Nadia
Lines of data and imagery were spread across the three monitors attached to her workstation. Her eyes glazed over as she looked at it for the dozenth time that hour. There was something here, she knew it. Her brain was trying to tell her, but it wasn’t providing the final clue.
Instead of getting angry she rocked back in her chair, trying to identify which piece of information wasn’t fitting. Her eyes settled on one camera stream. Without a second of hesitation she wiped it from her screen and pulled up the next one on her long list. She thumbed through it on fast forward, hoping to see something.
Wait. What was that?
She hit the pause button and rewound it to the specific point, her fingers flying over the keyboard as she input commands to manipulate the feed in the few ways available to her.
That looks familiar. I wonder…
She cross-referenced it with several other data feeds, and suddenly realized she was getting close. A few more clicks, requesting bits of data from other sources, and Nadia had her answer.
“Holy shit,” she said aloud. She pulled a USB stick from the desk and shoved it into the port on her computer, saving the data to it. Her fingers were shaking slightly as she got up and went over to the door to her supervisor’s office. The blinds were closed, but she knew he was in there. Probably just dozing off, like normal.
Not that that’s unusual. Half the office is just sitting at their desks with blank stares. Sometimes I feel like I’m the only one doing any work around here.
The sad part was that it wasn’t too far from the truth. Most of the people in the office had been there for decades, and were content with their lot in life. Not Nadia. She wanted to move upward to the fancy new outfit downtown, where they had cutting-edge technology and were apparently on the cusp of doing some very interesting things with their data surveillance.
That was her goal, and if she was right about this, she might just be able to demand her way in.
Her fist rapped sharply against the pane of glass, and she waited just long enough for Bruce to regain his awareness before she knocked a second time, knowing full well that he would be mildly embarrassed he hadn’t told her to come in after the first time.
“Come,” he said, his voice tinged with anger.
Nadia didn’t care; she held the ultimate bargaining chip.
“What?” he said as she stepped inside.
“Before I tell you, I want writing in triplicate that I presented it to you,” she stated.
“Presented what to me?”
Nadia just stared at him expectantly. Bruce was known for stealing the work of his subordinates.
Not this time you arrogant, misogynistic asshole. This is my triumph, not yours.
Bruce finally relented and scribbled a form, signed it and presented it to her. She filled it out, had him photocopy it and present her with several copies, which she promptly took a picture of and stored in her phone and backed up in her email, just in case.
“What do you have?” he asked with a tired voice when she was done.
“My promotion,” she told him, holding out the data stick.
He held out a hand, but she just arched an eyebrow. “This is worth my transfer to that new place downtown. It’s going to get you anything you want from them. One of the things I want you to ask for is to have me transferred there, understood?”
The door opened behind her with a smooth precision she could hear. Nadia whirled, both because of the unexpected intrusion, and because of the look that crossed Bruce’s face. He was quick to cover it up, but she knew what terror looked like.
“Who are you?” she asked before the newcomer—a tall man in a black suit—could speak.
“His boss,” the man said in smooth, unclipped words. “You have something?”
She frowned. The man wasn’t lying, but he certainly wasn’t telling her the entire truth either. “I do. But before I give it up, I want an agreement that my price will be met.”
“And your price is?”
“I want to be transferred to the new branch downtown. Out of here,” she said with a wave of her hand.
The bald man adjusted his suit jacket. “Conveniently, that is my department, Miss…”—he peered at her ID badge—“Samson. We aren’t actively recruiting, but depending on what you have found, perhaps we could help you out. What, exactly, do you have?”
“See for yourself,” she said, flicking him the data stick.
The man caught it out of mid-air without looking at it, his eyes still focused on her. The ease of his motion made her a little unsettled, but she pushed past it. Dealing with him, as weird as he was, would be worlds better than having to put up with Bruce’s constant attempts to touch her and seduce her in the office. The man might scare her, but he struck her as a professional, which is all she asked for.
He stepped toward Bruce’s desk, and her immediate supervisor practically launched himself from the chair, though he stayed near enough to be able to watch the screen.
The suited man sat down, plugged the data stick in and began to look at what she had compiled. His lips ticked, and then as she watched, they began to turn up into what she supposed he thought was a smile.
Personally I think it just makes him look creepier. What is it with guys in the data world? Why can’t any of them be normal?
“This is good. Very good,” he said.
“I know,” she said confidently, her arms crossed below her breasts, pulling the gray suit she wore tight around her shoulders.
“Yes, I can see you did,” he agreed, looking up from the screens at last. “I think you will work out just fine at our downtown location. Report there tomorrow morning, and we’ll get you squared away.”
Nadia felt her jaw drop. “Just like that?”
The man nodded. “Oh yes, we need people like you there. I don’t want your talents wasted here in this dump,” he said. “Take the rest of the day off. Tomorrow will be tough, I can guarantee you that.”
Bruce looked ready to explode, but he didn’t say anything. Nadia strolled back to her desk, on cloud nine as she packed up the meager things she had kept in the office. There wasn’t much, and in less than half an hour she walked proudly from the building, hoping to never again set foot in the government facility. She was moving to the private sector branch. Harder work, but much better pay and working environment. She couldn’t wait!