Beneath the God Who Rules the World

Part 3

Ryan awoke with a startle. It took his mind a bit to adjust to the unfamiliar place he was waking up in. It took a minute to register that he was still at his desk in the tech lab. He sat up, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes and the drool from his mouth. He motioned the mouse to rouse the computer awake and the monitor to turn back on. After logging back in, he checked the time. It was 10:47 AM. He was asleep for several hours.

“It’s morning already?” The human alerted immediately, and as he sat up he felt something unfamiliar on his lap. He looked down and lifted it up. It was a black suit jacket, much too big for him. He examined it closely and found that it was really fancy, made by a soft silky material. It was a high-end brand of suit too, though the name was completely unfamiliar to him. Whoever it was, they were here last night, and they were loaded.

“Whose is this?” the human pondered as he looked around further, that’s when he noticed the sealed travel mug on a coaster by his left keyboard. He picked it up and opened it carefully checking the contents. He gave it a quick whiff, and the chocolatey aroma filled his senses.

“Hot chocolate?” He gave it a sip, it was completely piping hot. He had no idea how long it was there, but it was delicious, someone had left it for him. Whoever it was must have been the same one to place the suit jacket over him. He woke up more easily as the chocolate coursed through his system and giving a quick kick of sugar. He turned his attention from the screen. He saw the upload had completed and he checked his e-mail, not finding anything new that stood out to him. He needed to confirm the patch was properly out there in the ether, so he picked up his office phone and dialed a number.

“Hello?” A tired male voice picked up on the other line.

“Dylan? It’s me.”

“Ryan? What’s going on, you’re calling me too early man.”

“It’s almost noon over there, how is that early…? Never mind, I need you to do something for me.”

“Like what?” Dylan asked.

“I need you to log in to your Swords and Sorcery account and see if a new patch has dropped.”

“Why?” He asked.

“Can you just do it please, I’m just curious.”

“Alright alright, give me a sec.” Ryan waited patiently, the receiver placed firmly at his right ear as he stared at his monitors, a few minutes later Dylan spoke again. “Yeah one’s downloading right now.”

“Can you tell me what the patch notes say?”

“Hold on a minute… Let’s see… Yeah it says there are some bug fixes mainly, and a few other small things. It’s on version 2.34.591 now.”

“Alright thanks Dylan, that’s all I needed to know.”

“You’re welcome dude, now next time, wait to call till after 3 PM when I’m good and ready. Goodnight.”

“Sleep well,” Ryan hung up the phone and gave a sigh of relief. He didn’t know how he managed to do it, but he somehow pulled through, only now he was hoping the patch was doing its job. At that point there was nothing else he could do, and he easily exhausted the 8 hours overtime he was allotted. He shut down all of the programs after saving his progress and e-mailing the detailed report to Mr. Aotsuki and shut his system down. He took the suit jacket and neatly hung it over the back of the chair and set the now empty mug back on the coaster. He figured whoever left it there will come back for it later. For now, he was just ready to go home.

It was a long drive, dealing with weekend traffic, and he was still too tired to function fully despite the sleep. Sleeping at a desk was a restless affair it seemed. Fortunately, the human was able to make it home without incident. He got out of his car and slowly trudged his way into the complex and up toward his apartment. As he passed through the lobby he saw Shaun in the mailroom, who noticed the human and waved him down.

“H-hey Ryan,” he called out and the human stopped and faced him, “you’re up early, is e-everything alright?”

“Oh, Hi Shaun,” Ryan said tiredly, “I’m fine, I just got home from work.”

“Just now?” he asked, “I-is everything ok?”

“I’m fine, but I’ve been up all night and I’m very tired. If you don’t mind I’d like to head up to my room.”

“O-oh, I see,” he nodded, “Sorry for bothering you.”

“It’s ok,” Ryan began, “I’ll see you later.” The human quickly headed to the elevator and back up into his studio apartment. The human had a few things to do around the place this weekend either way but was just too tired. The sleep at his desk had been restless with worry, but there wasn’t much he could do now.

