Read Faasp Hospital Online

Authors: Thadd Evans

Tags: #Science Fiction, #Dark Fantasy

Faasp Hospital (3 page)

BOOK: Faasp Hospital
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Tammy began thrusting. “Feels good.”

Her partner laughed. “Love it.”

I turned, jealous, wishing that Tammy would date me, and left.

The blonde cooed, “Your dick is sexy.”

Tammy giggled. “Thanks.”

 

The following Sunday, at noon, after spending twenty-fours a day at Faasp for most of the week, I paused near my apartment, running errands.

Tammy came out of a walkway, smiling. “How are you?”

“Fine.”

The gorgeous blonde arrived.

Tammy grabbed her outstretched hand. “Justin, this is my lover, Jane.”

The blonde glared at me and put one arm around Tammy.

I offered a fake smile, feeling envious.

Jane gazed at Tammy.

I cringed, feeling that Jane wanted to speak with her, not me.

Jane kissed her neck, unzipped the cat suit, and fondled Tammy’s breast.

Tammy laughed, closed her eyes. “I can’t get enough.”

I flinched and hurried off.

 

Saturday, a week later, at dusk, outside my window, next to her apartment, Tammy, dressed in black, was sitting in a husky man’s lap. They kissed. She unzipped his motorcycle jacket and stroked his hairy chest.

I scowled, feeling that she didn’t care about me, and walked away, not wanting to see any more.

 

Chapter Eight

 

 

Tuesday, at daybreak, after spending the night in my office, working long hours, my phone rang.

Donald spoke, “We need to talk. Come see me in Room Five.”

I winced. “Okay.” What had gone wrong?

 

I sat down.

He glowered. “Ray says you’re coding slowly.”

“I’m doing my best.”

“For the next few weeks, you’ll be working on the Yyn Project. If any serious issues come up, I’ll have to let you go.”

I did a double take, horrified. “Okay.”

“This is between you and me. Don’t tell anybody else about this conversation.”

I nodded and left the room, my body cold, shocked. In my mind’s eye, pages of syntax, my recent projects, scrolled. As far as I knew, every line of code was correct. However, working faster would make it more difficult to spot any mistakes.

My phone rang.

Ray laughed. “Can you update the first few pages of Yyn in a couple of days?”

I flinched, irritated by his sarcastic comment, one hinting that doing this was too difficult for me. “I’ll try.”

“I’ll believe it when I see it.” His voice was replaced by a dial tone.

“Hello, Ray?”

Nobody answered. He had hung up.

 

That evening, Wenda entered my office, and sat down. “It’s been a rough day.”

I frowned. “What do you mean?”

“Ray messed up about forty object methods.”

I raised an eyebrow, surprised. “Really?

“It’s true. But if I say anything to him about it, he might retaliate, lie to Donald, complain that my syntax is full of mistakes.”

I paused, wondering if Ray was a back stabber. Another thought came to mind. Wenda could be his accomplice. If I complained about this fellow worker, she might tell him and both would speak to Donald, pointing out that my syntax had to be checked for errors. I offered a bland comment that didn’t point fingers at anyone, “That’s too bad.”

“Yes.

“By the way, this talk is private. Don’t tell anybody else about it. I don’t want to make any enemies.”

I blinked. “Okay.”

She left.

 

Chapter Nine

 

 

A week later, on Thursday, during a routine meeting in my office, Linda scowled. “This is a subject I don’t like discussing, but it can’t avoided.”

I frowned. “What is it?”

“Dr. Haar wants to hire more employees. Dr. Sanchez says they shouldn’t. That money is needed to buy more servers.”

I bit my lip, analyzing the comment. Had they only told her, not Donald, about this? Not wanting to ask a question insinuating that she wasn’t important enough to be informed about purchasing decisions, I said, “Interesting.”

“Definitely.”

I frowned. “Did they say anything else about this topic?”

She glowered. “I should finish this part of a project.” Linda walked away.

Why didn’t she answer that question? My shoulder muscles tensed up, a paranoid response. Was Dr. Haar ignoring me because Donald wanted to reduce my hours or let me go? I typed, needing to meet a deadline.

 

The following Wednesday, Ray entered my office, scowling. “Nine pages of Raib are filled with mistakes.”

