The Toymaster's Castle

Chapter Twenty-Five - The Twarky Game

Even though I spent the night in Daniel's bed, I didn't sleep all that well. There were far too many ideas bouncing around inside my head. So when daylight began to show from behind the curtains, I crept out of bed and went to make coffee.

The smell must have woken him up because he was waiting for me and, after letting him have a couple of sips, I told him what I'd been thinking.

"We need to get a whole lot more serious about this Twarky Game. You've had the big idea and have made a good start but now you need an office manager type person to take care of all the boring details for you."

He looked at me for a moment but then gave a nod. "Why don't you take the rest of the week off to make a start on it," he suggested.

"I really ought to come into the office to keep an eye on the other girls," I told him. "I mean... they're getting on much better now, with Angus and Bianca out of the way, but, even so..."

"You like to feel you're indispensable?" he suggested.

I stuck my tongue out at him but then hurriedly carried on before he could get any ideas about punishing me. "Why don't I just have a look at the stuff in the office?" I suggested. "If anyone asks, I can just say I'm doing it for you... which is pretty much true!"

"Absolutely not!" he answered firmly. "For information security reasons, you must do absolutely nothing related to the 'Twarky Game' in the open office. If things really do go south, it's a fair bet that pretty much everyone left around here will be dead within six weeks. If, say, Mandy had the slightest inkling that there might be a way out then she's going to be begging you to let her come with us... with her husband... and seventeen children... and her grandma. We might as well just not bother with our preparations. Do you understand?"

I thought about it then nodded. It sounded unbelievably callous but I suppose it was true, really.

We also need to take some care about what our internet search history shows up. He thought for a second. "I'll get you set up with a secure computer system here. You can work in the office in the morning and take the afternoon off as 'unpaid leave, working on a private project for me'. Does that sound okay?"

"Yes, Master... One question though. How do I go about paying for all the stuff?"

"Just make a list of what you want to buy and I'll organise the purchases. It's not that I don't trust you. We just need to make sure that the transactions can't be traced back to us and I have much more experience of that sort of thing than you..."

"Information security?"

"Good girl! Do you have any other questions?"

"I don't think so... and I've got my phone so I can always call you."

"You even need to take care about what you say about this kind of stuff on the phone. It is not inconceivable that my phone is being monitored... by people who will be potentially looking for somewhere to go if the Twarky thing really does happen."

I tried to get my head around that idea then gave a nod. If you started thinking about it like that, the whole 'information security' thing got much more complicated.

"Anything else?"

I shook my head.

"Then go and get yourself ready for the gym. Naomi will be here in five minutes."

I gave a bit of a sigh. I mean... particularly with the state of my tummy, I wasn't feeling desperately keen on the whole gym thing...

But I did as I was told, of course.

My next few days were stupidly busy. I spent my mornings organising the other girls and then hurried home to try to get the Twarky supplies into some sort of order. I mean... Daniel had made a solid start with the stuff but he was definitely a big picture sort of guy who didn't really have the patience for those sorts of boring details.