By the time she returned to the floor seven offices, she had a three-prong plan. The first prong is to get her team doing fieldwork. The second prong is putting a stop to Demetra's nonsense. The final prong is to write up a report for Lark. Her three-pronged plan is a corporate version of a to-do list.

  The first prong of her plan requires Akzer, the floor manager. Most of the floor was empty, indicating that it's the midday break. As rude as it is to interrupt someone's midday meal, it's the easiest time to meet with a floor manager.

  The large glass panels taking up most of the door gave Keylynn an unhindered view of Akzer sitting at their desk eating crickets while they worked. She knocked gently on the door, hoping they don't send her away. The alternative is to schedule a meeting, and that could take days or weeks.

  “Come in,” they responded just loud enough for her to hear. She crept in, closing the door behind her. “You may sssit.” Their amber eyes assessed her as she stood in front of their desk, doing her best not to fidget. She sat in the chair beside her. She set her matrix on her lap and anxiously ran her fingers over the subtly rough screen. “Good of you to come by. Demetra hasss been in my office all morning. Do you wisssh to know why?”

  “She hasn’t learned from the morning meeting, I assume?” She asked. Maybe she shouldn’t have been in Barnibus’s lab all morning. Not that she will mention it.

  “Assstute asssumption. I would like to know why ssshe refussses to give me peace to work.” They narrowed their cold eyes at her.

  She reached her magic out to her matrix tablet and requested it open Demetra’s file, hoping to find an answer there. She scanned through her corporate tab, knowing class designations and traits will be of little help. “When I arrived, she informed me she was the prospective team lead. Perhaps she is thinking I am replacing her?” She offered while reading through her corporate qualifications tab.

  “You are not. I had to give you her team or rip apart other teamsss to form one. I chossse the sssimpler choice. Asss I already explained,” their tongue flicked out agitated. Clearly this was her problem to fix.

  She scrolled through Demetra’s many qualifications, discovering why she has no corporate specialty. She is slowly working her way through all of the training programs. Instead of focusing on one program and completing it before moving on, she is enrolled in them all and is systematically working her way through them.

  “Please give us a few days to work out the hiccups of having a new team leader. If she has not accepted it by the end of the week, then intervene as appropriate. Her comments on elves aside, I think I can handle this myself.” She asked carefully. She knew she was pushing the boundaries of standard protocols.

  Akzer leaned back in their chair speculatively. “End of the week. If there are no changesss, I will asssemble a panel and conduct panel interviewsss to decide the team lead of your team. The one who does not earn the job offer leavesss my floor.” They proposed coldly.

  She can’t argue against their concession. It follows standard protocol for when two employees desire the same position, when it escalates to a conflict affecting others. Despite the atypical resolution to the conflict and the potential to lose her job, she can't refuse.

  Demetra will at the very least be written up for slander, and that results in a formal sit-down with HR. If Keylynn mediated this conflict, depending on how the mediation goes, she would have them both sent to a teamwork seminar led by the corporate clerics and, upon cleric recommendation, send them to a six-week teamwork camp. There is also the potential that she would send their entire team to the seminar and camp if needed.

  “Well? Do you accept my termsss?” They stared coldly into her eyes. She swallowed.

  “They are more than fair, thank you.” She added both not losing her job and not alienating her team to her three-pronged plan. Her plan is now a five-pronged plan, making it a glorified checklist. “I came here wishing to discuss fieldwork for my team.” She stated before losing her nerve.

  “From your ssspeech thisss morning, yesss.” They agreed, making her feel like a small child.

  She refused to shy away from their cold eyes this time. She has to do this. “As the floor manager, it comes to you to make assignments. I ask for one for my team.”

  The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

  “I asssign on merit and ability. The only field job I currently have is an HR one. I’ll have it assigned to you. Do well, perhapsss your team will sssee more.” They typed on their computer, and her matrix pinged softly. She felt her cheeks flush and a bee buzz around her head. She dispelled the bee before it made even more problems for her. Testing her boss for a bee allergy will definitely earn her a write-up and a sit-down with HR.

  “My many thanks.” She bowed her head and left the office before they could do anything else to her. Not only does she have a week to compel Demetra to see eye to eye, placing her job firmly in her hands, but now she also has a job taking her out of the office to do in the meantime so that her team can start conducting field assessments.

  She slumped at her desk, hoping to get a head start on her new assignment. Sitting on her keyboard was a plate with a sliced sandwich waiting for her.

