"Welcome to the Northwest Towers Complex, where are you headed to?" The receptionist took her job seriously, even though the shiny black-marble corporate lobby was mostly deserted.

Kevin flashed his best corporate smile. “The restaurant on the top floor. Is it open today?”

“Let me check, are you going to the gastrobar Opus, Tower A Level 40, or the omakase place, Nobita at Tower B, Level 39?”

Sam paused as he turned to look at Kevin. “There’s two towers?”

“Three. Towers A, B and C.” The receptionist smiled. “However, there are no restaurants on the higher floors of Tower C.”

“Oh darn.” Sam cursed.

Kevin shrugged, doing his best to pretend he belonged. “It should be Opus. Maybe we’ll try Nobita tomorrow. Let me fill up that form.”

The receptionist gave them a beaming smile and passed them their visitor access cards. “Enjoy your meal! I was told the view there’s great, but I’ve not been there myself.”

Kevin nodded. There was hardly anyone using the express lifts to Level 40. Not on a weekend, and honestly, not everyone took their missions seriously. Who would think whatever a blue screen told you was something you had to do right now, anyway?

Kevin hoped to meet someone with a Glowing Spanner on their head, but so far no luck.

The lift was spotless, and Sam turned to face Kevin. “We can’t afford this, right?”

“We can’t. But it doesn’t matter.”

“Why?”

“We’re not here to eat, dude. We’ve just got to look for a shovel. Might as well start from the top.”

“True. but we could start from the car park. If it’s a shovel, it’s probably in the maintenance and janitorial closets.” Sam said instead.

Kevin paused as he realised Sam gave his mission more thought than he expected. “You know, you’re right. We need to get maintenance access. Oh well.”

An automated pre-recorded voice informed they’ve arrived at the top floor, and the lift doors opened to a gorgeous view of the Northwestern part of the City. At this height, the city looked beautiful.

There was a gorgeous lady manning the counter outside the restaurant.

Kevin smirked, did his best to act natural and walked up to the lady. “I’ve got a call that there’s something broken in the kitchen and we’re here to fix it.”

“Ah. You’re the one Chef Allin called?” The lady somehow managed a smile and gestured to the right. “The maintenance access is to the right. Also, take the maintenance lift next time. The main lift is for guests. It can be accessed from the Lift Lobby C at Basement 1 carpark.”

“Alright. Can’t let us undesirables take the main lift, eh.” Kevin smirked.

The lady smiled and answered. “It is what it is.”

The two just nodded along, and walked to the side. There really was someone waiting for them. “What took you guys so long? Wait. You two are the maintenance guys? I’ve never seen you two before.”

“The boss had some staffing problems. Had to call in some backups. And their backups had to call their backups. So here we are. Labor’s tight, and everyone’s desperate.” Kevin answered.

The guy snorted. “Yeah. Fucking screens messing with everyone’s jobs. I’m betting nothing will happen after a week. The head chef already told the guys that anyone that didn’t turn up this week will be fired. Permanently.”

Kevin winced. “Got it. Anyway, what needs fixing?”

“One of the suction hoods’ busted.”

“Sounds like it isn’t the first time. Let’s check it out.” They followed, though Sam looked absolutely nervous. Kevin noticed everyone’s busy working, so they all looked up briefly, and then went back to their work. No one noticed the football-sized cockroach hidden in his baggy pants, either.

The guy pointed to a machine that frankly looked massive. “Here. If you need some tools we have it out at the back. I need to get back to cooking.”

“Got it.” Kevin answered, and once the kitchen dude got out of distance, Sam leaned close and whispered.

“What are we doing here?”

“Shh. Just let me check this, alright.” Kevin actually took a serious look at the machine, and stared at it for a moment. He tried yanking and checking some of the grills. He then looked at the nearest working kitchen-guy. “The tools out at the back?”

The kitchen-guy shook his head. “Not sure.”

Kevin shrugged. “It’s okay, let me look for it.” Then Kevin started walking around the kitchen area. Sam followed quietly behind, and eventually he found a maintenance closet, and even some overalls.

“I’m gonna change into this.” Frankly it was just a construction-style safety vest, but whoever was here left some access cards, and some keys.

“You’ve done this before, mate?”

“No, but I’ve always wanted to.” Kevin grinned. “Well, let’s check whether these things work, and then we can use the maintenance lifts.”

“Great, I’m friends with a psychopath.”

“The maintenance office is downstairs at Tower B, B2.”

“Wait. How’d you know?” Sam wore the vest, and somehow it fit him perfectly.

“It says on the back of the card. Return to the maintenance office at Tower B, B2, next to the Main Electrical Room.”

Then as they walked out, Kevin saw a female waitress with a glowing Clock on her head, she was busy working. “Wait. Are you seeing that lady? Does she have a clock on her head?”

“What?”

Kevin decided to immediately walk up to the lady. “Hi. I’m Kevin. You have a clock on your head. Why?”

The waitress stared at Kevin, too shocked by the sudden interaction in the kitchen. She took a deep breath, and then answered. “I’m working.”

“I am aware. You have a glowing clock on your head. I want to know why, and whether it’s related to my bluescreen. Can we talk after work to discuss it?” Kevin answered with an almost perfect corporate tone, trained from years of corporate slavery.

The waitress sighed. “...fine.”

The other kitchen staff laughed. “Someone’s flirting with Ashley during work hours.”

“This isn’t flirting.” Ashley blushed anyway. “Here’s my number and stop bothering me. Shoo.”

“Got it.” Kevin immediately added Ashley to his phone contacts and texted her. “We’ll talk after work.”

Sam gave Kevin an eyeroll. “How’d you remain single if you can talk to girls like that still baffles me.”

“I’m picky.” Kevin just answered. “Anyway, let’s get to ‘work’.”

His partner got the message.