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It was going to be a good night.
* * *
Canaan rubbed at his eyes.He was exhausted, but it was the good kind of tired.
He had barely gotten a few hours of sleep after questing inFantasy Warriorswith Queen_Luna. He gulped a big mouthful of coffee before munching on beef jerky. The combination might not be great, but it was enough to keep him going for his morning team-building exercise with his BMA IT team.
He slid his computer chair to his work computers and queued upFantasy Warrior, turning on his webcam and sliding on his headphones, which had an attached microphone.
“What’s up, BMA geeks? Are we ready?”
One of the computer screens lit up with all six members of his department, each in their preferred work environment. As the boss, he asked they have their webcams on during their work quests.
Too bad you can’t do that with Queen_Luna, his wolf thought.
Canaan agreed. He longed to know what the mysterious woman looked like. Not that it mattered much. It wasn’t like they would ever meet in person.
“I need to make up for last week,” Jason shook his head, pulling Canaan back to the present. “Sorry for letting you down, team.”
They were all wearing earphones and mics, grinning wide. On the other screen, each staff member’s character stood in a wide-open field. Jason was a warlock, Mirabelle was a shapeshifter who could turn into a poisonous snake, Uri was an elf, and there were a few other fantasy creatures.
Canaan was a werewolf in this game. It amused him that both his real bodyandhis favorite avatars were wolves. It was a nice full circle, hiding in plain sight.
“Last time, we didn’t get to the Mountain of Doom because we underestimated the Undead army of the Field of Death. We won’t make that same mistake again, will we?” Canaan prompted. “We need to work as a team.”
“Not a chance,” Mirabelle said. “We’re ready, boss. I wanna kick some ass.”
Canaan smiled. If Wilder knew that the IT department’s weekly meeting was actually a quest on a computer game, he would shit a brick. But Canaan truly did believe that a team that gamed together was a team that could doanythingtogether.
Using the game’s quests, Canaan could tell a lot about his staff. The character they chose, the defenses they used, and how they behaved. It was quite telling. It was also a great way to reinforce their bond and their strengths … not to mention work on their finger dexterity which always came in handy when coding.
Canaan could also tell who was crafty and shifty. Who had a tendency to play dirty. It was always useful to have that kind of information. For that reason alone, he was keeping a close eye on Mirabelle and Uri. They were both a bit too ruthless in some quests and didn’t mind sacrificing a team member to win. Canaan preferred a player sacrifice themself. It just showed a deep understanding of teamwork.
“I bet you I can kill more Undead than you, Mira,” Uri laughed.
“Let's work together, BMA geeks. We’ve got this,” Canaan cheered before leading his team into the digital fray.
This is the life.
THREE
ELIZABETH
Elizabeth glanced at her clock, confirming it was nearly time for her midmorning break. Lately, she made a point to leave her desk as often as possible.
Her time away from the office was meticulously planned, very much like a hunter sets up bait. Every morning at ten, like clockwork, she would leave her computer wide open … unlocked … and accessible for anyone to peek at.
The surveillance camera in the corner of her office was a bit more subtle. No one knew she had bugged her office. She wasn’t entirely sure it was legal, but she didn’t really care. Not when the company had stolen her intellectual property. Legal was no longer her concern.
“What’s up, Lunar Liz?” A body leaned against the doorway to her office.
Elizabeth gritted her teeth against the name-calling. Smacking her boss … and the CEO’s kid … was probablynota good idea.
It would be the quickest way to get fired. No matter how much she hated this job, Elizabeth had to stick it out. But sticking it out was quickly becoming the hardest thing she would ever do.
Between Toby’s jabs and Mr. Evans’s sexism, there was also Jordan’s betrayal to contend with, but Elizabeth had a plan.
Trying to salvage her reputation might not be the best idea, but what else was she supposed to do? Walk away from EELS? Not a chance. Not without proving that Jordan had played her.
