A Crack in the Code (Fiction)
She looked at me ferociously and said “No”. The deep void in her eyes matched the color of her hair, an insatiably black that always kept strangers from interacting with her. I continued my plea disregarding her reaction. A few more no’s continued before she understood that the charismatic character facing her would never give up.
Becky was hired by the owner himself a year ago. He trusted her and knew she would follow his strict guidelines and principles. The Center operated previously for ten years under a different owner but became unprofitable during the last couple of years when a tough recession hit the country. The new owner got rid of all the old personnel except two trainers who he used as front puppets for his ideal clientele. Not everyone could afford the remodeled Center and those who did, had interesting backgrounds to say the least.
Becky was distant and trustworthy. No client was able to approach her, let alone ask her out for a meal or drink. She was an excellent negotiator, someone you’d like to have on your team when closing highly sophisticated deals. Her poker face was her ultimate weapon making it extremely difficult to read her emotions, feelings and thinking patterns.
On that particular Saturday morning though, Becky seemed to have met her master. The person standing in front of her was of a totally different caliber. Her approach wouldn’t work no matter how hard she was pushing ahead with her favorite word “no”. The strategy she deployed routinely to ensure everything worked out her and Mark’s way did not provide the results she was used to getting from all her previous encounters.
As her level of frustration and anger grew it became clear to both players that things could get out of control. Mental toughness, fancy strategies and techniques combined with an immaculate poker face weren’t enough this time to win the game.
Mark was downstairs when he heard about the debate. He waited to see whether this was one of those occasions where Becky wins and sends her opponent to rest. There was something about this person that triggered a chain reaction in Becky he never experienced and witnessed before. He himself was puzzled and couldn’t figure out what to do next.
Should he wait for things to unravel naturally? What if Becky lost the game causing an irreparable crack in the code? Will he be able to restart the matrix without severe damages like he did the last time?
Out of the blue, the fire alarm went on and everybody was forced to leave the building. Players rushed out of the Center leaving three participants in the game. Becky hesitated a few more minutes before she beamed herself out of the scene too.
Here I was on an empty floor surrounded by windows and doors of glass when I heard footsteps approaching on the staircase from a lower level. Mark entered the hallway and whispered in a soft tone: “We are the only ones left in the building. We should go too.”
“Are you the designer of this game?” I replied swiftly.
He smiled and looked at me surprised: “Maybe”.
I then continued: “Good program, I must confess. Well thought out characters, enticing plot and Becky, what a great idea for a gatekeeper. Do you know how I found out about the glitch?”
Ten years must have passed by since my last encounter with Mark when I spotted him on the cover of a famous gaming magazine. His unique sense for coding gestures and sophisticated emotions into his characters revolutionized the industry. He redesigned the game we both played in a decade ago but was never able to uncover the source of the glitch thus leaving a crack in the code for future generations to fix.
💎💎💎 Krisz Rokk 💎💎💎
Creative art: AI-generated image by Daniela S. via Midjourney
Originally published on the Hive blockchain at @KriszRokk.