I flinched. “Which ones are you talking about?”


You
know what I’m
talking about
. Don’t pretend.”

My adrenaline pumped harder. “
I
don’t
know.
Give me more information
.”

He glowered. “Talking to you about this is a waste of time.”

I winced, shocked. “What?”

He hurried out of the room.

I bit my lip, angry, not sure what to do. My phone rang. I cringed.

Donald said, “Come to my office.”

“Okay.” I left, blinking. In my mind’s eye, a terrible possibility, he fired me.

 

I sat down.

Ray glared at me.

Donald glanced at him. “We’ll talk more soon.”

He glowered and left the room.

Donald exhaled, a tired expression on his face. “Ray says your coding isn’t up to par.”

I flinched, but didn’t say a word.

“However, since you’re on Raib, not Meey, his comments don’t make any sense.”

I smiled, relieved. Another concern popped into my head. Why hadn’t Donald or Ray told me about the Meey project? Was it bigger, more important than mine, or smaller?

“The only people who have worked on Meey are Ray, Wenda, and Linda. He might be trying to make someone else look bad. However, without more information, I don’t know what to think.”

I paused, nerves on edge, worried about mentioning a comment that would offend anyone.

“Ray is talented.”

“Yes.” It was amazing that Donald would tell me, a new employee, about this. He trusted me enough to share his private thoughts.

“His work on the Raib project was outstanding.”

“I did most of that and showed it to him.”

He blinked, a surprised look on his face. “Are you serious?”

“Yes.” My thoughts sped up, trying to out figure out Donald’s next move.

He frowned. “According to Ray, after finishing the first page, you said it was too tough, asked him to take over.”

“I didn’t say it was too tough. Also, I told him to double-check a few object methods, not take over.”

“This is troubling.”

I nodded, sweating. Donald might think that questioning Ray’s skills was something a new employee shouldn’t do.

He grimaced.

I hesitated, jaw muscles tensed, wondering what to say next.

His gaze darted back and forth. “Thanks for coming in.”

“Sure. Any time.

“I have a deadline.”

He nodded.

I left, feeling baffled, and relieved. What would Donald do with Ray? Another thought popped into my head. If Ray was valuable, Donald might fire me.

 

Tuesday morning, I reached my office.

Across the hall, Wenda stepped out of hers, frowning.

I waved.

She walked toward me and whispered. “A moment ago, Angie, an RN, told me Dr. Haar recently interviewed a man from Twobin, an IT company.”

I scowled. “Did she say anything about them replacing us?”

“No. It was a short conversation. She didn’t have enough time to give more details.”

My mind went into overdrive, trying to figure out what Dr. Haar was doing. “Will she tell you more?”

Wenda sighed. “I’ll call her and ask.”

I thanked my colleague.

 

That afternoon, my phone rang.

Wenda murmured, “According to Angie, Frank, the man from Twobin, is a web designer. His company won’t replace ours.”

I paused, relieved. “Thank you for the information.”

“No problem.”

My jaw muscles tightened, nervous. “Are there any Twobin coders who can replace us?”

“I don’t think so.”

“Are you sure?”

She hesitated. “No.”

“If they are paid less, Dr. Haar or somebody else in Faasp might hire them, and tell Donald that he along with other Ahantech employees are no longer needed.”

“It’s possible, but I hope not.”

I sighed, thanked her for calling, and hung up. Should I call Donald, talk to him about Twobin? No. He was under too much pressure.

 

Friday morning, Linda sat next to my desk, an impromptu visit, scowling.

I shifted in my chair, wondering why she had come here. Wanting polite conversation, not an argument, I paused, weighing options. “How are you?”

“Lousy.”

I winced, surprised. “Why do you say that?”

“Yesterday, Donald called me, said I should come to his office. After I arrived, he said that someone told him my coding had caused problems.”

I hesitated, adrenaline pumping, shocked. “Did he say who that
someone
was?”

“No.”

“Why didn’t you ask?”

“I was scared. He looked pissed off.”

My stomach muscles jerked, a frustrated reaction. “Keep going.”

“He told me to slow down. I said that was a good idea. He smiled and sent me back to my office.”

I grinned. “Thanks for telling me.”

Her face lit up. “Thanks for listening.”

