Page 39 of Collin: Episodes 13-15
“Exactly.” Alice grabbed Ash’s shoulder and shook him. “You were just talking to Mr. Reevesworth earlier, and you didn’t act like this.”
“But…like…I know him.”
“You know Mr. Reevesworth?” Miriam asked, coming to attention.
Ash nodded.
“How?”
“Um...” Ash pushed his hands into his pockets. “I um…I work for him.”
Miriam gave him a look.
Ash flushed. “Okay, so I messed up, broke into his stuff, and got arrested. He offered me a job.”
Collin clapped a hand on Ash’s shoulder. “Ash here is a wizard with technology. And while he may have wandered into some networks that weren’t his, he also alerted Reevesworth Industries to hostiles in our systems. He didn’t do any damage and he mitigated a lot of potential damage, which is why Mr. Reevesworth offered him a job.”
Miriam nodded to Collin and turned back to Ash. She had the towel back in her hands, but it wasn’t doubled over this time. “Do you like working for Mr. Reevesworth?” Miriam asked.
Ash shifted his weight from one foot to the other. “I’m probably not a good worker person, but…I try. Collin taught me how to label stuff. I keep bad guys out.”
Miriam poured two sodas and pushed them over the counter. “On the house. And labeling sucks. I make my cousin do it. What’s it like working for Mr. Reevesworth?”
Ash glanced at Collin. Alice swung up on a seat on Collin’s other side and started on her soda.
“Don’t worry about me,” Collin said. “You can talk.”
Ash gripped his glass in both hands. “I mean, it’s a job. I do it?” He looked up at Miriam with wide eyes. “I don’t understand your question.”
Miriam leaned forward, her stance turning motherly. “Like how does he talk to you? What kind of things does he tell you to do?”
“Oh.” Ash rubbed his nose with the back of his hand. “Um…we have a deal. I keep the bad guys out of his computers, and he lets me play with what I like. And if anyone tries to break in, I’m allowed to hunt them. Well, I have to tell certain people, but then I get to hunt them.” He grinned.
“I’m afraid of what hunting means when you say it like that. Sounds like Matrix shit.”
Ash shook his head. “No, not like that. I just find them or break their computers to tell them to stay away from my computers, and if I can, I find out who they are. Mostly I just stop them. That’s what I’m supposed to do. I’m supposed to avoid things like public incidents.”
“And Mr. Reevesworth just lets you do this?”
“Yeah.”
“You work for him directly?”
“Um...yes?” Ash glanced at Collin. “Is that weird or something?”
Collin met Ash’s questioning face with a reassuring look and shrugged, then turned back to Miriam. “Ash works out of Mr. Reevesworth’s special project office. It’s small.”
Miriam turned back to Ash. “So, when you talk to him, do you have to make an appointment?”
“Um…I just…talk…to him?” Ash frowned and looked between Miriam and Collin. “Why does this feel like you think it’s weird? I’m good at my job.”
“You are.” Collin dropped a hand on Ash’s shoulder. “People generally have the idea that people like Mr. Reevesworth are really high up there in an office and no one can get to them. Like you have to make an appointment, and if you’re not important yourself, you can’t see them.”
Ash twisted his hands. “Ugh…look. Mr. Reevesworth is cool, okay? I mean, he’s scary, but he gives a fuck, if you know what I mean. And his sister is awesome. Not less scary, but, like, really nice. Why are you asking all this?”
Miriam half grimaced but also laughed. “Reevesworth’s asking me to do something that could kill my business.”
Ash’s forehead wrinkled up. “Does your business need killing?”
