Inside 863

Chapter 10 | 1/11/2021

I finally found out why I hadn't been seeing CJ, Hannah, and Pat around the studio. I found out because Jared walked into the office today looking extra above himself.

"What's up with you?" I finally asked at lunch after he had been looking at me all day like I was a dirty commoner.

"I got promoted," he said. I could almost see his head tilt up a little and his chest puff out.

"You?" I asked, sarcastically astonished. But secretly, I really was astonished. Jared got promoted but I didn't? I was slightly jealous.

"Yep. The old is out and in comes the new," Jared said.

"What do you mean?" I inquired, no longer teasing.

"My boss got fired. So, I took his place," he said. Pat got fired? I thought. That was pretty sad. But what was even more sad was that Jared was taking Pat's place.

"CJ got fired too. And Hannah," he droned. The fans will be upset, I predicted.

A few minutes later, Dakota walked in. We still hadn't said a word to each other. I decided that that needed to change.

"Hey," I said as he sat down across from me.

"Hey," he responded dully. He didn't look the slightest bit better from when I had seen him last.

"So . . . how have you been?" I asked, trying to keep the conversation alive. Dumb question, Payten. He obviously hasn't been doing well. He looked up from his food and stared at me somberly for a moment. He shrugged.

"Sorry I snitched." I whispered so the others couldn't hear.

"Don't be sorry. I needed someone to find out so I could get out of the whole thing," he admitted softly. "Sadly, I'm now just being used. I guess it's a good way of paying Matt back for my behavior." Being used? I thought.

"Wait a minute . . . are you some sort of double spy?" I asked, excited. Jared whipped his head in our direction. Whoops, too loud, I thought.

"Uh, roleplay," I blurted, hoping he would buy the coverup.

"Dakota, roleplay is just pretending you're someone you're not. Get a life," Jared lectured in his nasally tone. How did he even get hired? I thought, shaking my head.

"So, who's Syphus?" I asked eagerly. Dakota leaned in closer and whispered, "Syphus is my real last name. But the Syphus you're probably referring to is my dad."

"Whoa," I said. No wonder Dakota was so tied up in everything! Then, I had a revelation.

"Are you D?" I asked exuberantly. I mean, it made sense. If he was trying to reveal to Matt what was all happening while staying incognito, that would be a great way to do it. And his name started with a D.

"No. D is someone who used to work at Syntec," Dakota disclosed. "The only thing I know about her is that she is my dad's ex-girlfriend." Yooo, I thought. That's nutty. D is Syphus' ex? I was about to ask if D was trying to hurt or help, but was interrupted.

"What are you two whispering about?" Carey snooped. Dakota jerked back. I cursed in my head. I was so close to figuring out vital information to help solve the mystery! At least I knew D is a she and not a he.

"None of your business, Carey," I sighed. Why did Carey and Jared always have to be so . . . them.

Dakota didn't want to chat anymore for the rest of lunchtime. So, I quietly finished my lunch and went back to work.

At around three, Matthias came around to Red Base and asked to talk to me. He looked as though something was on his mind. We left Red Base and headed toward Megadesk to talk. Once there, I sat down in one of the comfortable theater chairs. Matthias sat in his desk chair and spun around to face me.

"What did you want to talk about?" I asked him.

"Just thought you might want to know what went down after you left on Friday," Matt said. I wanted to ask whatever happened to "no more involvement" but I didn't want to risk losing my privileges of being involved again.

"I went to the sheriff's station. The first person I talked to sent me to someone else, who sent me to someone else. The last person I talked to seemed to know more of what I was talking about. I showed him footage and he said he had never even heard of us before.

"After I got back from there, I talked to Woods about it, and we decided to try to find out how Syphus wired the case so fast. We stumbled upon a trapdoor at the top of the stairs. A little ladder led down to a secret room under the stairs. Everything was covered in dust. It was mostly just beakers full of chemicals and strange, unidentified things like that. There was a desk and an old computer, an Apple II to be specific. One of the fans had pointed out that the emulator we got in the mail from D went to the Apple II. We plugged in the emulator and read some chat logs between D and other people, who I assume were Syntec employees. There were also patient logs on the emulator," Matt said, relaying Friday's events.

"Huh," I said. "That's pretty wild."

"Yeah," Matt agreed.

"Did Dakota tell you that D is a girl?" I asked.

"Yes, he did inform me of that." Matt narrowed his eyes. "Were you interrogating him today?"

"Well . . . I don't know if I'd call it interrogating . . ."

"So, you're using him for answers?" Matt said. I didn't think it possible, but somehow his eyes narrowed further.

"You're using him too!" I accused. Matt sighed.

"For good reason," he objected.

"Have you even stopped to check on him recently? He's not himself. He just looks tired all the time and barely talks at all. Just don't ask too much of him. I'm worried about him," I confessed. I didn't really realize how true my statement was until today. Then, I added, "Whatever you're asking him to do is too much."

"He has to make up for what he's done. Serve his sentence," Matt argued.

"He's just an employee at Hi5, for heaven's sake!" I cried.

"That's a false statement. Nothing is normal here anymore. He is not a normal employee he was a spy." Matt's voice raised.

"So you don't care about your employees?"

"That's not what I'm saying--"

"Sounds like it--"

"Stop. Just stop," Matthias interrupted. His head sank into his hands. Then, the stressed laugh to break the tension.

"You know what? You're right. He is an employee at Hi5, and I shouldn't treat him any differently. It's just . . . his whole deal caused me a lot of stress and a lot of problems. Luckily we know a few things to expect in the future. But using him as leverage--"

"No. No more using him," I declared. Did I just rudely interrupt my boss and rudely object? I thought. I knew I was a pretty impulsive person, which I was trying to work on fixing. Hopefully Matt would not hate me or think less of me for that.

"Fine," Matthias said curtly. He stood and opened the door, waiting expectantly for me to leave. I walked out, holding my head high. I wasn't going to let my boss bully one of my coworkers. Not today, not any day. Knowing Matt, I knew he would come to his senses and make the right choice. I could see why he was angry, but I knew this wasn't all Dakota's fault.