  “Thought you might be hungry,” Zukyov said from beside her. The only other team member currently sitting at their desk “Saw you go into the boss’s office.”

  She smiled at him. “Thank you, I forgot about the midday meal.” He gave her a quick nod before returning to his work. The sandwich was, in short, complete and total perfection. The bean sprouts were fresh and crisp. The chickpea spread had the perfect levels of salt and garlic. The bell peppers and cucumber were juicy and had the perfect level of crunch.

  She had to find a way to thank him for his delightful creation and thoughtfulness. She scanned across his desk, noting the absence of all possible desk companions. A desk companion will be the perfect way to say thank you.

  “I’m glad you liked it. Cooking is a passion of mine I learned from my grandmother,” he said with a smile at the empty plate. He reached out and picked up her plate to stack it with his on his desk.

  "Nothing quite compares to the bonds formed with a grandsire." She said, remembering her grandsire. "Mine became a wise tree who never failed to counsel or advise me as a child. She’s the one who encouraged me to leave home.” She felt a pang of sorrow for leaving her grandsire for so long. No one else ever visited Grandsire, and Keylynn doubted they would visit in her absence.

  “Was it good advice?”

  She smiled, “The best I could have heard at the time.” If it wasn’t for her grandsire’s words, she wouldn’t have met Dauven, Barnibus, BEEG, Riv, or Gwen, and now she can’t even imagine life without them. She had met so many fascinating fungi and insects on her travels. If she didn’t leave, she might not have learned to embrace her connection with fungi and insects instead of trying to hide it and force herself to have a connection to nature that her family could be proud of.

  “Good on you for being willing to listen.” He nodded and walked to the plates in the break room.

  Keylynn took the moment and scoured her desk for the most suitable companion for Zukyov. He is kind, potentially protective, and understands the sage wisdom grandsires will share. He loves to cook, and he cooks well. He needs something far more than a simple plant, as they are stationary, silent, and can’t be fed.

  Luminous slugs. She saw the bunch that live with her giant shelf mushroom and smiled. Perfect. Luminous slugs resemble average slugs; however, they glow in darkness. They can glow a variety of hues depending on their diet. They are easy to care for, easy to feed, relatively silent, and mostly harmless. Ingestion of their secretions has psychedelic properties in addition to the slim chance of causing instant cessation of life.

  By the time Zukyov returned, she had a slug perfect for him, a smaller, younger one ready for a change.

  “Zukyov, I would like to say thank you for your sandwich in addition to giving me a chance,” she said, presenting him with the slug. Apprehensively he cupped his hands. “This is Mushi, the luminous slug. I’m sure they may allow a change of name. I recommend not consuming their secretions. The short-term mental alteration is not worth the risk of instantaneous life cessation.” She gently placed the slug in his hands. To his credit, he didn’t drop it the moment it was in his hands. “The colour they glow will change based upon their diet.”

  He gave her a small smile while looking down at the slug that looked tiny in his large hands. “Thanks, no one has ever given me a slug before.”

  “I knew they would be a fitting friend for your desk. Your small desk calendar makes for a suitable home. And I am more than pleased to assist you with your new friend.” She smiled at him as he held Mushi in his stiff hands.

  He nodded and stiffly brought his cupped hands over to his desk and placed them as flat as he could in front of the small calendar. He held his hands still as Mushi slid their way down his hands and towards their new home. Once his hands were free of the slug, he stood up and held his hands stiffly out in front of him and walked briskly towards the break room.

  Her new assignment was a troubling one. A cyclops in a highly active quest line had requested medical leave three times. Each time the request was declined by the storymancer, who claimed 'the cyclops was crucial and that there is no appropriate replacement.' This requires her to be there on the scene, giving her no hope in handling it remotely.

  “Oh gods, the country bumpkin is still here,” Demetra announced loud enough for the whole floor to hear as she took a seat at her desk. Keylynn ground her teeth. That’s it. She will be dealing with her before she leaves to help the cyclops named Silas.

  “You do know she’s from the forest, not the country. Forest elves are the protectors of the forest and can trace their origins all the way back to the first elves from the Fae lands. Last I checked, they don’t give a shit about elven ancestry at all,” Ragna retorted behind her. He sounded as if he had grown tired of hearing Demetra’s vitriol. Keylynn gave him a thankful smile before standing up.

  “Salutations, Demetra. If you wish to retain your job, I recommend you come with me for a meeting,” she said sternly with a sickly sweet smile.