Keylynn stepped into the office with her coffee and pastry in hand. Hosting the owner of the coffee cart had its benefits.

  The night before, she fell asleep when Tiv did. There was no point in continuing to read to the sleeping orc, and it seemed weird to watch her sleep. So when Tiv woke up earlier than Keylynn was accustomed to, she chose to join her when she left to prepare the cafe and coffee cart for the day.

  She read the book from where they left off until Biscuit walked in. For some reason she wasn’t comfortable reading the intimate scenes when she knew Biscuit could hear.

  As a thank you, Tiv made sure Keylynn got both her coffee and her morning pastry before they arrived at the office, where there was a line waiting.

  She walked past the line feeling like she couldn’t possibly have a terrible day. She could even go for her midday meal at the cafe.

  At her desk she set Pebble in their rock garden and gave them a few small pieces of her pastry along with the assortment of mushrooms for them to eat. She leaned back in her chair and sipped her coffee. She was early, and for once she had nothing to do but enjoy her coffee and her pastry.

  “Gods, why is she smiling?” Demetra muttered, ending her morning reprieve.

  Ragna shrugged and slid into his desk chair.

  “She could just be happy. It is a very normal emotion,” Tsunami answered from behind her. He walked past her and sat at his desk.

  “But it’s weird,” she countered, sitting at her desk.

  “I’m sorry you find my smiling unnerving. I will try to refrain for your comfort in the future,” Keylynn responded casually. She finished her coffee and logged into her computer. Her first task of the day was to check her email and catch up on her correspondence.

  She read through her emails, including the one detailing her team's various training schedules. Because of the amount of training that Ragna needed to complete as soon as possible, he won’t take part on their next assignment. For the rest of her team, their training was more flexible.

  After she finished her necessary work emails, she drafted a quick email to Barnibus.

  To: Barnibus

  From: Keylynn

  Subject: An Inquiry of Sorts

  Salutations, Barnibus. I hope you found your visit to my dwelling pleasing. Now, it’s come to my attention that Riv believes that I am in the possession of the coveted Caffeine Crown. You are the first person who came to mind to make his sleep-deprived raving a reality.

  Signed, Keylynn (I don’t think you need all my titles; you are well aware of who I am).

  Their final report for the mimic farm was almost complete. She would have finished it if she had chosen to work late on Friday, but she didn't. She still doesn’t know if it’s a good thing or not that she chose to not work. She also doesn't know how she feels about welcoming people into her home. Her weekends used to be that: hers. She would spend her free time from work with her fungi and her books. She was content with that. She didn’t need more. But now she’s not so sure.

  Tiv was a welcome addition.

  And she can’t claim that she loved the long workdays when she chose to have them. Sure, as they say, the paycheck was worth it, but she was never really certain of that. From her time away from her forest, there was one thing that she learned for certain: she can always find more money. Money wasn’t a good enough reason to do anything because there will always be more.

  Maybe what she’s been missing all this time was something more in her life than work, fungi, and books. Just like how Riv needs something more than his hope that he can travel back in time.

  She added what was missing from her final report until she got to the quest labels that they used internally. She wanted to check the educational use box. If the quest was marked as for educational use, Cleatus would have more autonomy over his farm.

  She checked the box and listed how the mimic farm was an educational quest. The mimic farm provides a unique opportunity to observe and ultimately understand mimics better. The research potential alone into mimic culture and life cycle should be enough to dub it an educational quest.

  Setting the report aside, she pulled up the drafted first rights deal for the Televised Adventuring Guild that handled the beta test. There wasn’t much to it; mostly she has Cleatus’s demands in a bullet-form list.

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  If she was going to champion for the mimic farm to be for educational purposes, she would need to include that in the agreement. The odds of the guild agreeing to simply help mimic research with no benefit to them were slim. What she needed was a tax credit or a tax break for the guild, and that meant she had to talk to Riv.

  His desk was a mess of parchment covered in strange symbols and numbers, his computer, his matrix tablet, and his illusionary board. It was an overwhelming mess that she wanted to clean up herself.

  “Salutations, Riv. I hope you are finding the morning pleasing.”

  He looked up at her with ink staining his face. She kept her face impassive, knowing how difficult he will be if she laughs. “What do you need?”

  She let out a sigh. He was clearly in a mood to get right to it. “What do you know of educational tax breaks and tax credits for quest exclusivity rights?”

  “That’s a mouthful. Educational tax breaks or credits for a quest are easy enough. But for an exclusivity agreement?” He asked with a tilt of his head.

  “Yes. Televised adventuring guilds aren’t likely to be willing to share footage of mimics without a benefit to them. The footage I was sent to finish my report never arrived. But if there was, say, a tax break or credit for providing footage for educational purposes,” she explained simply.

