Muses, Mishaps, and Murder!

Chapter 5 Recording

Muse Silver-Green

"Paisley went home for the night," my former supervisor said. "This isn't a live recording, and Mason can't hear your thoughts. If you perform an adequate job, I'll allow you to see the current live feed of the corrupted chosen one, Zander Phall."

"Okay." We watched the stream. I felt joyous seeing Mason, even though I couldn't talk to him.

"I hate temps, but I despise repulsive musical theater geeks even more." He swung at Mason but missed again, punching the table. He screamed in pain.

Mason ducked and sang. I am The Captain of The Pinafore during their fight. Customers in the cafeteria took photos.

"Stop singing whenever I try to hit you," the man said.

"I'm able to fight and perform. Can you?" Mason tossed him to the floor. "Beaten by a temp. Does that make you pathetic?"

"Your obsessive singing is why you no longer have a girlfriend." The man fled.

Mason walked back to the lunch table. He read a musical script book from his phone and wrote a song idea for the sequel to his play, The Mystery of Dracula's Dawn, on a note-keeping app.

His mother finally arrived, and he stood up to purchase his meal.

Mason approached the salad station, and the on-duty chef prepared a rainbow cob and poured him a cup of tomato soup. He walked over to the Happy Bread station. The baker arranged buns that resembled cat faces on the counter and placed a tray of bee-shaped honey cakes into the oven behind her.

He purchased two buns and walked back to the table.

Lace ordered a boxed cucumber sandwich and poured herself a large bowl of runny 3D printed chocolate pudding from a food printer.

Commander Nickel sat down next to them and clutched her cheap ration bar. Subtle crackling sounds came from the silver and black wrapper.

Mason smirked and ate half a bun. "Your maple-glazed ham bar contains more sugar and caffeine than two bags of chocolate-covered candy corn." He left and came back with a boxed steak salad. "Come on. It's your favorite."

"Mason, you act more like a mom than I do," Lace said.

Commander Nickel lifted the lid. "Mason, you're a sweetheart, and thank you." She dug into her meal. "My table has been taken over by General Allen's crew. They're great, and Allen is a former friend, but I'm unworthy to sit at his table. He assigned me to fix this crew, and I haven't, but I refuse to forgive myself for..." she paused.

"You reduced fatality rates by 20%," Lace said.

Commander Nickel ate her salad and munched on her unhealthy ham bar. "Maybe I should take that empowerment course." Her eyes fixated on the general.

General Allen was a human male. His prematurely gray hair made him appear two decades older from afar, but up close, his face was still boyish.

Even then, his manly square jaw bore a strong resemblance to his older brother, Tolbert. Small freckles dotted his cheeks, but they were only noticeable up close. He waved, and his lips spread into a generous grin in Medic Lace's direction.

When Nickel stared at the floor, the general's lips trembled, and his eyes clouded over.

Lace shook Commander Nickel's shoulder. "Allen is beautiful and hasn't been on a date since his wife divorced him. He is too young and hot to be alone." She patted the commander's hand. "I'll set you up with him, and I think I was wrong about his intentions. He is the perfect man for you and a jacked version of Santa Claus."