Inside Job: Old Friends, New Day.

Chapter 2.

In the CEO's Office...

   The new employee continues his chat with Reagan and Brett. "Seriously, I apologize," says the newbie, who is now currently sitting in a chair next to Frat boy Brett and right in front of the Boss-Lady herself. "My anxiety has gone through the roof since I left my apartment this morning."

   "Tsk. Yeah. That's pretty obvious," Reagan replies. "Now, can you please tell me about your experience with the Illuminati? Obviously NDAs exist, but I mainly wanna focus on your time dealing with Robotics."

   "Well, th-there's nothing much to be said about it. When my employers wanted me to invent something for them, I did it. If something went wrong, I remedied the situation and tried to do better the next time around."

   The girl boss takes a moment to reflect on this statement. "Hmm. Funny you mention that. I'm actually trying to remedy some of my own past fails." She places a hand on Robotus's detached head. "See this head here is my salvage project; Robotus Alpha-Beta. He was originally designed to replace the current U.S. President, but...that didn't work out too well. This thing tried to wipe out all of humanity. Can you believe that?"

   "My redemption arc has been a long and grueling one," Robotus comments.

   The new employee is taken aback by Alpha-Beta's words. "Holy fuck," he exclaims. "Is that...Is that a true AI?"

   "Absolutely," A smiling Brett says with pride in his voice. "ChatGPT has nothing on him."

   The new hire looks Reagan in the eye with a seemingly fond expression and says "Y-You really are Reagan, aren't you?"

   This question leaves the boss-lady slightly confused. She says "Huh? You did see the name on the door, right?"

   "Yes I did, but..." He shakes his head. "...that's not what I meant. Listen, Reagan. Do you know who...'I' am?"

   The CEO puts a finger to her mouth. "Oh yeah, that's right. I never got your name, did I? Uh...What is it then?"

   The new guy lets out a breath. "Okay...Last Name: Carthwait. First Name: Orrin."

   Brett immediately lets out a shocked gasp hearing this, but the name doesn't seem to register with Reagan...that is until she writes it down on a piece of paper. "'Last Name: Carthwait. First Name-." As soon as the name clicks, boss-lady Reagan is stunned. "...'Orrin'?! Orrin Carthwait?!" The girl boss immediately has a flashback to when she went inside her head and discovered that her memories had been tampered with. As the flashback ends, the CEO stands up from her chair. "You're...Oh my God. You're him. You were my best friend when I was grade school."

   Clearly nervous, the now adult Orrin tugs on his shirt collar. "Um...yea. It's me." He gags. "Ah fuck. I think I'm gonna puke again."

   With a grin on his face, positivity guy Brett tells the new hire "My dude, I have so many questions!"

   Looking rather cautious, the girl boss sits down and says "Hmph. Come to think of it, I have a few questions too so..."

   Reagan's old friend scratches his head, and tells her "Guess that's fair."

   "First off...d-did I just call you 'hot' a minute ago?"

   Orrin, now both anxious and blushy at the same time, says "Uh...Yes you did."

   "Fuck," Reagan replies starting to get blushy herself. "This is embarrassing."

   "Yeah, well..." The new hire shrugs. "How do you think I feel?"

   Nervous after hearing this, the boss-lady says "Uhh...no. You're right. Sorry." Hearing this exchange, a look of suspicion appears on Robotus's face.

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In the Conference Room...

   Andre, Gigi, and Glenn can be seen playing poker, while Magic Myc observes them. "Oh boy," Myc says silently putting a tentacle to his head.

   "What is it, Myc?" Andre whispers.

   "I'm sensing that Reagan just found herself a new boyfriend."

   "After just a few weeks?" The drug addict inquires sounding confused. "That's kinda odd considering what happened."

   "Actually I...I wanna say that this one is kindof an 'Old Flame' if you catch my drift."

   Gigi cuts in and says aloud "Ahem. Are you tryin to cheat, Andre?"

   Andre responds quickly. "N-No. Actually, I think I'm out for this one." The drug addict continues the whispering convo with the mushroom guy. "So tell me about this 'Old Flame'. How long ago are you thinking?"

   "I don't know," Myc whispers back. "Probably fourth grade at the latest."

   Andre is really surprised to hear this. "All the way back in grade school? Jesus Christ!" he exclaims silently. "How the hell did we not know about this?"

   "Oh hell yea!" the African-American woman calls out with pride as she has won the poker game. She then grabs all the money on the table. "I win again, bitches!"

   Glenn Dolphman lets out a disappointed sigh and says "This just isn't my day. Anyone got a beer or somethin?"

   "All fresh out, Gramps," Gigi says. "Reagan already banned alcohol throughout the facility, other than for special occasions, and of course for keeping Andre on the ball here."

   The dolphin-human hybrid glares at the drug addict, and Andre himself says "Hey, don't look at me. I got a note from a doctor."

   Gigi then says "Oh. And by the way, did y'all hear about the new guy joining us today?"

   "Yes, I heard," Glenn Dolphman replies rubbing the back of his head. "Just hope he likes big explosions."

   "If you ask me, I'm just hopin he's attractive!" Gigi exclaims with enthusiasm.

   Overhearing what Glenn and Gigi are discussing, Andre whispers to Myc "Wait a second. You don't think that he's-."

   The mushroom man interjects. "Oh I already know, Andre. It's him."

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Back in the CEO's Office...

   Robotus Alpha-Beta asks Reagan "Now I know this is a touching moment, but how do we know that this is the real Orrin and not...I don't know...a Changeling or something of the sort."

   Our boy Brett thinks for a second. "Hmph...I'm pretty sure Changelings only exist in Star Wars, but that being said-."

   Orrin interrupts by saying "Look, I understand the skepticism. If you wanna make sure it's me, I can tell you a few things I remember about Reagan from my childhood."

  "Oh. That definitely works." the himbo says with a nod.

  "Now first I wanna talk about that thing from the science fair," The new hire tells them.

  "Yeah?" the girl boss asks with a focused expression.

  "It was pretty sus what you did. Replacing frog organs with human ones."

   Letting out a groan, Reagan rubs the back of her head. "Ugh. Yea, I need to stop doing things like that."

   Orrin shrugs his shoulders. "Some things never change I suppose."