  He scratched one of his ears absently as he thought about it. “I can find you something by the end of the day.” He gave her a determined grin.

  She smiled. If there was one thing that he loved about his job, it was the obscure tax laws or tax codes that rarely get used.

  She returned to her desk and saw Demetra scrolling on her comms device absently.

  “Demetra, Riv today is digging through obscure tax law and tax codes. I think you may find that more interesting,” she said with a smirk. If he had to, Riv would dig up an old obscure tax code or even make one, citing that there was a need for one.

  Demetra looked up from her comms device. Clearly she was stalling until she could go for her midday break.

  “Go on your break early, then go work with him. You are behind on your training. If you don’t catch up on your own accord, you won’t be able to go on any assignments until you do,” she explained firmly.

  “I know, I know,” she grumbled under her breath.

  Keylynn worked on her draft first rights agreement, hoping that her ruse would work. If it doesn’t, RADAWC can at any point decide the mimic farm will no longer be a mimic farm. They can decide to terminate all the mimics that live there and decide they don’t even want to work with Cleatus. It wasn’t right that the company had so much control over a farm that was never theirs.

  She finished all she could do without the tax codes from Riv by the midday bell. She still hasn’t heard from Riv yet, which means she can’t leave the office until she does. The moment she has the tax code, she can submit both her report and her proposed agreement. She pulled out her comms device and opened her chat with Tiv.

  Keylynn: Salutations. Tiv, this is Keylynn. One day you should have delivery as an option for the midday meal. I hope your day is pleasing for you.

  She would have given almost anything for a midday meal at the Cup Stop. Tiv answered almost instantly.

  Tiv: Delivery is a decent idea. You aren’t the first to suggest it. I take it you aren’t making the walk over.

  Tiv: My day so far is wonderful. How could it be bad with how it started?

  Keylynn: This is Keylynn. No, I don’t think I will. I am waiting for a very important tax code to come in by the end of the day. I don’t want to be out of office when it arrives.

  Tiv: If I see anyone from your team or office, I’ll try to get lunch sent over to you.

  Keylynn: This is Keylynn. That is most kind. You have my many thanks. I shall find a way to return the kindness.

  “That smile better be because you submitted your report,” Lark stated, standing over her. As she looked up, her smile faded, and she put her comms device away. She wasn’t the person who spends her time at work focusing on her personal life. Or at least she didn’t used to be.

  “Your ears will not like my answer. I am unable to submit my report until I can finish my first rights agreement. I am unable to finish it at this time,” she answered carefully. The last thing she needed was for her boss to be irate with her over deadlines, or worse, for him to be irate over her bending corporate policy in favour of Cleatus.

  “And why is that?” He crossed his arms.

  “I am waiting…” she trailed off, not sure what to say. If she said she was waiting for the missing footage from the Televised Adventuring Guild, he will reach out to them. The last thing she wanted was for her deal to fail before they even had a chance to read the proposal agreement. All Cleatus needs is for this one guild to want exclusivity with him, and he won’t have to worry about anything.

  “You and your team have had ample time to get it finished,” he answered coldly.

  She let out a sigh. Spinning falsehoods was never her strong suit. If she gets a lecture, then she will tune it out. “I am waiting for a specific tax code that I need, and then you will have both the report and an exclusivity rights agreement for the third-party guild that handled the beta test.

  “Let me see what you have, and I’ll be the judge of the necessity of this tax code,” he answered bluntly.

  She paused. She could fight him on this, increasing his ire, something that she has learned isn’t always the best move. Or she could concede and let him read it on her computer, with supervision, and hope he doesn’t figure out entirely what she is up to.

  “Fine, you can read it on my computer,” she conceded.

  He raised an eyebrow.

  She shrugged. “I never let people read my reports before I think they are ready for submission. You can ask Dauven.”

  “I already did.” He wheeled Inferno’s empty chair over. She slid hers over to make room for him.

  “I’m assuming you were asking for my report?” She inquired.

  “Yes, and he told me that you never release things to anyone until you know they’re ready. He said that you were exceptionally thorough,” he answered and started to read through her report.

  She was grateful that Dauven left out the part where she doesn’t share her work if she is bending corporate policy.

  When he was done reading, he nodded. “It seems you have all that handled, and yes, if you get the guild to agree to release footage for educational purposes, you can give the farm the educational purposes tag. It’s a good idea. Should the agreement fall through, we can make an arrangement with an adventuring academy and the like.” He set Inferno’s chair back to where he found it. “Thank you for only a mild headache this time.”

  She watched him walk away dumbstruck. Not only does he know what she’s up to, but he approves. That went much better than expected.

  He just wanted a gig. Instead, he became a prophet, a public enemy, and a confirmed System malfunction.

  System-based sci-fi. Corporate dystopia. Comedy with teeth.

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