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Tuesday, August 20, 2019

Strange Sci-fi Tales #25 - All The World At My Fingertips [#112]

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            ‘All the world is at my fingertips,’ I mused as I leaned back into my creaky office chair in the middle of the cluttered server room. The monitor in front of me confirmed that everything ran smoothly. Temperatures were stable, nothing had failed, and response times were acceptable. Here I was, with my hand on the major artery of the entire company, and by extension, a good chunk of the world. On a whim, I could plunge a good 20% of the world back into the dark ages, but I wouldn’t do that there’s nothing for me to gain.
            “Johnson, get off your lazy ass I have a job for you,” my boss burst into the room. The golden, all-access badge loosely attached to his shirt flapped wildly.
            “Its James, Sir,” I corrected him.
            “Whatever Jimmy,” he brushed me off. “The network is down in sector 8, get it back up now, and when you’re done with that, I want this morning’s status report on my desk.”
            “Sector 8 isn’t down,” I pointed at my monitor, the icon for sector 8 was lit up green with an assurance that it still functioned. “Also, the morning’s status reports are already on your desk, it was the first thing I did. I even emailed you a copy.”
            “Don’t give me your damn excuses, Johnny,” my boss flared up, “I was just in sector 8, and my tablet couldn’t connect to the network.”
            “Maybe because you haven’t updated it in over a year,” I mumbled.
            “What was that?” My boss growled.
            “Nothing boss,” I assured, “would you like me to send a third copy of the status report?”
            “Forget it, just do your job,” my boss blustered as he stomped out of the room. He even tried to slam the automatic sliding door and failed miserably.
           ‘There’s a reason to plunge the world into a dark age,’ I recalled my previous thought. ‘Oh who am I kidding, a guy like him would probably enjoy it.’ I glanced back at the door to make sure he’d left, and I noticed a shiny gold badge on the floor. Temptations ran through my mind, with that badge I could get anywhere in this building I wanted. ‘I could shut down the entire server with his badge, and he’d be blamed for it. He’d never admit to losing it. No, I have a better idea.’
            I waited for about ten minutes, just enough time for the boss to get back to his office and begin to settle into his chair. Then I picked up the phone and dialed his office number.
            “Hey boss, I noticed an all-access card on the server room floor, that wouldn’t be yours would it,” I asked with a suppressed grin.
            “Of course not I would never-” He started, I heard him rustle around his person before he continued. “I mean, I’ll come down and check, it could belong to any of the managers. Don’t you dare touch it.”
            “Sure thing boss,” I hung up and leaned back into my chair. Maybe one day I’ll act upon my impulses until then I’ll enjoy watching him squirm.

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Treat your subordinates well, they can make your life a living hell.

(Okay so this barely qualifies as sci-fi, but it's supposed to be a tech-support/annoying boss story, but set in the future so I'm counting it.)

Until next time, Read, Comment and Enjoy
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