He stripped completely naked and pulled out his laundry basket and set about sorting his clothes into a few piles. He then set one in his clothes washer to start a load, before crawling underneath the sheets to get some sleep proper.

***

Cyuss awoke later in the morning than usual. He had gotten home late in morning compared to when he usually returned. He sat up and stretched his godly body. His morning wood was up at full attention with the blood rushing through his body. However, he wasn’t in the mood to indulge himself at the time and went to the bathroom to freshen up, letting it soften up naturally. After a while, he headed downstairs to his study, he gave his cooks the morning off beforehand, knowing he wouldn’t be up at the usual time, plus it was Saturday, he had nowhere to go during such a quiet Saturday morning.

In his study he took a seat at an easy chair just the right size for the Arceus. He conjured up a couple books he was reading on, along with the Saturday paper. As he began reading, his thoughts moved toward Ryan. He was certain the human had returned home by now, he hoped the human being back in his safe space will give him the energy he needs to bounce back in time for Monday.

“Well good morning, big guy.” It was Mewus, floating about in his usual vigor.

“Good morning, Mewus,” he nodded to his faithful servant.

“Sleep well? You didn’t get home till very late.”

“I slept well as usual,” the god replied, “What is the report for the morning?”

“Everything is spic and span,” the Mewus replied. “I made a quick trip to your office and retrieved your coat for you from Ryan’s desk, you big sweetheart you, teehee.”

“That’s enough of that.”

“Don’t worry I meant it as a compliment,” Mewus said, “You’re doing nice things for him and you haven’t even asked him out yet.”

“I have never asked anyone to partake such an event yet.”

“Clearly,” Mewus began, “It’s simple really, all you have to do is ask really. It’s pretty simple, and I highly doubt he would say no.”

“You think so?”

“Of course,” he continued, “He’s the kind of guy who’d be attracted to big powerful men. In that regard, all you have to do is be direct.”

“Perhaps I will try if we meet face to face.”

“Jump on the opportunity when it comes up. Trust me, he’ll say yes.”

“Thank you Mewus,” Cyuss said, “you can go now.”

“Actually, if it’s all right with you,” the mew began, “can I stay here and watch the news? I don’t have anywhere else I need to be.”

“Hm, very well I suppose, just keep the volume down.”

“Thanks, big guy,” Mewus levitated the remote from the coffee table and turned on the flat screen on the nearby wall. Cyuss wasn’t much for television. He much preferred to read to obtain information about the world, even though he technically didn’t need to. Mewus was more entertained visually by watching, so TV was much more attractive to him. A lot of his servants were the same, which is why he allowed such entertainment for the servants to partake when they were off duty.

There wasn’t anything much different about the news this time around. It was always the same drivel. Always reporting what’s going on wrong in the world, not enough good news. It was a wonder why people even bothered continuing to watch the news. After a half an hour though a news story caught Mewus’s attention.

“Hey big guy,” he began, “Ryan spent last night making a patch for Swords and Sorcery, right?”

“Why do you ask that?” he lowered his paper to look at the morph.

“Might want to look at this,” he said turning up the volume psychically. The volume of the reporter spoke up.

“And now for our most recent story. Data miners from a popular MMO video game called Swords and Sorcery have discovered a recent patch attempting to cover up a major security breach that put player’s financial information at risk…” Cyuss put his paper down to the side to listen in, “What was discovered in the patch led to the discovery of a leak that could potentially compromise the financial information of millions of users worldwide. The story has gone viral on online forums for the game as well as forums for it’s publishing parent company, spreading fear and worry that even non-users financial information could have been exposed to hackers. Seattle News 9 at 11 have reached out to the publishers for more information, but as of yet they have not given any comment on the matter. We’ll keep you posted as these events unfold, this has been John Bryant of Seattle News 9 at 11, stay with us…”

“What the hell is this?” Cyuss began angrily.

“It looks like scandal is a brewing,” Mewus began, floating haphazardly, “Does Ryan know about this?”

“No, he doesn’t have cable tv at his apartment,” Cyuss shook his head, “he’s going to find out soon enough.” Trouble will definitely brew at the office on Monday he was sure. He just hoped the human would be ok.

