The Apocalypse Contract

CHAPTER 3 - SYDNEY

"I thought this was the sales department."

"This is pre-sales. I just figure out your needs to direct you to the appropriate sales specialist."

"Sounds needlessly complicated to me, but whatever. Live long and prosper, Jack. Transfer me." Sydney understood what was happening. This two stage process was a sales gimmick. They were trying to convince her to buy the product before the price was even discussed. Car dealerships had their own variation on it.

There was a series of clicks, and a new voice came on the line. "Hi, this is Jennifer in Sales. I see you are getting our standard gigabit business class service. That's wonderful! We look forward to you joining the Bexley family." Jennifer's excitement was nearly tangible. Whatever they were drinking in the Bexley sales department, Sydney decided she wanted some.

"Uh, yeah... right. What's this going to cost?"

"We offer a three year, one year, and month to month contract. The best deal is the three year contract. We even wave the set-up fee with that one."

"Numbers, Jennifer. I'm a numbers kind of gal. Hit me with the bad news."

Jennifer rattled off a series of prices ranging from expensive to ridiculous. Sydney nearly dropped her phone. "Good grief, I'm just getting Internet service, not buying a condo."

"Bexley offers the best value in business class service with a clear upgrade path as your business and your Internet needs grow."

"I'm thinking my Internet needs are more likely to fall off in the near future. What happens if I need to exit my contract early."

"There's an early cancellation fee. It's basically whatever extra you would have paid up to that point if you'd gone with the month to month contract."

"OK, I can live with that. Set me up with the three year contract." If all went to plan, she would be in space in the near future, so the three year contract was not really appropriate, but she also didn't want a big set-up fee on her credit card in the short term.

Jennifer tapped away at her keyboard. "Will you be needing anything else? I can offer you a big discount on co-lo web hosting services, voice over IP, or additional IP addresses."

"No, none of that. Let's just get this done." She gave Jeniffer her billing information, thanked her, and hung up.

"Friday," she complained to Zoe as she scooped the cat from the floor, "they can't set me up until Friday. That basically just gives me the weekend to download stuff like mad before the aliens come back and give me their answer. What if they want me to leave right away?" She scratched Zoe's ears absentmindedly.

Zoe began purring loudly.

"Yes, I hear you. I shouldn't stress out over things I can't control." Her mind played back her conversation with Bexley sales drone Jack. That pause before answering when she had offered him a not so subtle bribe. Like he had been considering it. Maybe that schedule wasn't as rigid as he claimed. Maybe it wasn't out of her control.

She walked over to her laptop and started a voice chat session. Her gaming friend Pete answered a moment later.

"Hey Syd. What's up? You suffering Halo withdrawal and need to get your frag on?"

"Yes, but not right now, unfortunately. I was hoping you could help me with something else."

"Oh really. Now you have my complete attention." If it was possible to leer with one's voice, Pete had managed it.

"Good grief, you boys are all the same. It's an Internet thing. Do you still have access to the Bexley internal network?"

"I can neither confirm nor deny such access exists or ever existed."

"Funny. We all know you used to work for Bexley and still have a backdoor into their network. You knocked that griefer off our game server just last week. Turned off his Internet access completely the way I hear it."

"Yeah, well... I have to step really carefully with stuff like that. If you want free Internet access, I can't help you. They cross check anything that touches billing records six ways to Sunday."

"Nothing like that. I just need a service install date moved up."

"Sure, I can do that. Easy peasy. Just give me a service ticket number or the account number."

Sydney rattled off the number Jennifer from Bexley had given her. She could hear Pete taping away in the background.

"There you go, you're all set up for eight AM tomorrow morning. Woah... gigabit. Sweet! You get sick of the lag on that DSL connection or what?"

"All the time, but this is actually work related. I've got a client with big data requirements, and it's sort of a rush job."

"Well, glad I could help. Hey, I was just trying out the new Eve Online expansion. It totally kicks. My clan is taking new recruits if you want to give it a go."

"Some other time, maybe. I'm pretty busy just now." For a moment she considered telling Pete she didn't have time for a space empire game because she was getting ready to go into space for real.

"No problem. Just remember to make time this weekend. The honor of Team Purgatory is at stake."

"You know you can count on me... and thanks again." She disconnected the call before her voice started to break. She sat on the sofa, clutched Zoe to her chest, and wept.

How could she leave them behind?