One week followed another and time went quickly by, more quickly than Jake would have thought possible. Jake’s new assignment in the Financial Systems group was going well. He got the promotion. Mr. Popple liked Jake even more than Mr. Ramm did and he was far easier to please. Jake’s intelligence and good nature allowed him to work well with the accountants and budget analysts that provided him with projects.
His weight loss efforts were not as successful. He climbed the stairs twice a day and went to the gym twice a week. It made him feel frustrated that he had dropped less than five pounds.
He was still friends with Sanjay and Tuan from Mr. Ramm’s group and he went to lunch with them frequently. He enjoyed their company and sometimes, they even hung out together on the weekends. Sanjay and Tuan were about the same age as Jake and both had long-term relationships. In fact, most of Jake’s friends had girlfriends or were married and Jake was a bit jealous. His girlfriend was still far away in 2286. He thought about her night and day but it was incredibly frustrating to know that he wasn’t going to be able to see her for four and half more years.
One hot July morning there was a problem. Mr. Popple called Jake into his office.
“Jake, we have a serious problem here. Last week, we got an anonymous tip that someone has been stealing public funds using a bug in our financial system. The bug is in a software module that you wrote. We’ve checked the logs and it appears that the only user of that module is you. We’ve talked to our legal counsel and they don’t feel we could get a conviction in court but we do feel that we can fire you based on civil service rules. I can't keep from telling you how betrayed I feel personally. Security is here to escort you out. Please go quietly.”
Jake was flabbergasted. There was nothing he could say. Protesting that he was innocent would do no good. He collected the few personal possessions he had in his desk and walked out of the building with the security guard.
