hiss brushed himself off, and grumbled softly to himself. He had more than enough composure, now. As he watched his employee scamper around picking up trash, he felt calm and collected. It was just a moment of being caught off guard. "Jusssst what are you doing hauling around trasssh, anyway?"
An answer was quickly given. "Oh... I needed to bring this home with me, so... I figured I'd empty it myself on the way out." It was fairly plausible, wasn't it?
Hiss narrowed an eye, and spat "Ssshouldn't you be doing ssssome actual DEVELOPMENT, Amber? There are other employeessss who take care of that!"
She blanched slightly, and mumbled a quick excuse. "...ASCOT's processing right now... I have a bit of time to kill... yeah. So I'm doing some cleaning. It's scary in there! Yep." It was punctuated with a laugh, as she hoped she hoped her tale wasn't blatantly transparent. Since all she recieved was a blink, Amber figured she was doing alright. "Well, I think I've got everything, so... I'll get out of your way." Holding the wastebasket tighter, she turned and started to walk off.
Shaking his head, Hiss turned to walk away as well. He still needed that cup of coffee. But before he even took his first step, he saw something blue and shining on the floor. The orchid that had been tucked behind Amber's ear. He paused, but then bent slowly and picked it up. "Amber!" As quickly as he could manage, he limped down the hall after her. "You... you dropped thissss."
Making a surprised noise, Amber turned. "Ah! ..ah, so I did. It must have fell when I was running around." Laughing softly, she reached out to take it, then tucked it back behind her ear. "Thank you!" She smiled a glowing smile, then turned and zipped off.
The Doctor was left standing there, hand still extended. "You... you're welcome." Once again, his thoughts took a circular route through his brain. He most DEFINITELY needed a cup of strong coffee now. Muttering softly to himself, he turned and limped away.
