2432 minutes, 48 seconds

You are in your office, at your desk, working on something when you have an idea.

The normal hum of the people working and talking down the halls are a soothing sound, sadly the annoying buzzing sparking above you rather ruins the effect. You had thought all the light fixtures were the new style LED ones, but that irritating buzz makes you wonder if an old fluorescent tube light is dying.

But no matter, looking across the room you see the server rack. Is it time? Not yet? You just had an idea about what to check first after the unlock, but after so long waiting for the TAM to finish unlocking it won't hurt to stick to the plan. May as well wait until the others are ready so you can all check out whatever the 'traits' are together.

A bing from your computer and a flashing alert shows you a direct message from Juniper asking you to pop by when you have a moment.

The cylinder in your hands is extremely satisfying to look at and use. A black metal device, it has a small crank on the top with a ring, surrounded by small numbers that make up the dial. A series of eleven slots along the sides of the are labelled with more numbers and on it. You smile and flip it over to see the bottom with the phrase “PACEM PETERE” custom engraved around the manufacturer’s mark.

The whole thing looks like a peppermill, or a fancy handheld coffee grinder. Perhaps a hand grenade. You’re happy to have it, especially a Type II with it’s ability to accept 11 digits.

A cheery knock on the doorframe, and you smile at Mati. Your somewhat nosey neighbour gives you a happy nod and says, “Hey Zach, good morning, happy Hump Day! How was your night?”

Standing up, you have to smile back, “It was… really great Mati, for a random Tuesday night. Thanks for asking.” The memory of Jayne and Karissa has your smile widen even as your gaze softens.

“Oh-ho! Sounds like it lover boy!” Mati laughs as you chuckle, slightly abashed that she was so easily able to guess what you were thinking about. “Dull night for me really. Honestly, I was eager to go to bed so I could come back to work, weird huh? My family wasn’t bugging me or anything, just things are way more exciting around here. Oh, I did go to buy some new clothes, that was fun!”

As she stands in your doorway, you walk around your desk. She sees you look down politely and she grins, giving a jokey pose as if modelling her presumably new outfit. “Hehe, like it Zach?” she asks cheekily, a light blush on her face. You don’t exactly have the keenest eye for women’s fashion, but you would have probably noticed the outfit was new.

Matilde spent more effort on her appearance than some of the other women, but you wouldn’t have thought of her as especially vain by any means. Somewhat plump as she eased through her 30’s, she had a great smile and a chatty personality. Now that you look, you can see her hair is more styled, and she may have more makeup on. Her top is snug, and with a few buttons undone it shows a good amount of bare skin, and you’re sure you see stiff nipples through the fabric… is she bra-less? Bold for a woman with heavy breasts, but you’ll never complain! Her skirt is also on the tight side, but with her confident pose it’s frankly a sexy look, a few extra pounds or no.

“Uh, wow, looking great Mati,” you say as you approach. She smiles even more, pleased with your praise. You walk past her and she twists her body, accidentally-on-purpose booping you in the arm with one of her breasts as she lets you by. “Sorry, got to go see Juniper. Talk to you later!”

She gives you a slightly breathless good-bye as you go down the hallway. Passing Meeting Room Central B, you hear a bang and then the sound of something falling, followed by an annoyed curse which is cut off by another thump. Some manner of hubbub, but it’s better to mind your own business. Especially in this place.

The open area where the nurses sit is quieter now, with a few smaller groups sitting around and chatting. A couple wave and call out hellos to you, which is a nice change of pace for sure.

You don’t want to be distracted by the nurses, so you smile politely but shake your head as one of the LPN’s tries to call you over. Better go see what Juniper wants.

“Hi Zach, how was your night?” The HR manager is standing in her office, making some staffing notes on the whiteboard that makes up one of the walls.

“It was really nice Juniper. Jayne and Karissa and I had a lovely date.”

She caps her dry erase marker and faces you, “Good to hear, Zach!” She walks up and gives you an affectionate kiss on the cheek, squeezing your arm as she does it. She is dressed in a long pencil skirt and a tasteful sweater that looks good on her, and her long straight black hair is parted in the middle and flows behind her.

The staffing list on the whiteboard shows a few columns, with a few random names you recognize. Juniper sees you studying the board and says, “Almost all done! There are a few workers who don’t… fit in with the office culture, so they are being moved to the empty space on the second floor. Now now, don’t pout again, I know you keep saying you didn’t ask for this, but it’s for the best. For everyone.”

You sigh, then nod. “I know Juniper, I just feel like a jerk that so many people have to move around to accommodate me.”

