In the name of love || ONC2023

Chapter 8.5

B's POV

Location: Undisclosed for safety reasons.

After secretly hearing the heated exchange between managers 96 and 69 till I lost interest, I decided it was time for an intervention.

"Now, gentlemen," I stepped between them, but Kamloon made a face… or an ear. I couldn't be sure which part was doing what when it came to it. I corrected myself, 'Gentleman and Kamloon,' and pressed on, "Don't think I haven't noticed how the two of you have been slacking off the whole day. The rules are clear. No manager is allowed to tend to personal matters during work hours." Glaring at them- the poor ignorant fools- I continued authoritatively, "You have just received your third strike for the day. Please hand over your Badges and leave the premises. You will forgo today's wages."

Yao smiled apologetically and followed it up with a respectful bow, "Apologies, my lady. Thank you for your kindness." before adding, "I will see myself out." and left without a word of protest. I could clearly see why Brams had taken a shine to him.

Turning to a still standing… wobbling Kamloon, I demanded, "The order was for the both of you. Why are you still here?"

As the thing drifted closer, I was tempted to step back. Refusing to give in to my disgust, I stood my ground.

It stopped inches from my face and asked, "Why did you do it?"

"Excuse me?" I faked ignorance. I had mastered the art long ago. It had served me well till now, but Kamloon could always look past it. He was just a manager, but he was ancient. He had seen the birth of the dimensions, all 108 of them. The only reason he was still where he started was that Brams wanted him there for some reason. It pissed me off to admit that I didn't know everything that went on in Brams' cabin. My only solace was that no one other than the almighty Brams knew all the secrets.

"Why did you mess with the arrangement? Did Brams order it?" It hissed. It was a rare sight. The thing hardly ever lost its temper. I began to feel like I had messed with the wrong entity. "Quit playing dumb, B. I have known Brams longer than you. He would never want to offer me a promotion. So, why did you lie to us?"

I gave the ancient one my most charming smile. Its accusation left me with no choice but to come clean, at least partially. But before I did, I needed it to answer a few questions.
Ignoring the bile rising to my throat, I leaned towards it, "First, well done. I did lie to you, but before I tell you why, I want to know if you knew I was lying, why did you play along, and why, despite your age and experience, Brams hasn't promoted you?"

Kamloon swayed away; I had seen it do that when something repulsed it. It occurred to me that our feelings toward each other might be mutual.

Did it offend me? Of course. But did I do anything to display my displeasure? Absolutely not. Instead, I stepped towards it. "Kam, can I call you Kam?"

The creature's face (or something) turned an ugly shade of green. I had never seen it do that, and since it was the only one of its kind in the universe, I failed to understand what the color change meant.

"No!" He snapped a moment later, "I am Kamloon. And I will not give you any answers."

"Fine." I shrugged, "In that case, you are dismissed. I am your superior, and it is in my job description to manage the floor. I have punished you in accordance with the rules. If you have a problem, you can take it up with Brams since you are close to him."

I regretted challenging him instantly, but the words had already left me. Now all I could hope for was that Kam kept his trap shut. After all, involving Brams in this mess wouldn't do any good to either of us.

As I turned around to leave, I heard Kamloon mutter something under his breath, probably profanities, but it didn't matter. Both of us were hiding something from the other, and it was just a matter of time before the deformed one caved, or so I thought.

Returning to my office: my personal heaven, a cozy nook on the twenty-seventh floor, I powered on the Sentient's Tracking Drive, aka STD. Over the centuries, I have tracked many sentient beings from various dimensions. It was in my job description. However, what I was about to do now, and had been doing since I had acquainted myself with the two unfortunate souls from 69 and 96, I couldn't- if I was being honest- attribute it to work.

I returned to my screen to check the progress made by the two men whose memories I had…well, how should I put it…..ah! Reset!

See, I wanted Lan Zhan and Wei WuXian to bang.

What? Did it surprise you?
Come on, now. I told you from the get-go that I was not a nice entity, did I not? Anyway, apart from my slightly perverted mind's desire to watch them do the dirty, there was another reason for wanting them to hook up.

No, I am not going to disclose it now. Why? Because you looked at me accusingly. Don't lie. I saw your heart, my dearies.

So, where were we? Yes…

You see, it was going to be difficult for my boys to get together with all the baggage the two of them were carrying. So, I used my charms-did I mention that the tech support loves me?- to pull a few strings, resetting their brains to a time before either had met the other in their respective dimensions.

As the system booted up. I rampaged through my drawers (desk drawers, my dearies) and retrieved a sealed tub of caramel popcorn I had brought back from my most recent visit to 96.

Blessed be tech support. The team had single-handedly made my work life a million times easier. I guess that's one more reason I liked 96.

Placing the snack on the left side of the metal contraption the tech support lovingly called Beast, I logged into the system and clicked on a folder titled: New Folder.

"Would you like to resume?" An incredibly seductive voice enquired. I replied affirmatively, and the scene I had left unfinished a few hours ago started playing on my screen in FHD.

Rubbing my hands together, I opened the tub and popped a bite of heaven into my mouth. Glancing up at Brams' office on the 108th floor, I smirked, 'You can keep me from entering heaven, old one, but you can't keep these heavenly treats from me.'

Leaning back in my recliner, I readied myself for some unnecessary but highly satisfying awkward nakedness my eyes would soon be blessed with before moving on to more seriously sexy stuff.

*****

Chapter Word Count: 1181
Word Count so far: 16823