I offered a thumbs-up.

She hurried away.

I clenched my fist, irritated, guessing Ray had complained about Linda’s coding. However, my estimation could be wrong. Either way, there was nothing I could do to stop this.

 

Chapter Ten

 

 

Wednesday afternoon, someone knocked on my office door.

I raised an eyebrow, wondering who it was, stood up, and opened it.

Ray blurted, “Donald just hired one of my friends, Nate.”

Next to him, a handsome man with chiseled features smirked.

I flinched, caught off guard. “Congratulations.”

Ray glared at me. “See ya. You should quit.” Both of them walked off.

I winced. According to a search, Nate Tell had undergrad and graduates degrees in Nanotechnology from Daog College along with a Bachelors in Computer Science from Teil College. For the past two and a half years he worked for Sai.

In my imagination, a worst-case scenario, Donald pointed at pages of my code, then told me there were too many mistakes. What could I say if he mentioned that?

Nothing, arguing would only make him angry. Tonight, after everyone left, I would update my resume. Who would hire me? It was hard to tell. On Saturday, my only day off, I would search for a new job.

 

Friday morning, somebody knocked on my office door.

Chills ran down my spine, a paranoid reaction. Nobody called, told me they would drop by. “Come in.”

An attractive black woman, a tall lady with a serious expression on her face reached out. “I’m Cindy Washington.”

I grinned and shook her hand.

“Donald hired me, yesterday.”

“Congratulations.”

“Thank you.”

I nodded.

She offered a smile. “I have to go, start on a project.”

I told her to drop by anytime.

Cindy left.

Was she Ray’s friend? I exhaled, angry with myself because this important question hadn’t come to mind until now. According to a web search, she received her undergraduate and graduate degrees in Biology from Tyoo University. Later on, this colleague earned a Bachelors’ in Computer Science from Hinwu College. She had worked at Innopt Corporation, Innovations in Optics, for two years, an impressive feat. I sat and typed, worried about making errors.

 

Within the hour, my phone rang.

Wenda said, “A few minutes ago, Ray told me Twobin might hire employees that would replace us.”

I scowled. “It doesn’t make sense.”

“What do you mean?”

“Why would they speak to him, a stranger who doesn’t work for them?”

“Dr. Haar or Dr. Sanchez might have told
him
.”

“That doesn’t sound right. They would talk to Donald about this, not Ray.”

“Maybe. On the other hand, Donald likes Ray, could have shared this information with him.

“Hi.

“We’ll talk later.” She hung up.

I blinked, shocked that she ended the call abruptly, something this friend had never done to me before.

 

Chapter Eleven

 

 

Wednesday, at dusk, my phone rang.

Donald blurted, “Come to my office.”

My body went cold, a paranoid response. “Okay.” I stood and entered the hall.

Close by, Nate glanced at Val.

She winked at him. “You’re a great lover.”

He blew her a kiss.

I passed them, teeth clenched, jealous.

 

I sat, palms sweating, terrified.

He frowned. “Twobin just hired Ray.”

I flinched. “Wow.”

“I’m as shocked you are.”

I rubbed my chin, nervous.

“My guess, based on a lack of information, is that he will help them create a better version of Medxao.”

“That’s horrible.”

He nodded, an angry expression on his face.

Why was my boss telling me, a new employee, one he had mixed feelings about? “Will Linda take his place?”

“No.”

I hesitated, baffled by his comment. “What about Nate?”

He glowered. “No. You’re the best candidate.”

I grinned, surprised. Another possibility, a stressful one, popped into my head. Other staff would call me whenever anything went wrong. Shivers ran down my spine.

 

Tuesday morning, I sat in Donald’s office, keeping an appointment, wondering what he wanted.

He glowered. “Last night, Ray called and told me Twobin’s lawyer will take us to court for copyright infringement. According to him, Medxao is too similar to their software, Planoob.”

“That’s ridiculous.” Medxao had been around much longer than Planoob.

He scowled. “I agree.”

I frowned. “Is he trying to frighten us, slow down our ability to perfect Medxao?”

“That’s my guess.”

My adrenaline pumped harder. “Why didn’t he tell the lawyer to call us? That would be more frightening.”

BOOK: Faasp Hospital
5.87Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
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