2008 November 20

Only the third day I've written as much as the initial quota required, because of that I'm now at the point of needing to write more than 3,000 a day. A challenge when my daily average is currently less than 1,000.

Words today: 1678
Total for the month so far: 18361

I wondered if perhaps they had done something to it one night so that instead of me being the one obtaining information I wasn't supposed to it was actually Kevin and co that had been getting information about me. The possibility was enough that I made a mental note to have my sister look at it when it arrived and then I'd probably just put it in storage of some sort. Other to that fact however I liked being in the new office permanently, I was able to concentrate on the wormhole research more than I had been and wasn't distracted by the random conversations and such that occurred with frequency in the front offices.
I did still have to do some of the work I'd been hired for initially, there just wasn't much of it and I was able to spend hours each day reading through the initial tests and theoretical workings from the research team. A year ago I would not have even considered the possibility of me being happier reading up on theoretical physics than I would have been doing the office work; now I didn't think I'd want to go back to normal if the wormhole research didn't pan out.

My time with the books didn't lead to any breakthroughs, but I did spot a couple of things that were helpful, saving a dollar or so each time the experiment was run. That was enough that I got to see the next test though, rewards being a better motivation than the threat of being put back in the boring office apparently. Things seemed to be as they had been before except for the noise I heard this time. It wasn't actually part of the wormhole but there had been discussions and someone decided that they should provide another clue to the creation of something that could potentially be very dangerous. I asked Dan about that and he told me that one of the researchers was a big Sci-Fi nut and had been watching one of the old time programs when he realised that an audio cue to a non-audio event could provide warning to any people in the area.

The green light was still only visible because of the room it was happening in, I'd seen readings to indicate that if the wormhole was to form outside it would only show in low light times as the ambient light would outshine the artificial. I wasn't really in a position to judge the effects of anything else but I thought that one of the readings were different from most of the recent tests so I made an effort to remember which one was different.

Getting back to my office after the test I looked up records from the first couple of tests to see what the readings had been then. I also checked random results from what was the current middle of testing and the three prior to today's test. There had been changes in most of the results and while most of what I saw was simple fluctuations I had been right to notice that one of them had progressed higher and higher as the tests progressed. It wasn't simply a constant rise as time went on though, checking that particular reading for all the tests I had results for I saw that there were occasional jumps but mostly steady readings.

I hadn't seen any mention of that when I was going through any of the other readings or reports so I made some very quick notes and took it along to the office I expected Dan to be in. He wasn't there so I went to Kevins office, it being the next closest and found him there with the three underlings that I'd met on that first meeting. Kevin was surprised to see me but recovered to ask why. I simply handed over the paper and asked if anyone had noticed what I had before.
He glanced at it, looked up and must have registered what I'd presented him with as he handed the paper to Kris and went to one of his cabinets to begin looking for a folder. Kris was obviously more familiar with the machine readings as he didn't need a second glance to register what I was now aware happened to be big news.

Kevin sat back at the desk with the folder he'd gone looking for and started flicking through it. Then he remembered I was still there and told me that it was going to be quite a while before he or any of the others could talk to me about what I'd just discovered. He wrote me a note quickly and told me to head home early. My curiosity wasn't enough to overwhelm my natural desire to head home early, or the fact that I was obviously not welcome in the current meeting of minds. As I went back to my, now main, office I read the note and tried to think if it was going to interfere with anything. I was basically ordered to be at work again tomorrow (a Saturday) for another round of testing and I would likely be at the factory all day.

As I headed out of work I made sure to stop by where Veronika was stationed, I managed to miss her so I just left a short note on her desk letting her know I'd left early and she'd have to walk alone. Getting home early meant that I could do something nice for Veronika so after cleaning up and tidying a few things I started cooking a meal. We had arranged to simply eat leftovers that evening before going out because neither of us was expecting to have the time or inclination to cook between getting home and going back to play games in the evening. I managed to time things almost well enough that Veronika got home to food that had just finished cooking, instead, she had time to put all her stuff away and change clothes. Probably what I should have been aiming for anyway.

Unsurprisingly there were questions, starting with why I had been sent home early enough to do anything about food preparation and stretching to the issue of what I had actually done to deserve the time off. There was also the thanks for having done what I had with my time as she knew I could easily have spent it on other things. I hated not being able to explain any of the specifics, or even the details I would have been able to explain if I hadn't signed the confidentiality clauses of my contract. What I was able to say was simply that I had discovered something that the others hadn't noticed at all and it was apparently very important if their reactions were anything to go by.

Picking up on the fact that I probably couldn't actually provide more details than I already had Veronika let the topic drop and we started talking about other things. There were no longer any issues with her colleagues thinking there was a problem with her relationship with me and the work was what she had expected and hoped for. As such she had considered going into work for a little longer each day so she could get more done but I reminded her that thanks to my nosing around there were fairly specific time limits on most days. And I also let her know that I'd rather just have extra time to spend with her. She rightly pointed out that I'd been distancing myself somewhat with the extra reading I'd been doing and with that I deflated a little, acceding to her desire to do more if that was what she continued to want.

Games weren't going to be starting for almost half an hour so I told Veronika I'd take care of the dishes if she wanted to go do anything else before we left. She helped to take things through to the kitchen and then kissed my cheek before heading off down the hall. I did the dishes and cleaned up the mess on the benches as I thought about the selfishness I'd shown telling her I didn't think she should work extra time as it would prevent us being together.

Forgiveness always came easy to her there though so I was unsurprised to feel arms around me a little while later and wet hair falling past my cheek. I apologised again and on standing up and turning around was firmly embraced. We walked to the games that night hand-in-hand just enjoying each others company and not needing to talk.

Early on, during the second or third week, it had become obvious that the two of us were far more competitive when playing against the other than we normally were so we had agreed to try and play in separate games when possible. It made taking the actions that might hurt feelings less worrying for either of us as there was none of the meta-game aspect of such decisions to take into account. That night we ended up able to look at each through the evening as we'd managed to position ourselves in facing chairs, at different tables. I hadn't been able to truly see her when playing before that night, I was always too involved in my own games, all thoughts I had about her being there because of me faded that night. It was obvious she enjoyed both the games she played and the company of most of the people she played against.

Come the end of the evening both of us were finishing our games at the same time and only a couple of people were intending to stick around for another game if they could get another player, Veronika and I agreed after conferring briefly. The competition was a little more evenly directed it than it had been in the previous game we'd played together, but we still hurt each other disproportionately.