#hysamiryn

after his shift, he starts heading up to the office- fuck it. while entering the number, his boss is passing by.

"what the fuck are you doing? You're gonna get MY ass in trouble for fucking with the upper's shit. If you wanna stay, work on your fucking backlog."

"I..." How the hell was he supposed to say "I received an anonymous text claiming to be him"?

"...Was told to be at this office after my shift due to insubordination. I spoke out of line in his presence."

"hah, of course you fucking did. and now you're trying to take me down too, acting like this?"

He goes up to the door and knocks on it, loudly.

Tene, who was basically watching from the elevator the whole time, shakes his head. He approaches the two, speaking with sheer disappointment, laced neatly with malice.

"I see you still can't draw any logical fucking conclusions, No. 10044. I had my reasons for giving a false code, and yet, here you are, ruining it even further. You could've seen the alarms go off, see his face go pale, caught red handed... but no. Still waiting for those solutions, by the way. Shit's been piling up."

Miryn's face just goes fucking cold. Like bro knows he's fucked- enough that he can't even enjoy how badly his boss is getting chewed out, because he knows he's thrice as fucked.

"Well! I have been working on it! I just require resources that are still on this one's fucking backlog--"

despite the audacity in his voice, there were tremors.

"...so instead of helping through it, for the sake of the company as a whole, you'd rather wait and go on a week's vacation?-- I'm not wasting my time any further, I actually fucking value it. Leave this one to me, and figure out a way to placate 671 before I have to myself."

He entered the code to his office (which was indeed the code he shared, not that Miryn had the guts to even glance in the direction,) and waved Miryn in.

He slammed the door shut, flashing Miryn a smile and giving a slight waving motion with his hand, more or less telling him 'just go with it' before speaking in a harsh, condescending tone.

"So, just how many people have you gone and spread this shit to?"

Tenebrus could barely contain his snickers, but kept the act up- just a bit, to make sure whoever was drawn by the commotion fucked off after a while.

"Well?"

He motioned for Miryn to reply.

"Ah- I... apologize, sir!" He spoke louder than usual, and Tene made a lowering gesture, mouthing "natural" as he glanced to the monitors beside him.

Miryn adapted to speaking in his usual bullshit apology voice. "I... I'm being honest, it was a rare occurrence..!"

Tene nodded in approval. "Is that so? Let's look here, then..."

The charade went on, purposely quieting his voice overtime until he was sure they were in the clear.

"... There's no excuse, sir. You're right..."

Tene let out a quiet chuckle. "Spoken like a true modern slave."

The posters on the walls shifted; Miryn was surprised when initially looking around, seeing the usual "Hang in there!" with the kitty on the branch, or the "Wash away your stress" with the stereotypically attractive couple in the rain- he didn't take Tene for the type at all. But the moment that data shift crept across the walls, it all made sense, and it took everything he had to contain his laughter.

"Hang in there" with a silhouette of what looked like himself hanging from a noose. "Wash away your stress" with artwork of him holding a toaster in a bathtub (...complete with the bubbles and a strange little ball that took the role of a rubber duck). ((its a whorb)) "Let passion drive your actions" with an image of his arm, veins popping with tension, iron grip on the wheel with the speedometer well over its limit, several of those same ball creatures in the road...

"Good improv skills, honestly. So you're the one who wants to blow up the fucking HQ?"

Miryn held is hand over his mouth, doing his damndest to stifle his laughter.

"I-... I'm sorry, are these fucking posters custom commissioned?"

Tene nodded, a proud smirk. "Gotta support artists~ those who still can create, the few left in the world with a fucking soul."

Miryn shook his head slightly, mourning the loss with Tene as he worked through the last of his giggle fit.

"Cool, so we both hate the fucking sensic dream, it's not just me being biased because I have 20 extra fucking hours thrown on my desk every week, for shitty fucking code they released without any sense of a fucking beta, for a program that's designed specifically to kill any intelligent thought."

Tene let out a quiet sigh, his smile turning more bitter. "Its creator would say the same. It looks like we have a common interest, then."

Miryn's face contorted with confusion, processing all the implications behind that simple sentence. "...I'm sorry?"

Tene raised his brows in a 'yeah, i know', shift of expression. "I'm no storyteller, so you ask questions, I'll answer. Easier for both."

Miryn figured this was some kind of test, but he decides to just be upfront anyways with his highest curiosity. "The creator hates this shit too? Who... There's only one? I thought the execs in sensic R&D were the people who made it."

Tene nodded slightly. "That's the story, yes. Easily told to and taken at face value by anyone who didn't personally know No. 17337, or 7423. Xander Khorvis, and Alex Thornlocke, respectively; no bells, Im guessing?"

