Chapter 1: Nekane
"Fuck!" said Nekane as she looked at the two lines.
"Wait. What?"
Was that even possible? It didn't make any sense in her mind.
"Fuck."
Surely something was wrong. Maybe the test wouldn't work on her. Maybe it was defective. She would figure it out later. She had to get back to work for now.
As she walked back to her desk, a young blonde woman rolled out of her cubicle and looked up at Nekane excitedly.
"Well??" the woman asked, her blue eyes almost as big as the perfectly round frames of the glasses she wore. "Are you??"
"No, Cappi, I am not." Nekane answered shortly. "I told you I'm just not feeling well. There must be something going around."
Cappi's face fell ever so slightly, but her cheery demeanor was so irrepressible the Nekane hardly noticed the change.
"Oh well, just wanted to make sure you were okay! Do you need to see a Doctor?"
"No, I'll be fine. I'm feeling better already. I probably just need to sleep more."
"Okay! See you around!" Cappi trailed off as Nekane walked away and sat down at her desk.
As annoying as Cappi was, she was a good friend. A work friend at least. Nekane had only spent time with her a handful of times outside work, although this wasn't unusual. Nekane didn't get too emotionally involved with anyone, and that was on purpose. But she had a knack for understanding people's motivations, and Cappi wasn't manipulative in her friendship. At least not in a malicious or hurtful way. Of course everyone acts out of selfish desires, even Cappi, but she didn't use people on purpose and didn't treat anyone poorly like some of the other employees in the office did.
Nekane took a deep breath, leaned way back in her chair and exhaled.
What a strange week she was having. She had lied to Cappi of course, but there was some truth in what she said. She wasn't sick because she wasn't sleeping well, but she definitely wasn't sleeping well and it probably was because she was sick. Which was strange in its own right: she could count on one hand how many times she had been sick in her entire life. Maybe it was stress? She had been working quite a bit lately, but she wouldn't know that she could consider herself stressed. What WAS making her stressed was being sick and this stupid test! It was a vicious cycle.
"Fuck...."
"NEKANE!"
Nekane opened her eyes and jolted straight up in her chair as the booming voice called her name. The voice wasn't angry or upset, just naturally loud and projecting. Even though the bosses office was across the floor and he hadn't even gotten out of his chair, there was no question that she heard. Her along with everyone else on the floor.
"MY OFFICE! NOW!"
Nakane glanced at the digital clock sitting on her desk. 4:45. Great. Now it looked like she would be staying late too.
She got up and walked across the room toward the corner office. She was about as far as possible from the office, and had no choice but to walk by just about every co-worker. A few of them glanced at her knowingly, but most of them took the opportunity to pack up their things a little early. If Nekane was taking one for the team, they were going to take full advantage of it.
Nekane leaned in on the door sill to her bosses office. On the door was a shiny brass name plate that read "SERGIO". Everyone at the company had a similar one, either on their door or on their desk, but nobody else, even higher in the company had theirs in all caps like he did. It was as if his nameplate was mimicking his booming voice.
"Yes sir?"
Sergio continue typing for a second or two.
"Ah, Nekane. Please have a seat."
As she sat down, she glanced out the glass paned wall and noticed people starting to leave. Sergio either didn't notice or didn't care. He was ambitious; he would not be in his current position for long. He asked a lot of his employees, but they worked for him well, and as long as they got their work done he wasn't going to police every minute of the day.
Nekane watched him as he worked. His authority was attractive to her. She thought about how in a few years he could be a Vice President of this company or another one. That was more than useful in a world where your connections determined your life. But it was more than that. Even his posture was powerful: his back was as straight as a board, masterfully supporting his broad shoulders.
Finally Sergio spoke:
"Nakane, I have an important contract that I am working on acquiring for our floor. I'm going to need input from everyone, but there are some especially important tasks that you personally will need to accomplish for me."
Nekane was trying to focus.
"Keep. It. Together." She told herself. "Keep. It. Together."
But it was as if she had been gassed or poisoned in some way. She couldn't hear the words coming out of Sergio's mouth, only the forceful vibrations of them as they broke across her body. The words she started writing down on the pad she brought to take notes with were just scribbles. Nekane unconsciously started fidgeting in her chair.
Sergio had gone on talking, referring to some documents, but it didn't take him long to notice the change on Nekane's countenance. He watched for a split second as she squirmed in her chair. Her eyes had glazed over and she had bit her lower lip, scraping off the bright red lipstick she was wearing.
Sergio stood up and put both his hand on the edge of his desk.
"For FUCK'S sake, Nekane!" he yelled.
Nekane heard the words, but just sat there looking at him with pleading eyes.
Sergio glanced at his watch and let out a small sigh.
"Get over here."
Nekane stumbled towards him, finally hearing what she wanted to. As she made the few steps forward, she lowered her body so she ended up kneeling in front of Sergio, still looking up at him. Sergio looked into her eyes.
"That's a good girl."
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone