Project Proxy (An Original Techno-Thriller) Chapter 6

imwatsi (67)in #fiction • 7 years ago (edited)

Project Proxy_20170916115115028.jpg

CHAPTER SIX

Rupert had spent much of his time in the office going through the technical documentation of Leadsway's entire computer system and coming up with a structure for his review. He decided to divide the review into components, each representing a particular section or aspect of the system, and then to describe each component's strengths and weaknesses.

At last, I've got an idea of how to create this review.

He stood up from his chair to stretch and walk about.

"Damn," he whispered, stretching his arms.

"I've been reading this file for hours now; maybe I should take a break."

He checked the time on his wrist watch.

It's way past lunch time now. I can't believe I missed lunch. I never would have missed it if I was with James. Oh my god, James. I'm supposed to see him today. He must think I'm avoiding him or something like that. Let me go there, now.

With that thought he walked to his desk, shut the file containing the documentation, switched off the computer and then went out of his office.

He walked through the corridor and soon approached the reception.

"Hi Rupert. I haven't seen you leave that office since you went in this morning. You must have a lot on your hands," Cindy said to him as he approached her desk.

"It's that presentation I told you about earlier. It's quite a load."

"Don't look so beat. At least now you are closer to finishing it than you were this morning."

"I guess that's the bright side, right," he said, sarcastically.

Cindy looked at Rupert with an expressionless face.

Rupert then quickly added, "I'm sorry. I'm just tired. Anyway, why do you always see the positive side of things?"

"I've learnt, over the years, to look at both sides of things; the positive and the negative. But I've also decided to care more about the negative things that I can change and the positive things I already have. If it's bad and I can't change it, then I don't care about it. It cheers me up and it cheers up those I talk to."

"That's interesting. I'll need to give it more thought for it to really make sense though," he said.

"You do that, and you'll find a totally new way of seeing things. There really is no need for us to choose to be down and sad. Life is too short to waste feeling sorry for yourself. You know I always tell people how good we have it here, but we just don't see it. I mean, we live in a nation where healthcare is a right and everyone has access to education; where there is freedom of speech and enough food for everyone. I've never heard of anyone dying of hunger here."

Rupert just looked at her, solemnly absorbing her words.

"Yet, in some African countries, children and adults die of hunger or curable diseases; some have never been to see a dentist or never went to school and are illiterate. Some get imprisoned, killed or tortured for speaking their minds. If you ask me, I think—no, I know that I am blessed to be in this nation. Sorry I had to go on like this, but I just had to say it."

"That's okay. I never really thought of it that way. I didn't know you were this insightful," Rupert said.

"Thanks. I've always loved thinking and studying things," she said.

"I must come to you for help more often," he said.

"Anytime you want me, I'll be here for you."

"Thanks. I would love to continue this very educative talk, but I have some diplomacy to attend to," Rupert said.

"Oh, you mean James," she said.

Rupert nodded.

"That's thoughtful of you. Don't let me delay you any longer. Bye Rupert."

"Bye."

He walked in the direction of the east wing. Moving down the corridor, he was still engrossed by what Cindy had said. He thought about it for a while but decided to think about it later.

He arrived at the workstation room's door, placed his finger at the fingerprint scanner and a green light lit up. The small screen on the panel displayed his name and a beep soon followed, and then the door slid open.

"Hi," Rupert said, greeting a group of programmers as he passed by them.

"Hi, Mr. Blake," they all said at nearly the same time.

Rupert walked down the passageway in the direction of James' cubicle. He knocked at James cubicle when he got there and then entered it.

"Rupert."

"Hello. How is the day going?"

"It's good, so far, but it's just not the same without you."

"I feel the same. I even missed lunch today?"

"What? That's a first. What were you doing?"

"The review. I started working on it this morning and from what I can see, I've got a lot more work to do. How is the upgrade version you are working on?"

"You know how we work, it's moving quite fast. We are doing final testing and revisions now, so it'll be finished by the end of next week," James said.

"I actually envy you right now. You know, today doesn't even feel like a Friday to me. I'll probably work throughout the weekend."

"Good luck man, you'll need it," James said.

Rupert shrugged.

"Let's forget about the review for now. How is the new office?"

"I love it. It's amazing. It's got executive furnishing, a great view of the city, magnificent air-conditioning and the most peaceful environment I've ever seen. You'll love it, I swear."

"It sounds great. I should see it one day."

"Yeah, I'll call you in one day."

Rupert spent over an hour, talking to James and watching him work, before he decided to go back to his office and continue working on the review. He stopped by the food vendor machines for a snack on his way to the west wing. He then stopped by the reception and spoke to Cindy.

"Is this the end of the diplomatic mission?"

"Yeah, and I'm going back to the office now because that presentation isn't going to create itself," he said.

"Hang on in there, Rupert. You can do it," she said.

"Thanks, I will. See you later."

Rupert left for his office.

Upon returning to his office, he immediately began typing a draft document for the review on the computer. He did so until it was time to go home. Before going home, however, he copied the documents to his flash drive for backup and then copied them to his laptop so that he could work on them at home.