She Rules the Dungeon

After a hellish two week of meeting people and sitting for long hours fuelled by nothing but latte and tuna melt sandwiches, Otta was finally free. She was so thankful that she didn't have to meet people who were dicks and bitches. And thankfully, Kendra wasn't someone she was going to hire.

The shortlisted candidates were:

Finance:

1. Mina Megans (Manager)

PR:

2. Molly Fincher (Representative)

Administration and Support Team (Octopus):

3. Kalissa Rhonde

4. Jeffer Starlet

Marketing Team:

5. Michelle Marigold (Freelance)

6. Grace Greene (Freelance)

Design & Animations Team:

7. Moona Kelvar

8. Mark Delvar

Writers:

9. Otta Olley (Owner)

10. Louis Maverick

Beta Testing Team:

11. Jordan Wax

12. Bass Quinn

13. Renae Jackson (Coordinator)

Programming Team:

14. Richard Clarkson (Owner)

15. Jean Steele

16. Uven Feathers

17. Johnson Johnson

18. Kellen Morgue

19. Pagz Scandals

Special Team:

20. Venus*

21. Khan*

22. Cameron*

23. Neuf*

The team was small but it was very powerful. Every individual on board was a maxed level soloist in Otta's opinion. Otta's apartment was too small to host everyone. Twenty-three people wouldn't fit in the room. Mcsmeldy's couldn't afford to shut down their shop for their meeting so Otta had to accept Adrian's proposal to use PJP's meeting room with the condition that Dr Whitestone was present too.

To skip the time-consuming self-introductions, everyone was given a data sheet about every employee present. The data sheet was roughly put together by Richard the night before with Neuf's help. It includes the preferred name, job title and job scope of each person. Special Team was left blank but nobody questioned it. They understood at once when they recognised Cameron and Venus. Some recognised Khan too and Neuf was a fairly important person for Richard to be communicating so closely with him.

"Now then," Otta began. "We're skipping self-introductions. If you need more information about your colleagues, feel free to contact them after this. Some basic ground rules or guidelines when working with FLS.

1. Do your job to the best of your abilities. If it isn't within your current abilities, factor it out. When in doubt, do not assume. Consult. Constantly improve yourself on both a personal and professional level, FLS is not a slow-paced company. We're constantly pushing at the wall trying to break the barriers. Common sense is sometimes not required.

2. You don't need to get along with everyone but please exercise basic respect. In addition to this, please always communicate as we wouldn't be meeting much. Richard and I are always contactable. No matters are too big or too small. If a call doesn't work, text or send us a voice message.

3. This should be common sense but everything we do should be a secret. Our rivals are trying to get information, I don't wish to dismiss anyone selling our data to our enemies. You are the team Richard and I have chosen, we have huge expectations.

Other than that, I'll let Richard do the explaining for how we work."

Before Richard could begin, a hand shot up. All eyes were immediately on a brunet with glasses. According to the data sheet, she was Mina the Finance person in charge.

"I have a question. What is the Support Team exactly? There is a bracket with Octopus in their job title and the description is extremely vague. What does fill in the gaps mean?"

Dr Whitestone raised a brow. He hasn't read the datasheet but he didn't understand what Mina was talking about until he found the section.

Job Title: Support Team (Octopus)

Job Description: Fill in the gaps.

Members:

Kalissa Rhonde [picture]

In charge of analysis and information gathering.

Jeffer Starlet [picture]

In charge of running errands and socialising.

Dr Whitestone blinked and rubbed his eyes. Surely he was dreaming. Unfortunately, the reactions of many others who'd flipped to that page proved to him that it wasn't a lie. That was what Otta and Richard had written.

"Oh," Otta blinked. "That's accurate though?"

Nobody believed it and Otta mentally panicked. How could she explain what they did? These two people much like Special Squad didn't have particular jobs... they simply filled in the gaps!

Deciding to help Otta, Jeffer stood up. He was a tall man with fair skin and pink hair. There were a few piercings on his face that included eyebrow and lips. He smiled at Mina who asked the question. Otta had a rather tough time deciding what Jeffer could do during the interview but she knew he would be of great help to FLS.

"I understand your concerns, Ms Megans. In fact, it is slightly tricky to define the job scope for the support team much like the Special Team. To facilitate better understanding, our spirit animal would be a multi-tasking octopus. We're literally filling in the gaps between departments in FLS. Call of jack of all trades or generalists if you will, our knowledge of many things may be lacking but we make it up with our abilities and experience. I'm Jeff. Even though I look like this, I have a lot of experience under my belt when it comes to adapting to changes and catching the wind in my sails. I learn fast and can turn any unfavourable situation over with my experience of years running around the world on the streets and behind the alleys."

Otta heaved a sigh of relief and thanked Jeffer.

