Four o'clock with Alex

You knock on Alex's open door, poking your head inside to see what your boss is working on. He's sitting at his desk, phone in hand, flicking away at something on his screen. Maybe someone hacked all of their phones, and he's scrolling through that same introduction tutorial? He looks up at your knock, inviting you in with a point towards a chair across from his desk, and sets his phone down.

"Hey Lev, thanks for coming by," he says. A friendly smile draws on his face - always the likeable character. "Go ahead and take a seat, I need to discuss something with you before you head out today."

"Sure thing, Alex," you say, taking a seat across from his desk. You sit nervously, waiting for the hammer to drop. A decade of loyalty, and you knew it was about to be tossed to the curb like garbage on Sunday mornings.

"I'll make it quick. I've been promoted to Senior Vice President. This means I am going to be leaving our group behind, very soon. Three weeks in fact."

Wow - that was a large jump. Alex is skipping Senior Director, Vice President, and Greater Vice President to go straight to Senior VP? It doesn't add up. Not at all.

"Now, I can see you're confused. I received this promotion due to the CEO deciding that we need some young blood in the executive leadership. He chose me to skip the line and move ahead more quickly than others, although I don't really know why. This all means, though, that I need to be replaced."

So, this wasn't two to the chest and one to the head - not yet at least. A promotion? No, surely not. Your heart begins to thump in your chest at the prospect.

"I want you to help pick my successor. You've been apart of our team the longest, and you know everyone. I think your input will be very valuable in finding a suitable replacement. Will you help me?"

Fuck. Not only is he not promoting you, but you have to put in extra work to find your new boss. Only marginally better than being fired.

"Sure, Alex," you say, "I'll do whatever is needed to help."

"That's why I am counting on you, Lev. You're the guy that always gets it done. Thanks man. Now, I have a four fifteen and need to bounce out of here. Are we good?"

"We're good. Let me know what you need me to do," you say, and leave the office.

As you walk out of the door, you feel a familiar vibration in your pocket. You open your phone to see a notification popup.

Affection Multiplier App Achievement: First Relationship!

You click on it as you wander back to your desk, taking a seat in your worn office chair. The app opens on your phone, the same cartoon animation as last time. After it finishes, the introduction screen reopens.

[6/10] Wow, wasn't that fun? You just made your first relationship via the Affection Multiplier App! Great job, we knew you could do it. Because of your efforts, you've been awarded the 'First Relationship' achievement. Super rare! Achievements are unlocked by completing certain unknown actions, and they always come with a reward. In this case, you are rewarded with new access within the app. You can now open the Relationships section to view your relationships created through the app - Nice!

[7/10] The Relationships section of the app allows you to view the Affection score of any relationships you have, as well as some basic information about the person you have the relationship with. As you get to know them better, more information will be recorded into the app. Kind of like a notebook, but it's automagical. Handy!

[8/10] You might be worried about your dog opening your phone and finding out your dirty secrets, but don't worry - only you can open and see the app. Everyone else only sees a blank screen. Spoooooooky.

[9/10] That's all for now - get back out there and build those relationships, punk! Oink - out.

The introduction menu fades away, returning to those three buttons you had seen before. You click on the Relationships button again, and this time it works. The screen zooms in on it in a ninety's matrix animation, before your name appears in the center in a purple bubble, overlaying the purple nebula that is the app's background. A single line is drawn from your name, connecting to another circle labelled "Alex." You attempt to click on your own name, but nothing happens. You try again, on Alex's name this time, and grin as a window pops up.

Alex Beldwardi

Affection Score: 3 (+1)

Notes: SVP of Operations at SlidingTech, Inc. You have known him since he started working alongside you a decade ago.

What a shitty hack. Definitely made by some high schooler. You see a plus one, and a tooltip expands that reads: Affection Score Increase from last interaction. Time to get rid of it. You close the app, holding your thumb on it in an attempt to delete it, but you are unable to. It stares back at you from your screen, as if laughing at your ineptitude. Disgusted, you grab your back from your desk and head out of the office, jumping into the elevator and descending to the streets beneath your building.
__