***

The story regarding the leak picked up steam over the weekend, though fortunately for Ryan he had been spared that drama for the rest of the weekend. He spent his time during the weekend on his own, straightening up around his apartment, playing a few different games and otherwise entertaining himself. He didn’t bother going out again, he was spending most of his time recovering, and he didn’t need to go Grocery shopping for another week, so he figured to save the money.

Before he knew it unfortunately it was Monday again, and he forced himself to get up in time. After a quick bowl of cereal, he grabbed his lunch box and headed downstairs to head to work as he did though he passed by the news stand near the apartment entrance, and he stopped to read the headline.

“Swords and Sorcery Patch goes Viral,” the headline read and the human’s eyes went wide.

“Uh oh,” he said to himself picking up and reading the paper in question, a feeling of dread setting in. Despite the patch fixing the problem, somehow news of the leak came out after the fact. He was sure he was in trouble now. This feeling of dread didn’t leave even as he drove to work. He had hoped the fact the patch was out would get him out of trouble.

As soon as he got inside to his station, he quietly moved over to his desk, trying his best not to be seen. He logged in to his work account and pulled up his usual windows. As he checked his e-mail his stomach sank. At the top of the line was a very recent invite for an urgent meeting at 10 AM sharp. The invite was for 4 Supervisors including Mitsuhisa. No one else was listed.

‘I’m definitely in trouble,’ he told himself in his mind and he slumped. He wanted to run away at this point but figured he may as well face the music.

***

Cyuss had parked his car and made his usual trek up to his office on the very top floor of his company. As he stepped into the lobby to his office his secretary was already there early, frantically typing and calling his attention.

“Mr. Ark sir,” she began, “there’s an entire set of news press waiting at the main entrance on the bottom floor. They’re trying to get a press statement from you about the game leak.”

“Tell them they’re wasting their time and to leave now. There’s no point making a statement about a problem that’s already been solved.”

“But…”

“Get rid of them, call security if you have to.” Cyuss was stern with his demand, one could even catch an irritable tone in the Arceus’s voice as he stepped into his office. He took a seat at his desk and immediately pulled up his e-mail. He cycled through many various sorted folders. He had a suspicion that a meeting would be called about this leak, and yet he received no such invite in his outlook account. What nobody knew however was he secretly received a copy of every single e-mail the company receives, and he had them expertly sorted like no other, with several sets of nested folders. He filtered the e-mails to those with Ryan in the name and spotted the meeting invite in question.

“Something’s suspicious, why have they not included me in this meeting?” He was not pleased with the situation and decided to go to the meeting to see what was going on. His morning was fortunately not held up with anything, giving him time to make the meeting easily. As the hour approached 10 AM he heads out to the elevator, telling the tigress to clear his schedule for the rest of the morning. He straightened his jacket and tie as he waited on the elevator, making it to the tech labs and walking into the meeting room in question. Sitting there were the three directors from the meeting two weeks prior. Hans the otter, wearing another sweater vest like before, Gloria the bunny, and John Don the pig, who despite his massive gut somehow didn’t have a plate in front of him this time. They were sitting around the oval meeting table and seemed surprised to see the arceus morph walk in.

“M-mr. Ark,” Gloria started, “what brings you here?”

“A little birdie arrived in my e-mail inboxes informing me of this little meeting you’re having regarding the security leak.” Cyuss explained coldly, his face keeping a stoic expression.

“There’s no need to concern yourself sir,” Hans explained, “we didn’t want to involve you on this matter as we could solve the issue on our own.”

“I assure you I’m plenty involved as it is, when I have 12 news stations from local sources alone hounding at my door for a press statement.” Cyuss replied.

“With all due respect Mr. Ark,” Mr. Don began, “we already know where the issue lies, and this meeting was setup to nip the problem in the bud in order for you not to get involved. There’s truly no reason for you to be here.”

“Never the less, I am here, so I’ll oversee this meeting,” Cyuss stated undeterred. “Is everybody here?”

