Alex pointed at me. “Zee, you’ve been smiling like a sniper. Your turn.”
Four faces turned my way.
I hated that I enjoyed the attention. “Fine.” I set my glass down like I was about to testify. “Client reports the system randomly deletes their work.”
Groans rippled around the table.
“I asked for logs.”
Jamie already had her face in her hands.
“They sent screenshots.”
Morgan winced. “Of course they did.”
“I recreate the issue on my end. Nothing happens. I ask them if anything changed.”
Alex laughed without humor. “Nothing ever changes.”
“They say nothing changed,” I agreed. “I dig away. I findsixnew plugins installed that morning.”
Jamie slapped the table. “Six?”
“Six,” I confirmed. “One of them was a crypto widget. They work in accounting.”
Cris choked on her drink.
“I point this out politely. I show them the timestamps. They deny installing anything.”
Denial is not just a river in Egypt. It is also a personality type.
“In writing?” Cris asked.
“Inwriting,” I said. “With their whole stupid chest.”
Morgan stared at me. “I would simply pass away.”
“I disable the plugins. The problem stops immediately. Surprise, surprise.” I picked up my glass again. “Client replies that they fixed it themselves and asks why I took so long if I was a professional.”
The table went dead silent for about three seconds.
Then chaos erupted.
“What do you meantheyfixed it?” Jamie yelled.
“I don’t understand how you’re not in prison,” Morgan said.
Alex leaned back, staring at the ceiling. “I would have committed a crime.”
I shrugged. Took a sip. “I dissociate professionally.”
“Finish your drink,” Alex said, wiping tears from her face.
I did. After that, the noise got louder, but somehow more contained. Someone slid a bowl of pretzels down the table, and it stayed there like shared property. It was a level of trust I didn’t personally endorse, but I respected it.
Cris had angled her chair toward mine at some point. She put her hand on my shoulder when she laughed, and by some miracle I didn’t wince. My nervous system made a note of it and filed it underUnclear but Not Bad.
Was I making a friend? I would deny this later if asked.