"That's true. Kalissa here is a genius with an IQ of 172 the last time she tested it about six years back. She's the youngest person here at only sixteen so her experience might be lacking. However, she's good at analysing and gathering information. She will be working very closely with Richard and I, bridging the technical teams to the business teams. Jeff here has a complicated past and it's not my position to disclose it. However, with his vast amount of experience, he becomes a valuable asset to us. He has a photographic memory and is an extremely fast learner. To demonstrate what he can do, how about we play a game?"

The room fell silent and Jeff grinned. "Are we going to fix a computer again?"

Otta deadpanned. "That would be cheating. You already know how to do it. This time, it's something simpler. Since none of us are familiar with each other, Jeff is going to perform fortune telling. Everyone here is going to write three things on a piece of paper and then we'll collect them in a box to shuffle. On this paper you should write two truths about yourself and one lie. Jeff is going to cross out the lie and return that paper to the correct person. Of course, he won't be in the room while we write so he has no way of knowing who which paper belongs to."

Dr Whitestone wanted to ask how such an ability was proof of his ability to learn fast or fill in the gaps but held his tongue.

The little activity began and Otta smiled. She pretended to write but left hers blank intentionally. Richard who saw it did the same. Venus didn't bother to pretend, Cameron wrote a poem, Neuf folded his exactly into quarter and Khan was thinking hard. Many of the occupants in the room were focussed on their task and Otta observed how everyone handled it.

Molly was cool and did so without an expression or opinion. Mina had already finished hers. Kalissa was doodling. Michelle and Grace were writing with their non-dominant hand. Moona signed off on the bottom page and Mark folded it into an origami after writing. Louis was careful to pay attention to grammar and debating if it was better for the sentences to be accentuated with points. Jordan and Bass didn't look too serious writing it and Otta bet they were all lies. Renae was the only normal person who wrote it as it should but drew smileys at the end of her sentences. The programming team didn't bother concealing their identities. They looked proud of the jargon and puns they used and Dr Whitestone was cancelling the extra points he wrote by mistake.

Fifteen minutes later, Jeff was invited back. He took about ten minutes to look through everybody's answers and sorted them out. It was interesting to watch him work because Jeff would make amusing expressions from time to time. Eventually, he started to move.

"I'll conclude that none of you here are normal. Otta mentioned two truths and one lie but even she didn't follow that rule. I guess I'll have to invent the truths for those who didn't play by the rules."

The first person he approached was Dr Whitestone. He handed back the piece of paper that looked vandalised with so much cancellation. "Otta is amazing. Richard is amazing. Five Lives is amazing. Five Lives Saga is amazing. The younger generation is full of potential. None of what you've written are lies. Also, you're a person dedicated to your job, full or curiousity and are loyal to your friends and family."

Nobody was surprised or impressed. They could tell that much from how Dr Whitestone acted around Otta and Richard. Even before meeting him, they heard news about how he was always behind the duo. However, Otta mentally groaned at how embarrassing Dr Whitestone could be.

"Molly Fincher... it's a rather interesting two truths and one lie here. Money is good. Money is great. Money is the best. You dislike the colour pink and like grey more than black. That ring you're wearing isn't bought by yourself and you're not married."

Molly smirked. Jeff got it right and Otta was impressed with his cold and hot reading skills. The man moved on confidently to the Special Squad.

"Ms Venus left hers blank with only the scent of her perfume lingering. I'll say that Ms Venus isn't a believer of love at first sight or true love. However, you are a romantic at heart."

"Mr Cameron. I must admit, I didn't know that you were into poems. You are a person who can lose a battle but not a war. Every move you make must serve a purpose and you prefer chess to shogi."

"Mr Khan, number one is a lie. You're actually have matt blond hair but choose to dye it brown to hide it."

"Mr Neuf, writing it in morse was a clever way to hide it. Number two is a lie but I believe your secret is safe with me. Also, I'll agree that she is a beautiful person."

"Ms Mina, all three are lies. However, I'll consider number three a half-truth. You dislike cats but only because you're allergic to them. In fact, I believe you're a fan of felines with how your phone's screen saver is a scottish fold kitten."

"Mr Mark, number eight is a lie. I don't know why you'd write fifteen points in a short comic strip but you're very talented. Ms Moona, I recognised your signature. Number three is a lie. Your webtoon series is titled "Daughter of the Sun" and not "Daughter of the Moon". The inspiration is your father isn't it?"

"Kalissa... I'm speechless. Am I meant to guess what these doodles were supposed to mean? You secretly wanted to be an artist but found yourself lacking in that department so you chose to graduate in the easiest specialisation to pursue your passion without your parents' knowledge. It's not very much a secet, they know."

"I'm not fooled. Writing with your non-dominant hand was a good idea but they way you worded them gave it away. Grace, number one is a lie. Michelle, only three is the truth. Also, the both of you were writing truth and lies about each other and not yourselves."

"Louis, number two is a half-truth. You are not a fan of sweets but you add two sugars to your coffee. I saw. You dislike bitter more than sweet. Also, there is nothing wrong with leaving them as sentences, you have beautiful handwriting."

