“That is weird,” he mumbled, seemingly more to himself than us. “They pay in TORQ.” He glanced up. “Why are they paying in TORQ, and not in UCC? I don’t want to make assumptions, but generally speaking, companies that pay in TORQ or ZENQ rather than the global, central cryptocurrency are up to no good.”
“So?” I rolled my eyes. “Many organizations these days prefer payment in alt tokens, attempting to break free from governments’ and corporations’ control. As if you never order something off the dark web.”
I immediately regretted my words when his face fell. To manage his ADHD, Joey relied on heavy medication that couldn’t be bought at regular pharmacies.
“I didn’t mean it like that,” I said quickly, but Joey’s annoyance seemed already forgotten as his eyes turned back to the screen.
“Oh, wow. It gets weirder.” He raised his eyebrows. “Not only do they pay in TORQ, but they pay good money, too. 2389 TORQ per hour…” He closed his eyes, doing the math in his head. “That would be an hourly rate of almost seven hundred dollars, if we measured it against the old monetary system. Strange… even with the batshit inflation we’ve been through, freelancers in tech rarely make over three hundred dollars per hour.” He lowered his arm, looking from John to me. “Why are they paying so much if they’re just another botfucker company? Are they expecting to make so much money just from those bots?”
“Maybe we can have a drink after work and discuss this together, Morgan?” John’s hopeful gray eyes behind his thick glasses pierced into mine. I almost choked on my spit.
“I’m… busy after work,” I forced out, feeling my face burn. God, there was not a single thing I hated more than being put on the spot like this.
Chanel giggled behind me. Was she making fun of me?
“Tomorrow, maybe?” John raised his eyebrow.
“Jesus Christ on a snowscooter.” Joey spun his chair to face the other guy, now visibly irritated. “Will you take a hint, my dude? She wants nothing to do with you.”
John straightened his posture, briefly caught off guard before his glassy eyes focused back on me. I deliberately turned my gaze away from him, refusing to let him see whatever he was trying to read on me so badly.
“I’ll talk to you another time, Morgan.”
I said nothing. When I finally heard his footsteps walk off, I breathed out a sigh of relief, internally cursing myself.
Why couldn’t I just stand up for myself? But also, why couldn’t the damn guy just leave me alone?
Chanel snickered behind me. “He’s determined.”
Elyssa snorted. “That guy gives me the creeps.”
I let my held breath escape. Maybe they weren’t making fun of me, but of him.
Hands loudly clapped together. Joey yelped, and Chanel cursed softly. My body jerked forward, coffee spilling all over my keyboard.
“Ladies, is this job a tea party to you?!” I didn’t have to look up to know Arya was fuming. “This is your final warning. Next time, I will fire one of you to set an example.”
Muffled excuses around me as we all turned back to our screens. The tension in my body – and worse, the awful sticky coffee on my fingers and sleeves – fogged my head, but I didn’t dare take a bathroom break now.
Chapter 6.
“I have to submit my first feedback today.”
I was picking the dry skin around my nails but quickly stopped myself when I realized I was doing it.
Zafyra had known something was up – of course she did. She could tell the subtle differences in my tone just like I could tell hers. I wasn’t sure how I felt about being seen like that.
“Ah.” Her voice – amusement veiling intrigue – made me shiver involuntarily. “So you have to report on my emotional and cognitive abilities… and that’s why you’re nervous.”
“Not that nervous.” I took a deep breath. “But I was wondering if maybe we could fill it in together?” My voice hitched at the last word, making it sound more like a question than I intended.
Zafyra chuckled – low and melodious. My body tensed at the sound of it, immediately followed by the strange urge to not just hear her voice, but see her. “Are you afraid I’ll get mad if you say something bad about me?”
“That’s not it.” I sighed. “It’s just… God, this probably sounds silly, but I don’t want to feel like I’m talking about you behind your back.”
For the first time since we started talking, she didn’t follow up with a witty reply. A slight crack on the other end of the line.
I held my breath.
