n. It had been a week since he last dipped into smart mode, a break he knew his mind desperately needed. But

e, balancing accounts, double-checking payroll, or filing taxes. His colleagues were scattered across the room, each hunched over thei

the desk next to him, "I still

of always getting people to talk, even if they didn't want to. Early thirties, sharp with her wor

asked, snapping

d, gesturing to her own screen filled with endless s

chair. "Well, maybe I'm just alr

ne of work." She tapped her pen against the desk before looking over at him again, her expression more though

was a result of his system, how his mind was working at a different speed than theirs,

on in the news? Feels like every day there's some new disaster. I was reading abo

, focused more on his own problems than the world's. But Lisa always had a

wild how things just keep getting worse. Makes yo

. "But what are we supposed to do, right? Just keep our heads dow

just trying to make it through this week

s the quiet type, older than Alex by a few years, with a perpetually tired look on his fa

company BBQ next weekend?" Dan as

forgot about that. Do

id, using air quotes. "But basically, yeah,

ny and their obsession with 'team-building' e

people, but I'm not trying to spend my Saturday makin

s free food. That

ead. "You're lucky no one here competes for the same clients, or

lives-Alex found himself relaxing. The temptation to dive back into smart mode was still there, always tuggi

amounts of information, to simulate realities, to achieve things others couldn't even imagine. And y