Miryn shook his head. "Not a clue. Shit, 17000s... kid was fucking new, only a few years here, tops. How did him and 7423 meet?"

Tenebrus spoke quietly, but resolute; while wanting to maintain an open air, it was clear he was dead serious. "...While in private, I'd like to refer to the few of us with humanity, with our names. You'll get to meet the faces to them soon enough, but we're killing this fucking number system."

Miryn blinked, his heart stopping for a second, but fully accepting of this rule; fuck, he was intimidating when he meant actual buisness. It came with experience, he supposed. "Understood, my apologies."

"No harm, no foul, I should have stated earlier- no bullshit procedural apologies necessary. Anyways, Xander was actually very open about the idea he had. His coworkers didn't care to hear it, dubbing it as a childish daydream, or an early midlife crisis- imagine hearing the guy you just met in this hellhole, saying he'll be the world's next Tito Beast. (fuckass Mr. Beast reference) Or that he knows that one day, he'll be able to create an algorithm, capable of processing the thoughts and dreams of everyone in it, procuring information locked in their subconscious- such information could be used to skip years of silence that victims subject themselves to in fear, or to make clear and concrete the true suffering of a person..."

Miryn started connecting the dots, a pit forming in his gut. "...And the poor bastard thought this fucking company would fund such a grand idea, once he had a working prototype."

Tenebrus let out a quiet sigh. "Enter a mister Miryn Dahl, another sudden 50 anomalies thrown into his bug hunting backlog. Now you know why the project is held together by spit and glue; Barely up and running in a small scale, perfectly ripe to claim and fucking defile in the name of "Truth."

Miryn remained silent, processing. The pain those people must have gone through...

"...Are they still working here...?"

Tenebrus shook his head. "No; well, yes and no. Xander stormed off the moment the project was claimed by the company under clause 34-U, All creations of..."

Miryn joined in, knowing the entire fucking contract all too well.

"...any BEI staff member using any company material are subject to the complete surrender of rights to said creations upon the company's discretion." Miryn shook his head. "... Did 7-- Alex not realize this would happen? A member that senior should know this fucking place well enough by then."

Tene's glance shifted to the side. "I don't think I'm in the right to speak for him- that story is best told by the decision makers themselves, but I'll put it this way for now: Ambition, empathy, hope... love. Some of the strongest drugs your brain can forge, that'll fuck it into the worst decisions."

Miryn remained silent, solemnly nodding. Tenebrus continued,

"After Xander left, he never returned. He and Alex had been in a relationship for a few years at this point, and Alex is a very... ambitious type. Wheras Xander... he tends to think, and act, in solitude more often than not. Though, he's anything but the type to completely give up, if it means enough to him- and if there's enough loopholes."

Miryn's gaze fell to the floor. "...I apologize, I don't think I follow."

"Well, no surprises there, since the answer we have is one even BEI itself is unaware of; Xander managed to force his way into the Sensic Dream, and cobble together a means of skirting just under their radar using some features they'd had yet to fully implement at the time of presentation."

"...So you mean to say, they made their own back door? Ironic they didn't think twice about that possibility."

Tene nodded, a spiteful chuckle leaving his throat. "Indeed. They expect complete submission to a fault; look at where you are after all. And when people think about an employee who suddenly disappeared after endlessly pining for some grand ambition, who would truly guess it was linked to BEI's newest revolution, years later?"

((sidenote i wanna make it clear that Mir thinks they're doing all this shit like. hand in hand so when they actually meet and he learns how hurt they are by each other,, AUUGHDVDVhhhh,h,,g,,,))

Miryn let out a quiet sigh. "It's disgusting how much that checks out. So, then, why are you telling me this? I was already sold when you left a fucking matchbox in my stupid little coffee creamer pile, you didn't need to somehow make me hate the company more to get me on a plan to kill it."

Tenebrus leaned on his desk, steepling his fingers. "Of course, but context always helps; I want to be open with whoever I work with, it's good practice. That, and so you can start processing all this now, instead of the whole 'YOU did this?! But how???' discussion as we meet; though they don't want to admit it, the subject in and of itself still hurts them a lot- especially so for Xander. Don't make a big deal of it, he doesn't like making it difficult for others- but on a personal level, please just give them space if you see they need it."

Miryn started thinking about potential interactions, and ways to mediate or adapt in a neutral manner. "Understood. What exactly are you trying to rope me into, then? Or rather, the plan overall? Wait-- I'm sorry, how did you, number 10, one of the most senior executives end up in support of this?"

