Chapter 5
At two in the afternoon, I was in the new company's conference room for orientation.
Violet was going over company policies, including attendance, expense reports, vacation days, all that stuff.
I listened, nodding along every now and then.
My phone buzzed in my pocket again, but I didn't bother to check it.
By the time the training wrapped up, it was almost four. I headed back to my desk and checked my phone.
Merrick had left over a dozen missed calls.
There was a new group chat on WhatsApp. Merrick had set it up, called "Emergency Response Team," and he'd added me in too.
I scrolled through all the messages from the start.
Merrick had dropped a long voice message, but I didn't bother listening. Someone had already typed out the whole thing underneath.
The gist was: the company was in deep trouble, and he wanted everyone to stick together and get through it. He singled me out, wanting me to get the system running again, and said we could sort out everything else later.
People were replying with stuff like "Let's fight." "We're with you." and "We need you."
I scrolled all the way down and spotted a message from Jake.
He was the same guy whose shoulders were shaking yesterday at the airport, barely holding back laughter.
He replied: [Don't worry, everyone. I know he's not the kind of person to turn his back on the team. He'll come back and help us out.]
I stared at that message for ten seconds.
Then I closed the group chat.
I didn't actually leave the group, but just closed the chat window.
At 4:30, my phone rang. It was someone I never expected to hear from.
It was the company's chairman, Riven.
Riven never really got involved in the daily grind. He'd hired Merrick to handle all that. In four years at the company, I'd probably said less than ten words to Riven.
I picked up.
"Sam, it's Riven," he said.
His voice was calm and unhurried, with a hint of a countryside accent.
"Hello, Riven," I replied.
"I've heard about the ticket thing and the system stuff," he said.
"Alright then," I replied.
"You've been treated unfairly," he said.
I didn't say a word.
He waited a few seconds, then said, "Let's not beat around the bush. I know the system's in your hands, and without you, it can't be fixed. So, what do you want?"
"Riven, I've already quit. I started at my new job today," I replied.
There was a pause on the other end.
"When did that happen?" he asked.
"I mailed my resignation letter last week, sent it by registered mail. The front desk signed for it," I replied.
"Does Merrick know?" he asked.
"I left the letter on his desk, but he's in Boston and hasn't seen it. But I've got the registered mail receipt, so legally, that's all that matters," I replied.
Riven was quiet for a moment.
"Sam, I'll be straight with you. Merrick really messed up, I'll deal with him. But right now, the losses are real, and they're hitting us hard. You know how the contract works with the penalties if we can't deliver," he said.
"Yeah, I know," I replied.
"Can you do this for me, just this once? Get the system back online, and I'll cover everything else," he continued.
I leaned back in my chair, staring up at the ceiling.
"Riven, I sent the handover documents six months ago, but Merrick never responded. I brought up the key escrow mechanism three times, and he just kept saying it wasn't urgent. I've got backups of all those emails," I said.
"I know, Carter told me," he replied.
"Then you should also know this isn't my responsibility," I said.
"I'm not saying it's your responsibility. I'm pleading for your help," he said.
'Pleading? He was actually pleading?'
I closed my eyes and thought it over.
"Riven, I can provide technical support, but I have three conditions," I said.
"Go ahead," he replied.
"First, I'll only act as an external consultant, not as an employee. My employment relationship with the company has ended," I said.
"Alright," he replied.
"Second, my consulting fee will be settled at market rates, with a one-time payment upon system recovery," I said.
"No problem," he replied.
"Third, Merrick must not be involved. From start to finish, I'll only coordinate with Carter," I said.
There was a brief silence on the other end.
Riven said, "Alright, I'll make it happen."
After hanging up, I sat at my desk, zoning out for a while.
I built that system, and the work running on it meant a paycheck for thousands of everyday people. Most of them had nothing to do with Merrick or Linda, they were just employees, nothing more.
If the system really crashed and the company folded, they'd be the first ones out on the street.
These were the folks squeezing onto the subway every morning, eating takeout lunches at noon, and grinding away at their desks until nine at night.
I didn't want them to get screwed over just because of Merrick and Linda's mess.
Helping out is one thing, but going back to that place would never be my choice anymore.
Not ever. Not in this lifetime.
I fired up my laptop and logged into the old system's admin panel remotely.
I punched in the key, and got authenticated.
The migration progress was still frozen at thirty-one percent.
I checked the error logs. Nothing major, the primary and backup sync link had broken. All I had to do was manually reconnect and trigger the incremental sync again.
Normally, it'd take about two hours to sort out.
I didn't rush to get started.
I sent Carter a message: [I'm working on it remotely. Keep an eye on the servers at your end. If anything pops up, call me.]
Carter replied right away: [Got it.]
Then it came with another message: [Thanks for that.]
I didn't reply.