"Jordan and Bass... everything is true."

"Jackson! You're not very good at lying... it's number two. You didn't put a smiley at the end of it."

"Otta and Richard... I'm disappointed. I expected it from Ms Venus but not from the both of you. Why is it blank? Also, was this dot meant to represent anything, Richard? Otta, you're unsure if you prefer men or women. Richard, you're currently secretly interested in someone but are holding back because of complicated circumstancs and do not wish to implicate them."

Otta was surprised. Richard liked someone?! However, the programmer looked unfazed as if it was something normal. "The dot was to mark the centre of that paper. No other meaning."

Jeff smirked and continued. "Jean, Uven, Pagz, Kellen and Johnson... were you trying for a running joke? It's a continuation of the last sentence in the same order of you names in alphabetical orders. Jean you prefer sandals to sneakers. Uven you often misplace your glasses. It's sitting on top of your head now. Pagz, you drink sugar free cola. Kellen, you're actually a female aren't you? Johnson, you play on the same team as me."

Otta's eyes widened. She didn't know that Kellen was a female. She had a rather deep voice and was quite atheletic so Otta assumed Kellen was male. Richard wasn't that surprised. He had a hunch after all. No geek male will have such great fashion sense of colour coordination. Even if Kellen went for monochrome colours, it was much better than the lime green shirt and mocha brown shorts that Uven wore.

"With that, I conclude the fortune telling session. Cold and hot reading are things that I'm good at. In case you're curious, Otta and Richard tested my abilities two nights ago by throwing me a three thousand page manual and asking me to fix a computer that Richard took apart. I spent a good forty-five minutes reading everything, an hour trying to understand what I'd read and another two hours to identify the parts before putting everything back together."

Richard smirked. "Hundred marks. Not just that, Jeff's abilities go further than what he'd just demonstrated. Administration, accounting, debugging, plumbing, cooking, flying a jetplane... he's done them before. I'm sure we don't have to explain his role in FLS now."

Nobody objected. Mina stood up to give Jeff an aplause. Jordan and Bass joined in before the whole room was cheering. Otta was silently glad that the thick ice has been broken. Hopefully now that everyone is at the same starting line, FLS can finally go to war.

"Right, I believe it's lunch now. We'll resume the mundane stuff after eating."

After saying that, Richard handed out a few take out pamphlets he stole from Mcsmeldy's. Jeff offered to help consolidate everyone's orders and Otta called Jillian to place their orders. Richard gathered the tech team and briefed them about what would happen after lunch. Otta felt slightly left out when Grace and Michelle were mingling around the other girls, trying to make Kalissa feel welcomed. She stood at her desk awkwardly. Dr Whitestone was chatting with Jordan and Bass.

"Are you alright?"

Otta turned around and smiled at Khan. He was the only person who remained silent throughout. Cameron tried to include him in his conversation with Jeff but the adventurer refused. He spotted Otta looking lost and tiny in such a huge room and decided to accompany her. Not being a great conversationalist himself, they sat in silence while everyone else mingled before Jillian came with lunch.

***

After a heart lunch with Jillian joining them for the first half before she had to get back, everyone was in high spirits.

"In regards to the office question, we don't have any intentions of getting one. Before you ask why, it's because we're not going to need it."

Richard pulled out his phone whiel Neuf hooked his laptop to the projector.

"We will be installing an app to everyone's phone now. It's called FLS Workstation. I created this app with Neuf's help. It's completely secure and all work will made accessible to everyone here. Please use the workstation to chat and call each other. These are secure lines and I do not wish for anyone else hacking the normal calls. This Workstation will be your life and Jenny will be your guide. Two step verifications will be used when you're acessing the app and desktop or laptop applications are available too. Just let me know and the tech team will help to install it for you."

Otta smiled as Richard explained how the workstation worked. Jenny has improved a lot from the last time. She was glad that they were able to find a method to work most efficiently without breaking their current lifestyle. It would be weird to sleep atnight and wake up in the morning to work the whole day. Otta worked best from eight at night to around three in the morning. Richard would probably die on her if he had to work from nine to six like any ordinary person.

The app installation and question session took about three hours. Everyone had mixed reactions to the announcement and first meeting as a company. However, Otta had a good feeling that these people will become an incredible team. Bass and Jordan were the ones Otta worried about the most at the start however, they seemed to get along really well with the others, especially Cameron and Louis.

After the meeting was adjourned, a few people remained behind. Apart from jean who received an urgent call, the rest of the tech team remained. They wanted to get to work immediately. Otta was left to talk to Mina and Kalissa about FLS's future project release and customer base.

Dr Whitestone watched everything calmly and smiled. Adrian will be pleased to know that none of the spies Cameron and Grace marked out were on the team. Otta and Richard had good eyes and the people they hired, though eccentric, were trustworthy.