“It was their decision. Well, basically, anyway. Some of them clearly weren’t going to accept the changes so why not avoid the drama? They can have a desk downstairs instead. No fuss, no muss! Oh, and the swipe cards on the stairwells will be installed next week, not that we get strangers wandering around now but with the doors outside the elevator locked now it’s just for the best.”

It does make sense. Hell, Jayne would never have gone along with this craziness if there wasn’t a way to remove some people before open conflict started, and you were still sure it would all fall apart. But Juniper came out of nowhere with the idea to split the office into two, and you were finding it hard to tell Jayne ‘no’ about anything.

A woman appeared in the doorway, looking at you with a shy smile. “Uh, hi,” she said, “sorry, I have a meeting with Ms. Rhee but it’s not for a few minutes, I can come back?”

“Nonsense, come in,” Juniper said, “we were just finishing up, Zach, I wanted to run some names by with you, a few of the clerks I’m not sure about. But you know Makayla here, right?” She was young woman, skinny with short light blonde hair and big green eyes.

Politely, you tell the girl, “Of course, Makayla and I have met. Jayne said she’s a great worker with a bright future.”

Makayla flashed a proud smile while Juniper nodded indulgently. “Indeed she is, Zach I’m sure you won’t mind, I’ll just be a few minutes.”

“Sure thing Juniper,” you reply. You’re in no rush. Juniper leans against her desk, her hands tugging up her skirt. She is nude underneath, a dark triangle of pubic hair above her sex as she spreads her legs and leans back. Makayla is indeed a good fit in the new office, and giving you a sultry look the girl licks her lips and kneels in front of the manager.

Juniper lets out a happy sigh as the new clerk’s tongue finds her wetness. “Yes, Makayla is great, Jayne had her under the table all through an admin meeting yesterday and I couldn’t wait to experience her oral skills myself!”

The older woman’s eyes flutter as Makayla licks and sucks. You enjoy the sight, but you see one of your coworkers getting her pussy eaten out probably three times a day. You know Juniper will make it quick, but you mutter you’ll be back in a minute and leave the two of them to finish their meeting.

You think about checking your phone but you realize you still have the black Curta in your hand. Strange, you’re absentmindedly doing calculations, your fingers moving quickly and confidently to move the dials and levers. Such a satisfying device.

In the hallway you walk slowly toward the elevators. Karissa’s desk is there, and you hope to see her. Something about Juniper using the new girl like that has you wanting some relief, and you’re happy to see your younger girlfriend at her desk.

“Hey baby,” Karissa chirps happily. She’s dressed in a gauzy top that shows her nipples clearly - Karissa is often barely dressed in the office now. She stands up and you look her over, underneath the see-through top she only has a lace G-string on. Your cock stiffens and Karissa giggles, looking at your crotch. “Need something lover? Just some head to get your cock to settle down, or we could go fuck in John’s office. He’s nailing Alice in her little closet dungeon thing all morning; I think that bitch is still handcuffed to the wall. We offered to let her go, but she started bawling about how awful she felt about what she did to you and she wants to be punished more, so we left her there. She is just a mess, wow.”

Something about that makes you queasy, but Jayne had been furious when Alice Voronkov had tried to attack you. So now Alice spends her work days handcuffed naked in the utility closet, covered in cum and piss and apologizing constantly to everyone who uses her. There is something… bad about it, but like Karissa said, she does insist on making amends.

That buzzing is back, and you look around but none of the light fixtures are flickering or anything. What the hell, do you have tinnitus? Karissa is looking at you curiously, one hand pinching her nipples as she waits to find out how to service you.

Wait, service you? That felt a little cold. She’s your girlfriend, not a tool to slake your lust. Although, she would certainly not complain about being treated like a fleshlight, she might even enjoy it if she knew it would make you happy…

The locked door to the elevators makes a beep as someone swipes in. As it opens you frown, it’s a severe looking woman in a tasteful suit, attractive but no one you know. How is she here? Behind her there is a man with a nervous look, but before you can even start to demand to know who the hell they are the stern woman is lifting her hand-

-it feels like you just fell out of a chair or walked into a wall, and you thrash around in utter confusion. For a second, you wonder who the hell these strangers are in the office, then your eyes are opening and you realize you are looking at the ceiling of your bedroom.

Disorientated, you sit up. The woman was there for you, and she meant you ill, and you had to protect Karissa from… something?

You blink in the dark room, reaching out to tap your phone where it sits plugged in on your nightstand. In this liminal state, you peer at the display and see the time change to 2:43 AM, forcing your foggy mind to recognize reality. You’re not at work, and no one is pointing a gun at you even though your lizard brain insists she is pulling the trigger.

Still half asleep, you stumble over to the bathroom to take a piss, and by the time you get there everything in your dream has been completely forgotten.