“We’re still waiting on two other people,” Gloria stated, “Mr. Aotsuki is running late because of his flight, but he said he’ll be here within ten minutes. The other should be on his way.”

“Who is this other person?” Cyuss asked. He knew who it was but was pretending to know otherwise to find out their game.

“The young man responsible for the patch going out over the weekend,” the bunny replied, “he’ll be dealt with in short order.” Cyuss was clearly annoyed, though he didn’t show it and simply sat back in his chair, awaiting to see how this meeting will play out. A few minutes later there was a knock on the door and after being instructed it opened and Ryan quietly stepped in.

“There you are Mr. Lewis, you’re late,” began Mr. Don, “please have a seat.” The human nodded with a short polite bow, and sat at the appointed seat, he was sitting two chairs to Cyuss’s immediate left. It was clear the human was nervous, glancing at each supervisor including the Arceus himself.

“Mr. Lewis,” Gloria began, “I assume you’re aware of what this meeting is about correct?”

“W-well I, that is to say-”

“Perhaps you can explain what’s going on here Mr. Lewis,” Hans interrupted, “your little patch has caused quite a scandal, and the fear it’s caused is threatening stock prices and consumer security.”

“I-”

“Well out with it young man,” Mr. Don tapped his fat finger impatiently, “we have dozens of news stations surrounding the building causing quite an uproar, and you need to explain what exactly was going through your head with this.” Both Ryan and Cyuss were getting frustrated.

‘If you give him a moment to speak he can properly explain himself you fat idiot,’ Cyuss thought and kept watch on the human.

“Well it was late Friday afternoon,” Ryan began explaining, “I was working on finishing up the CAD UI project when Mr. Aotsuki came up to me and requested I make a patch for Swords and Sorcery.”

“So, you admit you made the patch,” Mr. Don interjected.

“Well yes but-”

“So, you admit responsibility for creating this mess,” Hans followed up.

“Even if Mr. Aotsuki told you to do it, ultimately you took the responsibility of making this patch. I’m rather ashamed of you trying to push the blame onto Mr. Aotsuki.” Gloria explained.

“T-that’s not what I’m trying to say,” Ryan stammered, breaking out into a cold sweat. This isn’t a meeting, those three were ganging up on him, like bullies in a schoolyard, and it was starting to piss the god off. The meeting door opened up as the wolf in question stepped in, wiping some sweat off his brow, he’s clearly seen better days.

“Good morning, Mitsuhisa,” Hans began, “glad you were able to make it.”

“Apologies for being late,” he replied, “I caught the soonest flight I could.”

“We were just having a discussion with Mr. Lewis claiming it was you who set him up with the task of making the patch for the security leak.” Mr. Don followed up with a snort.

“Yes, that was me,” he replied back, “None of my other employees under me who were qualified were unavailable at the time. I had no choice but to enact Mr. Lewis’s help, if anyone is at fault here it is mine, and I should bear the responsibility for the consequences.”

‘Finally, a voice of reason,’ Cyuss thought shaking his head.

“Be that as it may,” Gloria responded, “admirable as it is for you to admit fault, Mr. Lewis could very easily have said no to your request and suffered no consequence for it.”

“Somehow, I doubt it,” Mitsuhisa said with a hint of suspicion, “even then I don’t see why this is even an issue at this point. Ryan here didn’t create the leak, he’s the one who discovered the hole and patched it up. If anything, he’s the reason we’re all not sinking right now.”

“That patch being released was what brought attention to the issue to begin with,” Mr. Don spoke angrily, “It’s his fault the mess even got out to the public, the fear alone is enough to affect market shares. The stockholders want answers too.”

“You’re looking past the trees but not seeing the forest Mr. Don,” Mitsuhisa explained shortly, he was still standing, not having taken a seat yet, “If I recall, I explained the possibility of this happening several weeks ago, and yet you chose to do nothing, saying it was inconsequential. And now that the data problem has been solved with all the data sorting as it normally should, now there’s suddenly a problem just because some data miners caught wind of it?”