Tenebrus let a dreary smirk creep across his face. "I had soul. It's what got me to this position. Ambition leads to many great, and terrible things. I was originally head of creative marketing. But who needs to market a monopoly, at this point? My position is merely that of whatever the hell is needed by others; but I still do it better than any others here. Experience is everything, I'm sure you know. I could skimp on work to the same result, sure, but I did realize something important; the better I did, the higher I climbed, the less humanity there is around me. And so I knew, if anyone could be the person on the inside, to finally take down this fucking place... I feel I'm a fair candidate." Hia grin gained a cocky tinge to it.

"As for how I learned about them, well. I was part of that presentation. I watched as No. 4 told Xander on the spot BEI accepted the proposal, and would claim all rights to the project immediately; that his involvement would no longer be necessary, as his vision didn't align with that of Black's Eye Incorporated. I gave it a few days to let the dust settle, but I was able to contact Alex away from the company's prying eyes, and help him track down Xander's whereabouts."

Miryn now was getting the whole picture of their dynamic, or at least he felt he was. "So this is the opportunity you needed. You, the high ranking insider, Alex and Xander, the rejected revolutionaries... so me, some random mid-low ranking software engineer..."

They said it in unison, both smirking.

"The unsuspecting rat."

Miryn liked the idea, no hesitation. "Feed information, be discreet, cause misdirection, the likes of that?"

Tenebrus nodded, pleased his intuition was spot on. "Precisely. While a silly gesture with the packets, yes, the sentiment remains the same. And just enough subtlety to skate under the radar of potential "malice". You've been tempered by the years of harsh words and expectations, I know. But this time, you'll be able to use those bullshit fronts and apologies as your greatest weapon."

He glanced off to the clock on his PC. "I'll be in touch, but things will look suspicious after too long. You'll meet the others, we'll talk, and you'll be receiving more specific tasks and information as needed. Please do contact me any time you need; I'll find the time."

Miryn stood, extending his hand. "Understood, pleasure to work with you."

Tene grasped it as he stood himself. "Likewise. Oh, do me a favor and pretend I just threatened to rip off every feather and stab them into you, or some shit like that."

Miryn blinked, holding back a snicker. "Hells above man-- alright."

They walked towards the door, Tene's voice slightly picking back up. "I believe I've wasted far too much time on you- Hells, I can't think of the last time some lowly fucking rat pissed me off this much."

He opened the door, his cynical smirk immediately snapping to that intimidating glare. "I do hope I made myself fucking clear. I will not tolerate shit like this being spread in these halls."

Miryn's reaction was 80% acting, but fuck, that glare really was easy to work with to feel frightened. "R-right, sir. My... sincerest apologies--"

"Enough. Get the fuck out of my sight.'

Miryn held his head low, maintaining a hastened pace to the elevator.

As he reached the garage floor he was parked at, he received a text on his burner. "It is so fucking hard to hold a straight face when I do that lmao. Also damn your boss really is a dick, those apologies are way too natural smh."

Miryn finally let out a good laugh.

"Fucking tell me about it... So when are we blowing up the building :P?"

"Soon (tm).

But on a real note, I will let the others know what's up soon. Might add you to a group chat first, Xander tends to ease up to people better that way."

Miryn felt... strange, about Xander so far.

A guy who avoids everything he can, somehow created the program that would permanently change BEI for the worse, and hid away even further as a result- he supposed anyone going through that would end up pretty touchy. He knew how to be gentle, though- a developed skill he never thought he'd be able to use, outside of occasional nightly meets with more timid souls.

"Understood, I'll be here. I'll always fucking be here lmao"

"you and me both, bud 💯💯"

Miryn snickered, putting his phone in his pocket and unlocking his car. He hadn't felt this good (outside of his daydreams) in a long, long time.

bro has to work 13 billion hours and that's half his personality, the other half is going on tinder dates for one night stands n shit bc he's am intimate kinda guy but deadass just doesn't have any time to spend with an actual s/o,,,,

he gets bullied for his tinder profile at work but also like. bro pulls so idk what to tell u

as for his actual work his boss just dumps everything on him and like. the guy is one of those mfs who definitely got there via nepotism

"Why did you do it this way?"

"Ah, well, since we were limited on time--"

"Bullshit, you call in help when you need things done and do it the right way. Your pay is docked 10% this week."

(...Half the people in my dept are sick or working themselves to the bone to compensate.)

-

"What, you can put all this time into the little coffee cups you give out, but you can't write a proper report?"

"...My apologies, sir."

(...It was a single typo. I've already spent 15 hours here. The coffee was the morning after and takes less than a half hour- how could you even compare this...)

-

"What the fuck is your problem? Staying up all night hooking up or something? Get it together!"

"I-... Right, sir. My apologies, I'll be sure to have it done by tonight."

(... I'm staying up all night FUCKING WORKING. I can't get it all fucking DONE because there's NOBODY ELSE.)

-

also he's rly good with making coffee,,,, a silly ode to the OG version who was a barista :33