At my old team's bullpen, I sat at my old desk, filling in forms, just in case I couldn't get my stuff back. I finished off some old reports that weren't very important, editing them with Shigure's help when he got bored. After a while, he sat on the floor behind my desk, resting his back against the partition wall and took out a book to read.
"The girl, the teacher and the CEO," I read under my breath.
Was he reading another adult fiction novel like Icha Icha again?
Shigure's voice in my mind cleared his throat, closing the channel and his face blushed a faint red. He changed books, switching to a book without a title but a busy front cover. It looked like a graphic novel. A comic of some sort. Something to do with machines and a guy and women without clothes…
Don't tell me Shigure was secretly a perv.
Shigure glared at me with a glowing red face and changed books again. This one was about advanced engine mechanics. He seemed to have gotten immersed in it very quickly. So, a nonfiction textbook. Perhaps. But then why was I seeing images of female shaped automatons in our mental chat group once his mind relaxed and he became engrossed in his reading?
He really was a pervert, wasn't he? Maybe he needed to get a girlfriend. I should keep my eye out for a suitable woman. Although I didn't know how old he was, surely I'd find someone for him if I kept my eyes open.
I followed what he was reading via the images in the chatroom, wondering if he realised he was leaking those pictures. At the same time, I continued working at the computer.
The mannequin in the chat room got twisted into an interesting and somewhat risque position. Looking at the mechanics of this automaton, I flagged a few cogs and joints. Surely this position would be impossible for this particular automaton because of these areas? But according to the logic Shigure was reading about, the problem could be solved with the change in a cog size here and replacement of a part here and perhaps filing the back of the ball and socket joint so that the joint allowed further mobility. However, that change would surely come at the cost of stability because when the automaton tried to walk again, it would collapse due to a lack of stability.
As such, I concluded, using this automaton for a sex toy would not be advisable. Windups were old technology anyway. Get some electronics and system programs involved and it could drastically reduce the toy's weight.
Shigure and the book argued with me over cogs and other clockwork mechanics. Although I hadn't really understood the topic before, I was learning as Shigure explained the basic rules in an offhand manner without his main consciousness seeming to realise what he was doing, because he was engrossed in the book.
We trialled several other changes before we were interrupted by Sarden's arrival.
"Kim," Sarden poked his head around my computer monitor to see what I was doing. He didn't seem to notice Shigure sitting on the floor watching him with interest. "Whatcha doing? Argh. Goody-goody-two-shoes. You'll make me feel bad for not finishing those reports too. How early were you today?"
I glanced at the clock.
"Long enough for you to have had fun with your girlfriend this morning, clean up and shower and then have a relaxed breakfast before she had to head off to work, while you dawdled on the way here."
Sarden frowned, counting on his fingers, while I spun the automaton problem I was working on in the chat group and wondered if a part in the lower spine could be replaced with smaller moving parts rather than being one fixed block shape. I queried the part of Shigure's mind that was studying the problem with me and we decided to make another model to try it out.
"Two and a half hours," Sarden finished counting. "How'd you guess?"
"You tell me about your habits in too much detail sometimes," I shook my head at him.
"Damn," Sarden covered his mouth. "Did I only tell you?"
"No. The whole team bar Mr Holt knows."
"Damn it," Sarden smacked his forehead with his palm. "I need to keep my mouth shut. Thanks, Kim."
"For what?"
"Reminding me," Sarden muttered to himself and sat at his desk. "Say, why's your desk so clean? Where's all your stuff?"
"I missed something important in my report yesterday or something," I heaved a heavy sigh, while I saw that Shigure had returned to reading out the corner of my eye or so that was how he appeared.
In reality, he had just discovered he'd been leaking what he was reading into the chatroom in my head and was going back over our chat history, freaking out about something. The part of his mind that was partially paying attention to my conversation with Sarden gave me a thumbs up in amidst his mental panic that my image of him had been derailed by the label of 'PERVERT'.
I gave Sarden a twisted smile.
"Apparently, I'm going to be kicked off the team and sent back for more training. I'm only here under supervision to finish helping capture Chad Thundercock."
"Oh, Kim," Sarden gave me a concerned look. "Do you need a hug?"
"No. Not right now, thanks," I looked back at my screen. "That's why I have to finish all this work sooner."
"But if you're gone, I'll be the only victim left for target practice," Sarden looked around and whispered over his desk. "I'm going to be dead meat. I'm both happy and sad for you, Kim. But even more, I wonder what method Mary Belle and Flint are going to use to try to kill me once you're gone."
"Maybe you should put a request in for a transfer," I shrugged.
"Yeah and then get kicked out of that team to be kicked around because I'm a bottom feeder like you too?"
"Sorry, Sarden," I looked down at my keyboard. Had I just upset him? How? What did I say? Why did he look annoyed?
"Before they arrive, maybe I can rig a few things for them," Sarden stood up to see who else was around.
Then he quickly went to Mary Belle's chair to set it to the lowest height and pull out the free tilt lever so that the chair would tilt back if Mary Belle leaned back. For Flint's chair, he removed the armrests and the backrest altogether, shoving the loose chair parts under Flint's desk drawers.
"They're coming," I warned and Sarden crouched low to hurry back to his seat, making it look like he had just picked a pen back up off the ground.
When I glanced toward where Shigure had been sitting on the floor, he was gone. He must have moved while I was watching Sarden. He wasn't reading anymore because our mental chat group was silent. He'd even wiped our mental chat history and attempted to delete the crooked 'pervert' label hanging off his name. All he had managed to do was turn the word into lowercase and change the font to make it smaller.
