top of page

The Job Offer

Codex beat the game and the record time, but since nobody else had played it, he had just finished it through the one Ray had set as the default record time. But just beating wasn't the one that was unbelievable for Ray but that he did not beat it by a few seconds but by 2 and a half minutes.

His reflexes and adaptability were like nothing she ever had seen, and he even used the sword in a way she hadn't even considered. Normally, the swing would be wide enough to hit one target, and when they hit one, they would disappear, but he used them so precisely that it would hit two and sometimes even three monsters at the same time dealing damage to all three.

Not even in simulations on her laptop, she hadn't ever made any moves like that.

If she knew that Codex used less than half his speed, she would go completely mad.

"You… you."

"It seems like you broke our little Ray. I have never seen her act like that. But I must say your moves are impressive. Maybe we can…. "

She stopped her sentence as a familiar figure hit her head from behind. It was Ana, and nobody noticed that she entered the room some time ago, as they were completely focused on Codex.

Codex knew, though, as Soryn had reported her entering the room, but she wasn't a danger to him, so he kept his focus on the game.

"Cousin, you should stop making comments like that in future employees. We will discuss the bath incident later."

Tira's eyes widened the moment she finished her sentence.

"How… how do you know about it?"

Ana was wearing a business suit, unlike the more casual look that most others had, except for the man that was with Jasper.

She pulled out of one of the inside pockets of her jacket her phone, went through some menus, and finally showed the screen to Tira. It was a messaging app and was actually a discussion that Ana had with Jasper.

Jasper seemed to have sent those messages while traveling with the helicopter and had given some very descriptive details. Tira took the phone from Ana's hand to hide it from others when she understood what was written there.

Ana didn't try to get her phone back but instead turned towards Jasper.

"You owe me a phone. That makes it number 26."

"26? Are you certain? This sounds like a small number."

"*cough* *cough* How about we stop having embarrassing moments and focusing on the boy? What is your name again?"

"Codex."

"Nice meeting you, Codex."

Ray fixed her pair of glasses slightly as they got lower on her nose and could fall soon and then extended her hand towards Codex for a handshake. But Codex did nothing, just stayed motionless.

There was some awkward silence, and after a while, Ray pulled back her hand to get her out of this situation.

"*cough* Well, it is a pleasure meeting you. I look forward to having you around and work tog…. "

"Why would I be around?"

She looked towards him and then towards Jasper and Ana.

"Mister Codex and Miss Tira were unwilling to join us, and from my understanding, cousin just brought them as part of a tour. It seems like they still won't join us."

"Oh, come on, little boy. You tried yourself what Ray can make, don't tell me you don't want to experience more. We can arrange for many experiences here."

"Yes, you should join us."

These three women surrounded Codex, and this time Tira was busy helping him.

His first instinct was to fight them, but his inner voice let him know it was a bad idea.

"How about we discuss what you need me to do if I join you."

================================

Persuasion Skill unlocked, and Proficiency raised to 1

================================

They nodded and pointed towards another room like the room at Tiras where they watched the movie but larger and with more furniture.

Tira joined them when she noticed they started moving and gave the phone back to Ana, as she had deleted the messages. She seemed to be curious about what Codex would tell them.

If he agreed, she wouldn't stand in his way since people knew how good he was now.

Ray was the first one to speak.

"So you said you want to know what you will do if you join us. Not certain what your programming background is, but you will make a perfect tester with what you just showed us what you could do. If you have any experience helping the development, we can discuss any ideas or suggestions, but for now, you will be hired for testing and feedback on what we currently work."

Jasper continued after Ray.

"As you can see, we have the latest technology, and with Ray, we are working on some upgrades that may make even FireCom jealous."

"Of course, we are following all protocols to keep those upgrades not considered as stealing their IP."

Ana was the one who made the last comment, as it was true that one could consider what they were doing to be like trying to steal others' technology and benefit.

"Then we have nothing more to say."

Codex stood up and started his way back from where they came from, heading towards the roof.

Tira ran after him, and Ray followed her, leaving Jasper and Ana behind.

Tira stopped Codex before reaching the stairs going up the roof.

"Are you certain you don't want to work here?"

Ray was also ready to say something, but Codex spoke first.

"But I accepted their offer."

"Wait, you did?"

Both Tira and Ray said this last phrase, as they were confused by his response.

"I nodded after they finished their explanation. Isn't that a way to say that I agree?"

Ray had noticed his nod back then, but she thought it was that he understood what he would do if he worked for them.

"Then welcome to the group."

Ray was ready to hug Codex but was stopped by Tira, who grabbed her by the collar of her shirt. Tira's strength seemed to be more than Codex expected it to be. He knew that his speed and reflexes were more than a normal human, even if he hadn't researched what those limits would be. So he used half his Speed and Strength, but little did he know that it was more than normal.

"How soon can you start? We going to need an id of yours, and since you are a minor, your guardian, but she is already here."

"Id?"

"There is a problem about that. He can't provide you with an id. Can't get in details, though. But if he really wants to work with you, I will have to report it to my Boss. We can provide with what you need but will take some time."

Ray was confused and curious about the background of Codex, but she didn't ask, as she would know soon. She knew that Jasper would have done background checks on both of them, but she could never expect that she would have nothing on Codex.

But she learned that after she led them to the helicopter and after exchanging phone numbers with Tira, she told the helicopter driver to get them back to their house.

After they were back, they noticed part of the crowd of people still being outside, maybe still discussing their departure.

They landed, and Tira, in a hurry, went to her apartment with Codex to avoid any of the questions of the people of the crowd.

She told Codex that she needed to sleep a bit, so he should be quiet.

Codex went to his room and opened his laptop once more that was connected to the Internet. He had something he wanted to try before Jasper got here, so he went back to it.

He understood he could use the internet to search about almost anything, so he searched about different laptops and mouses to see if he could add them to his Journal.

His assumption was correct as he found forums with pictures, videos, and descriptions explaining different laptops and mouses. As a result, his Journal Entries increased to 100, with 44 of them being laptops and 50 more mouses.

================================

Tech Appraise Proficiency raised to 2

================================

================================

Tech Appraise Proficiency raised to 3

================================

================================

Your Journal reached its maximum* capacity

*more slots become available every 5 levels

================================

100 was his limit, and he had to level up to Level 5 to increase it. He was uncertain how much it would get increased, though. His Tech Appraise increased when he reached his journal to 50 and 100, meaning that every 50 entries, that skill would get one point to its proficiency.

He needed to finish many portals or sub-portals to reach that since the exp he needed for the next level would increase, but he looked forward to it. He just had to be careful about his selections.

©2021 by theshingpen. Proudly created with Wix.com

bottom of page