"I-I think someone's embezzling money Devon," Nick repeats when I didn't respond immediately.
I sigh and do a facepalm. "So, you saw some distortions in the data?"
He nods.
"Since you've studied it and I'm assuming that you double checked, you must know who seems to be behind it," I say as I take the tablet on his desk and scanned the documents.
"Y-yes that's the thing. I know who it is but it's weird," he says as he stumbles on nothing.
"Just spit it out man," I demand.
"Just from the glance of the data, it seems that the distortion is coming from-"
"Media and communications," I interject.
That's Tom's department. Because of his charisma, Mr. Ashur tasked Tom of making sure that the company's public and corporate relations go smoothly. This entails that he is in corporate meetings and TV shows on a regular basis.
"Y-yes that's correct," he exclaims and with a wave of his hand, the data is enlarged to encompass the entire office. "Look here, here, and here. The inventory and order statements aren't matching."
He's right. Order for cameras, studio rentals, and whatnot were declared but the amount of inventory states otherwise. A total of around $500,000 dollars were unaccounted for.
"I checked with my Kaleidoscope many times and it's just as you see," Nick continues now clasping his head.
I thoughtfully scratch my chin. This is a weird predicament. No order request gets through finance without it being approved by the main supervisor. In this instance, it's Tom.
I pull out my phone and dial Tom's number.
"Who are you calling?"
I gestured with my index finger and my lips for Nick to be silent. Then, the phone connects.
"Hey, Tom," at this point, Nick's eyes were like saucers. "Yeah, I'm at work right now. Oh nothing, just wanna ask if you approved new contracts for media equipment and such. Alright thanks."
"What did he say?"
"Well, as expected, he said that there was no need since the contracts with our media providers are still intact," I reply nonchalantly.
"But what if he's lying?"
I chuckle. "The moment that honest idiot lies about anything is the day I stop being poor."
"So..."
"Yep," I smile. "We got ourselves an impersonator. And a pretty damn good one too."
We then move posthaste. To be perfectly honest, Media and Communications is the worst department to embezzle money from. Almost all of our production power is under strict contract for both parties. So, for someone to get new equipment per se, the previous provider's contract should have been nulled, breached, or ended. Which is of course, isn't the case.
We scoured the data to the last cent and found all the money that were missing. Then, we went to the 32nd floor to meet with the production lead for Tom's department, Nancy: a short but feisty young woman who rose to the ranks while wearing her signature afro and what she calls "black charm". We told her the situation and of course, she didn't know anything about ordering new equipment and was pissed that something like this happened. The three of us then moved to the 5th floor basement to strike at the source: The Administrator.
This advanced AI is responsible for automating everything that happens in the company. This of course includes financing each department. It was advertised to be tamper-proof and hack-proof by using biometrics and changing passcodes since it's designed to replace having to put human resources into approving each order. Nevertheless, it's still a machine so the finance team and other departments were made to keep it in check and make sure that everything is operating as it should. Normally, we wouldn't have access here but since we gathered enough evidence for an embezzlement and impersonation case, the tech guys let us through. It also helps that the gatekeeper has a bit of a crush on Nancy. I wonder if he knows that she's married?
It always takes my breath away whenever I come down here. Literally. The air here is stagnant despite the ventilation and the coolants that make sure this massive supercomputer doesn't overheat is also making sure this room stays at a cozy –10 degrees Celcius. But the view also takes my breath away figuratively. Upon exiting the elevators, we're greeted by a spire of wires, metal, monitors, and hologram. At the top of this tower is a singular blue orb that slowly ebbs and flows.
"I don't know why I'm here," I protest while tucking myself in the jacket that were provided to us before we entered. "I don't have a Kaleidoscope so anything tech related is alien to me."
Nancy chuckles, "says the man who managed to distill this investigation to its near conclusion in just a few hours. You know that cases like this take months to untangle."
"It's only this easy because the embezzling idiot chose the worst department to do his dirty work in," I reply as I hold back a sniffle.
"Can we just please finish this?" Nick says through chattering teeth. "I'm sensitive to cold and I promised my wife I'll be home early today."
"Yeah yeah," Nancy responds. "Sync your Kaleidoscope with mine and find the problem."
Then, the both of them go silent while staring at the spire. This sight is always surreal to me. I know that they're seeing something there. Something amazing that I can't see. But at the same time, they look dumb because all I can see and hear are nothing. The sight got even weirder when the two of them start moving their hands in the air like mimes. Then, after a few moments, they finish.
"Uhhh, so is it done?"
Nancy looks at me and nods. "Yeah, it's not that serious. Just Ed from electronics. We got rid of his virus and fixed the hole he created. We also got enough evidence to put him in jail."
I sigh. "Man, those things are nifty huh. You two aren't even from the tech department and you managed to do all that."
"Normally we wouldn't," Nick replied. "But ever since the 'Roleplayers' DLC' users can now see viruses and interact with raw data to create, fix, or improve them through a game-like interface."
I raise an eyebrow. "So, what exactly did you see?'
"A simple puzzle, some trivia questions, and some connect the dots," Nancy shrugs.
"That's it? Edgar, the guy who hacked the almighty admin was thwarted by some kids' games?"
Both of them put their hand on each of my shoulder and with pitying gazes, they walk past me and head towards the elevator.
"Oh fuck both of you."