Flint jumped over my table, pulling me off my seat and pinned me to the floor beneath my desk. He sat on me and covered my mouth with one hand while holding my wrists down above my head. He lifted my shirt up and pushed my bra out of the way to expose my breasts, while I fought him with muffled curses.
"Miss me?" Flint asked. "I heard some useless person is about to get kicked out. About time. You aren't useful for anything besides being a toy. I heard you also tried to one up us yesterday by saying you met that serial killer yesterday. You're so full of lies."
He pinched and prodded my bruises, touching areas he had no right to touch. He purposely beat me up, feeling me up at the same time, while I could only grit my teeth and struggle weakly beneath him.
Mary Belle dumped her things on her desk and then came over to kick me.
"Where's my breakfast today, wimp? Aren't you and Sarden meant to buy us coffee and breakfast on office mornings?"
Mary Belle gave me another hard kick and then went to pinch and twist Sarden's ears. She gave him a good stomp in the crotch for good measure.
"Flint, Big Brother's coming," she said.
Flint made a face, pinched me between the legs and then went to his desk.
"What happened to my chair?" he roared, after noticing something amiss. "Sarden!"
Flint lit into Sarden, while I tried to fix my appearance. Big Brother leaned over my desk and passed me a tissue.
"Your shirt is crooked and you've missed a button there," Big Brother pointed out. "Flint," said Big Brother in a hard voice, throwing his things onto his desk. "What have I told you about touching Kim?"
"She asked for it," Flint muttered, stopping mid punch.
"You've already forgotten the lesson I gave you yesterday?" Big Brother pulled up his sleeves.
Mary Belle sat on her chair and almost fell off it with a shriek when it tilted backwards and was lower than expected.
"Sarden!" she shrieked. "That's it, I'm gonna teach you and Little Miss Useless over there a lesson."
"Let's take this down to the gym," Big Brother looked around the open office, seeing other teams coming in and pausing to watch the spectacle our team was making of ourselves.
Mary Belle's clawed fingers yanked me away from my desk and she pushed me to follow behind Big Brother. Flint had yet to let go of Sarden, while Big Brother glowered at all of us.
Once we were in the gym, Flint continued to beat up Sarden and dodge Big Brother, meanwhile Big Brother tried to catch Flint. In the meantime, Mary Belle had forced me into a chest press machine and almost dropped a bar that was near three times my weight on me. I struggled to keep the weight from falling any lower. If it got too low, it would crush the air from me and make it difficult for me to breathe.
Big Brother hauled Mary Belle away with Flint, to teach them both a lesson by beating them up in the name of sparring with them, while Sarden dragged himself over to help rescue me. Once I was free, Sarden and I caught our breaths while we watched Big Brother soundly thrash our bullies.
When both cried mercy after being pinned down by Big Brother's strong arms, one on either side of him, Big Brother let them go.
Mary Belle dragged me to the ladies' showers with a dark expression, while Big Brother supervised Flint and Sarden. To get back at me, Mary Belle beat me up in the showers, promising to give me to Flint to torture again sometime.
I tried to resist but only got myself beaten up some more. In the end, like usual, I gave in.
I could hear Shigure asking tentatively in the chatroom if I was alright. I shut my connection with him off. Mary Belle knew how scared I was of being alone with her and Flint. The last time she had given me to Flint, she had stayed to give suggestions. While Flint hadn't gone all the way, I hadn't been able to walk properly for more than a week. I wanted to cry but didn't dare.
By the time Mr Holt had arrived, we were all back at our seats in different clothes, pretending like usual that nothing had happened. Flint was fixing his chair. Mary Belle, after readjusting her chair, was doing some work - or pretending to. Who knew what she was doing? Sarden was putting bruise balm on his new injuries. As for me, I was trying to concentrate on doing my reports and not to flinch whenever there was a loud noise.
I felt sick to my stomach and put my head down on my desk, gritting my teeth and trying to get myself back under control. Why was I so useless?
A hand fell on my head.
"Are you alright, Kim?" Mr Holt asked me, passing a tissue with a gesture for me to wipe off the sweat on my face. "Director's looking for you."
"I'll go now then," I said, standing up and feeling woozy. The effort and exertion from this morning had been a bit more than I could handle. Shigure appeared after I had rounded the corner to help me walk.
In the Director's room, I was made to repeat what parts Shigure had missed and not been able to witness. I repeated as close to verbatim as possible what Mary Belle had threatened me with.
"You look pale," the Director said. "Go and rest in your room after you've called Mary Belle to my office. Nobody will be able to hurt you tonight. I'll deal with her and Flint."
Back at our team's bullpen, I informed Mary Belle that the Director wanted to see her. Then I told Mr Holt that I wasn't feeling well and that I was going to lie down for a bit.
By the time I woke up and returned, Mary Belle and Flint had disappeared. Nobody said anything about them being missing and everyone was working seriously, trying to find more about who Chad Thundercock really was. Shigure was sitting at Flint's computer.
"Feeling better now?" he asked me softly when I passed him to go back to my own desk. Big Brother, Sarden and Mr Holt lifted their heads to hear my answer.
"Yes," I nodded and returned the smile. I felt warm and fuzzy inside that someone now cared about what happened to me. I didn't want to think about the others.
Everyone else just nodded upon hearing my reply and got back to work.