Story Synopsis:

Why was NO ONE at a data server backup center, a place monitored 24/7, ten minutes after Sylvester called and spoke to someone? I have not actually come up with a good reason. Instead, welcome to my weirdest fic to date. An answer (probably a terrible one, but is there any hope of an actual good one?) to that very question. Sorry, kids, no Waige today :(

Blackstern Data Storage

Ron Leonard, manager of Blackstern Data Storage, is sitting in his office, playing Solitaire on his computer, when the phone on his desk begins to ring. "Hello?"

"Hello, is this Blackstern Data Storage?" a younger-sounding man's voice asks on the line.

"Yes, to whom am I speaking?"

"My name is Sylvester Dodd, with Homeland Security."

Ron minimizes his Solitaire game. "Hello, Mr. Dodd. What can I help you with?"

"I understand that your company hosts the backup server for flight control data at LAX."

"That is correct. Is there a problem at the airport?"

"I'm sorry, I'm not at liberty to discuss that at the moment." The man's voice sounds distracted.

Ron hears shuffling in the background. He wonders what is going on. "Does it have anything to do with the large number of commercial jets currently circling the city?"

"W-well since you noticed that. I guess there's no harm in telling you that you are c-correct."

"What does this have to do with my company?"

"The daily automatic update of the control tower software has a bug, leaving planes currently in the air unable to communicate with the ground. We need to get a copy of that software's backup, hosted by your company, before it automatically updates in 20 minutes, overwriting the last remaining bug-free copy."

"Of course, of course, always happy to help law enforcement."

"We are currently located about 14 minutes away from the storage facility and 20 minutes from the automatic update. My team can get there in time, but we'll be cutting it close. Is there anyone on site who can pull the servers for us? A team will be there shortly to retrieve them."

Ron scratched his chin thoughtfully. He had a team of three employees who monitored the company's servers 24/7. Frank was on duty at the moment. "There is, but since that technically doesn't fall under his job description, I can't have him pull the servers for you. But your team shouldn't have any problems. You have a 6-minute cushion of time."

Sylvester is confused by the man's reluctance to have his employee help them. "Okay, fine. But he will be there to let the team in, correct?"

"Yes, yes, of course!"

"Will he be able to point my team to the correct server? Your company hosts thousands of backup servers. Time will be of the… of the… of the essence." Sylvester was distracted again by Ralph and his makeshift chess board.

"I'm not sure if he knows. Maintaining the servers is not his usual job. He just monitors them." Ron is beginning to feel a bit irritated at this young man from Homeland, does he not understand that people can't just do jobs they are not specifically hired to do all willy-nilly?

"Do you have a map or a database of some kind with the location of each client's server so someone unfamiliar with your company's backup server layout can find a particular server? Perhaps he could use that to help us and find the correct server to remove quickly."

Ron considered the question for a moment. "I know we have one here at the corporate office, but I don't think we have it inside the data center. I'm not sure that we could get that information to Frank."

"You don't think…? Will he be there to let my team into the data center?" Sylvester watches in surprise as Ralph takes his bishop.

"Of course, of course, just make sure they have proper government ID and he'll be happy to help in any way he can."

"Thank you so much for your assistance. The team will have proper Homeland credentials."

Ron loves bureaucracy and rules, the world doesn't run without them and he feels pride in helping this young man on the phone understand that fact. "Of course. Is there anything else I can help you with today, Mr. Dodd?"

"Walter, did you see this? Checkmate in eight moves! This kid is amazing."

"Mr. Dodd? I'm sorry? What did you say?"

"Oh, my apologies, sir, I wasn't speaking to you. I was speaking to my colleague."

"Of course. No problem. If that's all?"

"Yes, yes, my team is on the way and your employee will be able to let them in?"

"Absolutely."

"Thank you so much." Sylvester hangs up the phone, grateful he can finally focus on Ralph and their chess game. He challenges the boy to a rematch.

Ron places his phone receiver back in the cradle. He wonders if he's just been the victim of a prank. The man seemed distracted, hardly like law enforcement. And what he said at the end, something about a kid? That seemed off as well. He taps his intercom to talk to his secretary.

"Yes, Mr. Leonard?"

"Dana, let everyone know, they can knock off a few minutes early tonight."

"Sure, Mr. Leonard, sounds good."

Ron thinks for a moment. "And let Frank, in the server room, know he can finish off his shift early as well. Pete will be in at 7, the servers should be fine for a couple of hours."

"Are you sure, sir? Policy is to never leave them unattended for any–."

"I'm sure." Ron interrupts her. "Now get everyone moving."

"Of course, of course." Dana quickly typed out a note in Slack to the office, including Frank, letting everyone know to grab their things and head out. She also added a request to Frank to lock everything up behind him as no one would be monitoring the servers.

In two minutes flat all 10 employees of Blackstern Data Storage were out of the building and heading to their cars. Enjoying getting off work a few minutes early on a Tuesday evening. Ron looked up at the planes circling overhead one last time before getting into his BMW. Wondering, for just a moment, if there really was trouble at the airport before putting the conversation with Mr. Dodd out of his mind and heading home.

1 February 2024

Author's Note:

Blame this one on insomnia. I watched the commentary track of the Pilot episode from the DVDs. Ari asks who Sylvester is talking to on the phone as his character is playing chess with Ralph in the diner. It takes everyone a minute to realize that he is talking to the data center. I had never given that much thought before. Sly just talked to someone at the data center 10 minutes earlier. Yet when Toby, Happy, and the agent arrive, the storage center is shut up tight and no one is in the entire building? My brain started spinning crazy scenarios about "the boss" that Toby profiles in the company photo. And Sly is distracted by his chess game with Ralph. The whole thing is nuts, beyond nuts. So I wrote this nutty little story to share with you.

Technically, I'm not sure it even qualifies as fan fiction. I am not a fan of the way this scene was written for the show. I guess it would be more like confusion fiction. Hopefully, it's a little something funny for your day!

The fact that anyone reads my stories at all amazes me. And then when readers take the time to leave reviews and comments, I am humbled and amazed all over again. I want you to know that I read and treasure every single review. FFN makes me sad because the only 'official' way to reply to a review is to PM the reviewer and that feels kind of weird to take a public comment directly to a private message. I know that many writers put answers to their reviewers in the next chapter or next story. I have mixed feelings about that. So what I have chosen to do is to leave a guest review as 'Masikka' addressed to each comment/commenter. If you leave me a comment, I will do my best to reply promptly. If you are ever so inclined, also feel free to PM me and I will answer that as well. Thank you once again for reading, enjoying, and commenting on these stories. You are my Cyclone!