Neon Chains

Entrance of Angela

She was sat at her desk. Well, not her desk exactly. Only for the next thirty minutes or so. After that, someone else would work at the desk. Hopefully she wouldn't be discarded by a trainee. She wouldn't get promoted that way. And she had too much kindness not to allow a newly trained worker not to take her place.

There were six desks for around eight to twelve worker. Sometimes there were even more of them.

"ATT!" shouted a dark-skinned man with a white jacket and light blue jeans. He was calling her to attention.

She stood up from the seat, waved and said "yes sir". That was the action required when someone of a high enough rank calls to you. It was a swift robotic movement, but every subordinate had to do it. If not, they would be given punishment.

Immediately, a fellow worker hurried forward, as quick as lightning and asked "may I sit?" before two slightly slower competitors could ask exactly the same question.

"Yes" he said to the lucky male worker with large brown eyes and a bowl shaped haircut. He then turned to the other who had swarmed around him like hyenas fighting for their kill. "FTB" he commanded. They crawled back to their seats in the waiting area. Well, no one else really considered it a place for waiting except for them.

He looked back at her. She had been standing silently, waiting for the usual battle to end: for the winner and losers to take their places.

"Angela328" they boy whose username was Deathlord014 said. "I have seen you have been working hard at the front reception and believe you deserve a promotion".

"Thank you sir" she replied in her same automated tone, practically mimicking his. It was true. Angela had been working very hard over the past few hours since she was recruited at the Secret Service, or "SS" as most called it. She had especially been working very hard to be able to work hard. Luckily, she was a fast typer and was usually the first of the hordes to ask for the just emptied seat. Her only role was to tell job applicants how to become recruits: through joining and wearing the Secret Service badge, wearing the dull dark grey shirt and dull light grey skirt (trousers for the boys. They were usually boys). Lastly adding to their motto tagline which was upon their profile: "[SS] Recruit". The work was so simple all a person needed was a lot of patience to work there. And Angela had so very much of that. She had so much time ready to spread anywhere on any magical realm she pleased.

"Last promo?" Deathlord asked, not bothering to type the whole question because everyone with his power asked like that.

"Thirty five minutes ago". Angela kept track of the time. Most didn't, and she liked how her accuracy with promotion time allowed her to rise above the rest of the pack, like a brighter star in a sky full of shining dots, or a rock amongst stones.

"Correct". he was meant to enquire over the last promotion before giving the 'you deserve a promotion' speech. But she decided not to tell him, rather let one of his bosses scold him for his mistake. He wouldn't listen to a lowlife newbie like her, despite the fact that she had read the whole Secret Service Code of Conduct manual found on their website. She continued to hover in perfect silence as he told her to change her motto tagline to "[SS] Guardian [DEATH]".

She smiled to herself. She was one step closer. She was no longer a "B.U.M. Inspector", but a Guardian, although her role remained inside the organization exactly the same in every way. It would take many more promotions to change her duties from telling recruits t dress in their corporate armour to working in security, checking whether the front desk workers had made any mistakes. SS did not trust them. The front desk were merely an illusion for more training, an extended test to measure their ability to understand the recruitment system.

"AE FTB!". That meant Angela was left to trungle right back to the black seats where many staff members - high rank and low rank alike - could go away from their keyboard, saying "AFK" (Away From Keyboard) as they did so. But Angela never went AFK. She sat with hawk-liked scrutinous eyes, ready to pounce upon the next promoted person, like a tiger hiding beneath the undergrowth. Nevertheless, she felt like a phone on a battery charger that didn't need charging... And she could not wait for that to end.