Chapter 13 Shifting

Chapter 13 Shifting
Hours passed and Miles finally returned to Arclight. With his brows furrowed and gaze distant, he strolled through the glass doors and into Extra Technologies. Ignoring the fancy displays of various tech and beautiful tour guides in cream coloured suits, he stepped into the Elevator at the end of the Reception area and straightened his jacket.

He glanced impatiently at his watch as the elevator doors closed and shifted on his feet. Leaning on the wall behind him, he closed his eyes and drew in a long deep breath. Just as he let out a heavy exhale. . .

Ding!

Marching out of the elevator, his shoes made a crisp, loud sound as he stepped forcefully on the tiles. He fixed his gaze on the office at the end of the hall.

As he walked, the loud steps of his shoes attracted the gazes of workers in cubicles who turned in alarm to him. Some watched silently, some whispered but Miles was too much in his head to care.

Without knocking, he pushed open the glass door and stepped into the office, sighing in relief at the sight of the figure behind the desk.

On the desk was a name card that read, "Spencer Knight, CEO".

Without a word, Miles took a seat across from the man and fixed his gaze on him as he ended the call he was on.

"I know, I know what you're about to say, Miles." Spencer smiled and shook his head at the sight of his friend.

"Who put this plan into action? We were supposed to use this to gain something," Miles asked, crossing his legs with his arms resting on both armrests.

"You know well the situation here" Spencer shook his head and rose from his seat. From a corner of the office, he opened a refrigerator and took out two bottles of beer.

"Sometimes they do things without running it by me. Apparently, the board was united on this, so they went ahead with it. I don't even know what they planned to profit" He explained as he handed one of the beers to Miles.

"Fuking golden spoon babies" Miles growled and skillfully pulled off the bottle cap. Placing the cap on the desk, he took a swig from the bottle and raised his head to the ceiling.

"You didn't have to come here. They know it now. If they keep sidelining us, they'll keep seeing failures, and they're not used to that," Spencer chuckled and also took a swig from his own bottle.

"Well, I'm pissed. Such a good chance, we could have taken over Adam's project in Min" Miles continued to complain.

"I'm pissed too, man, but it's moving forward, right?" Spencer countered.

"Yeah," Miles replied, his voice lower as he took another swig and glanced away from Spencer at a corner of the office.

"How did she get out of this one by the way? I heard she got babied through it. Since when does a Lynch take backseat?" He asked, turning again to Spencer.

Spencer grinned in amusement.
"Some Auralis guy" he replied with a scoff.

"Again? What's he got to do with it? Messing up the chip wasn't enough for him?"

"You really think he's done messing with us? Apparently, he's got sway in Min. I've tried getting information out of them but they're very tight-lipped"

While they conversed, elsewhere in the same building, two figures sat at the end of a long rectangular table. On the wall directly across from them was a large screen that currently displayed white and black static.

"Oswald is furious but we can get him under control." The younger man sat sideways on the end of the desk, one leg crossed over the other as he played with a stressball.

Silence reigned around the table for a moment and the younger man turned to his older counterpart with a questioning gaze.

"Tell me about Oswald, he might be a liability soon" a voice came from the end of the desk at this point.

"Liability?" The older man reeled as he asked back.

"Zina Freeman has a few guns aimed at him,"

"Then we fight back" the older man growled.

"No" a single calm tone full of power turned him down instantly.

The old man's eyes widened and the corner of his lips twitched.
"What do you mean no? We are not letting go of Miles regardless of your concerns!"

There was another prolonged silence.

"You have my support, do as you see fit, but leave Zine Freeman out of your arrangements" the figure spoke again.

"And her new alliance with Auralis?" the young man asked, his grip tight on the ball but his tone even and his expression casual as he leaned sideways with his attention on the screen.

"Take him down and do it fast."

"You seem to know more about him than we do"

"Do not underestimate him and do not get into a battle of wits or strategy with his assistant"

The two men exchanged another look. Suddenly the older man slammed the table and rose.

"Are you here to support us or to warn us? Do we need to rethink this alliance?" he asked, his tone raised as he glared at the white and black static screen.

"Sit back down, Mr White, and never raise your tone at me again," a cold voice came back immediately, and the static display on the screen paused.

The two men felt chills down their spines and the younger man rose in alarm. His eyes searched the room but he found nothing.

"Stop looking and follow my instructions. You can either work for me, or I can find someone else, but you will not question me," the voice continued on.

The two men drew in a deep breath and settled back down.

"Let the mad dog go free. Let's see how he fares. For the first move, finish Sentient Technologies"

With this order, the screen went black.

The room fell into a silence that lasted longer than a few minutes.

"Where did you find this person?" the old man, Mr White, asked, his head turning mechanically to the younger man whose expression had regained its nonchalance.

"Don't matter, he brings the goods, we market, win-win. As a bonus, we take down the competition. We'll do as he says" The young man shrugged. Rising, he threw the stress ball at Mr White and sauntered out of the room.