@ur-local-flesh-hive

Printer issues

Ur here, Lunch Date, Flower Shop, The Stranger- pt.2, pt.3, pt.4, Spider in the dark, Two is better than One, next part?

(A conversation between Sasha and Micheal before the siege of Jane Prentiss)

Sasha stared as the printer sputtered and grunted. A pause, another sound before silence. She grumbled and hit the roof of the printer a second time. Nothing. A small mechanical shutter and then nothing. Sasha let out an exasperated sigh and sat back. It was unbelievable that she could hack into anything Jon asked her to, but she was thwarted by a damn printer. She considered bugging Elias about it but she wasn't in the mood to deal with him. If she wanted the details to the statement printed, she'd have to use the printer at the desk to artifact storage.

Just lovely.

Sasha dragged her hands through her hair as she made her way to the other end of the Institute. She didn't have to pretend she enjoyed the place. It wasn't... Natural. She had figured out that much. And not just because of the worm infestation gathering outside the walls of the Institute. She had felt it before as well. She sensed it when they had followed up on statements only to find the person dead or missed. She had noticed it when at her desk and it felt like a thousand eyes staring daggers into the back of her head. And she noticed it now as she sat behind the Artifact storage reception desk and logged in, praying desperately that the printer would connect and behave in a timely manner.

The printer made a small wine and a short compliant huff before a paper started feeding through. Sasha dared to breathe. The paper pushed its way through and the printer made a delighted chime. She frowned. The printer paper, which should have printed out an information sheet about a drug company in relation to a health crisis, was instead a mess of colors and patterns, Sasha found it was hard to look at after a while.

Just. Bloody. Lovely.

She didn't have time to think before laughter ricocheted off of the wall and shattered through her mind. Micheal. Lord, she really needed to get paid more.

Sasha forced herself to at least try and stay calm.

"Hello again, Archivist Assistant, what leads you down here to such a place?"

She eye'd him carefully. The last interaction had left her compromised and almost dead in a graveyard and while she was safely within the Institute, she doubted that would actually be a genuine factor against him.

"The printer wasn't working." She answered rather dumbly.

He giggled and walked forward, picking up the headache of colors splattered over the paper and looking it over. "It doesn't seem broken to me." He laughed again and she felt it in her bones.

She shook her head and swallowed. "No- not this one, the one upstairs."

"Ah yes, well that one has never seemed to work." He giggled again and she managed a small frown.

What would he know about the institute's printer? She thought it was best not to ask. Instead she carefully moved towards the computer and gestured at the screen. "That's why I'm opting to use this one."

"You should try again then." His hair washed over his jaw and his shoulder as he tipped his head. His grin spreading further than the confines of his face.

Right. Sasha clicked print and watched the printer go through the motions of odd sounds before spitting out yet another distorted array of colors and shapes. Maybe she'd just be better off telling Jon he wasn't getting a paper version. Surely she could just email the details to him?

Micheal's laughter reverberated through the room as he leaned against the counter, holding his face in too long fingers.

"My, my, Assistant, whatever are you printing?"

Sasha let out a half hearted chuckle. It was too late into the day to have to deal with this. She ignored his question. "Yeah, obviously this isn't working."

"Giving up already? Oh Assistant, come on, give it another try." His smile was all teeth.

"It's Sasha." She said, rubbing her forehead.

"The printer has a name?"

"No, Micheal, my name. My name is Sasha."

He laughed again, his form spreading out like smoke before reflecting colors like glass, just transparent enough to see through whilst also noticing your reflection.

"So you say, will you try again?"

"Yes cause I'm sure it'll work better than the first two times."

"Sasha?"

She snapped her head in the direction of the voice, seeing Sally walking towards her with a concerned expression and carrying a stack of books.

"Who are you talking to?"

Sasha turned back to where Micheal was standing, except Micheal was gone and the door he had come from no longer seemed to exist. Of course.

"Oh um, no one, just talking to myself."

Sally didn't press the matter, instead disappearing down an adjacent hall. Sasha scowled and tried pressing print again, almost crying with relief as the document finally printed. Sasha quickly grabbed it and went to walk away before glancing back at the tray. Back at the two distorted pages. She grabbed those as well, folding them up and tucking them into her purse.

----------------------------------------------

"Thank you, Sasha, I'll have Martin look into the drug company's representative tomorrow."

"Great, just don't ask me to print out anything in the future, I've had quite enough to last me for a while."

Jon gave her a quizzical expression and Sasha let out a belated sigh.

"Nevermind, I'm headed home. Don't forget to feed yourself, Jon."

He muttered some backhanded response and she headed for home.

Sasha tossed her purse on the kitchen counter and started brewing a cup of tea. She spent most of the evening getting out of work mode and into comfier attire. Finally pulling out the distorted papers from her bag and looking them over. The colors were...pretty. For lack of a better word. Oddly distracting, mildly disorienting, but pretty nonetheless. She hummed and taped them to her fridge. A bit of eye-catching decoration never hurt anyone.

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nuraismydoll

1 month ago

I post this a second ago how is this blowing up help