Sean Bishop walked into the programming department purposefully, and looking at him, one would think he was a man on a mission.
The few men and women inside stopped their work as soon as they saw him, proffering polite greetings which he waved away, walking towards the office of the Head of Department.
He was not surprised they were so few, the employees didn't work on Saturdays except for the few who had to check in on No Blessed and minimize the damage of its glitches.
Pushing open the door, he found the Head Programmer deeply engaged in a phone call. The man looked stricken as soon as he sighted Sean and fumbled slightly with his phone.
"Rachel, Rachel listen to me, I have to go to work, talk to you later. Bye." he tucked his phone into his jacket and vaguely bowed to Sean. "Good morning Mr. Bishop, what can I do for you?"
Sean took a seat. "What is the status report on Volunteer 118?"
The Head typed quickly into his computer, the keyboard clicking like a well-played note. "Well, within the past few day, he moved little distances to and fro from his original spot. Also, the pain censors have been going off the charts but calmed down within the last five days. We believe he may have suffered a serious injury but has healed sufficiently.
"Volunteer 118 has survived in No Blessed for exactly forty three days which by statistics is the longest record of the most time spent before death by two times." The Head Programmer looked at Sean. "We believe he might actually make it to the end of the game."
"With so little movement?" Sean scoffed. "How is he going to achieve that?"
"Progress is slow," The other man agreed. "But monitoring his movement and knowing when he sustains injuries or dies are all we can do from here. As you know, once he is in No Blessed, it is all up to him."
Sean got up, rearranging his tie. "Of course, you don't need to remind me."
The Head shrunk underneath Sean's scathing gaze. "Pardon my intrusion Mr. Bishop."
Sean made to go out but stopped, trapping the Head under his gaze again. "Another thing, when Praise comes on Monday, give the status results to her as usual, she doesn't need to know I've been here."
"Of course Mr. Bishop."
Sean walked out of the office, hands in his pocket, brooding. He'd been sure he'd find something of interest when he came here, more specifically if Praise was hiding details about the Volunteer from him. But it seems she delivered all reports as it was given to her and it annoyed him to know she was actually being transparent.
As he entered the elevator, his phone suddenly gave off a shrill sound alerting him to a new message and when Sean read it, the joyful grin that overcame his face was too malicious to be innocent.
"The wench, I knew she was up to no good."
*
Fun pop music blasted from the
muted speakers as Tyler maneuvered his way throughout the city, quiet. He knew Praise was watching him from the passenger seat, and from the look on her face, she was trying to decide whether she wanted to talk or not.
She decided on the former.
"So, where are we going?" Praise asked. "You're being very quiet."
"I know," Tyler looked at her. "Is that a bad thing?"
She did not look as nervous as the first time they had met, yet Tyler wasn't sure whether he could trust her or not. The words she had spoken, what she had said about Jonah still crept up in his head now and again, yet a part of him found it difficult to believe her.
YOU ARE READING
No Blessed ✓
Fantasy- Completed - For Mikel Ark, being offered a job by the world's biggest gaming company is a dream come true, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that will launch his career as a hotshot programmer. But what Mikel hasn't been told is that his employer's...