“Perhaps, but it’s such a simple fix if an entry level hire could find and solve it by himself. Hardly what I call inconsequential,” Hans interjected again, “This doesn’t change the fact of the impact the scandal is causing right now. If you both saw this coming, then you should’ve been able to solve it in a way that didn’t cause uproar.”

“For a technology director you seem to be underestimate what passionate zealots on the internet are capable of,” Mitsuhisa retorted.

“I’m sorry if I caused so much of an issue,” Ryan interjected, finally getting the courage to add to the conversation, “I was just trying my best to solve the issue, and it sounds like I did if what Mr. Aotsuki said is true.”

“That’s not the point,” Gloria retorted, “there are legal, financial, and reputational ramifications for big actions like this. Something you clearly don’t understand. And if I may be frank, your interruption is showing great amounts of unprofessionalism.”

“U-unprofessional?” Ryan sank in his chair a little bit, stunned at the sudden accusation. Cyuss tapped a pen quietly on the table, getting more agitated by the second. His grip was firm on the bottom of the pen.

“Indeed,” Hans said, “perhaps I may have misjudged you when first bringing you on the team Mr. Lewis. Perhaps we need to review if you truly are suited for being on the team here.”

“What?” Ryan shot up on his chair. Even Mitsuhisa was taken aback by the statement.

“Clearly,” Mr. Don said, “if you were working directly under me Mr. Lewis. You likely would have already been let go. Such incompetence is not befitting of us.”

“No, wait, but-” Ryan was trying to find the words, but they just weren’t coming out. A flood of emotions seemed to emanate from the human and flow through Cyuss.

“That’s enough Ryan,” Gloria stated, “clearly action needs to be taken here, and we shall discuss what we shall do with you. Until then we believe there’s nothing else that needs to be said for this meeting.”

“If I may make a suggestion,” Mr. Don continued, “I honestly recommending just sending him home here, we have no need to carry on this conversation further.” Cyuss was done at this point. It was clear from the beginning what was going on. This scandal regardless of where it started was clearly used specifically to take the blame of themselves and throw Ryan under the bus to save their own asses. It was nothing more than an excuse to fire the human, and the arceus wasn’t having it. His grip had gotten so tight that the steel made pen snapped completely in two rendering the expensive writing tool useless.

“THAT IS ENOUGH!” he slammed his fist on the table and stood up from his seat. Everyone froze, locking their eyes on the intimidating figure. Ryan in particular could almost swear he saw the Arceus’s eyes glow red from the angle he was looking at. “I’ve listened to this circus gone on far enough. It’s time I reign it in and put it as I see it.” Nobody said a word nor moved a muscle and he continued.

“Here’s how I see it. Mitsuhisa finds a problem and brings it up at a strategy meeting weeks ago. And instead of addressing it there, you three clowns decide it wasn’t a big deal and pushed it aside for other trivial matters. Due to a combination of bad timing and incompetence on Mr. Aotsuki’s part, he goes to Mr. Lewis to take on a project, and from what I’ve been reading on the reports, it’s clear you three clowns have been overworking him beyond his level. Despite this, he agrees to take on the task, and despite all seemingly impossible odds, this human solves the problem within a single night, on a task that would take senior development teams potentially weeks to hash out and solve. And regardless of the attention it brought, the news forgets quickly. The news about this will die down within literally days, especially when the public learns that the issue actually no longer is an issue. If it turned out the leak was revealed before the patch came out I promise you it would have been a much bigger scandal and far more heads would roll. So, if I were any of you three clowns, I would thank this young man for effectively making sure you idiots still had your jobs. Because if it wasn’t for his effort I would have fired all three of you fucking 6 weeks ago. DO I MAKE MYSELF CLEAR!”

“Y-yes Mr. Ark,” all three of them said.

“Good, NOW GET OUT OF MY SIGHT, BEFORE I CHANGE MY MIND!” He was yelling at the top of his lungs, it was very likely the whole floor could hear him. Even for a brutal businessman like him, it was rare to hear him yell, especially at such a passionate level. Gloria, Hans, and Mr. Don all quickly filed out, taking their papers with him, the pig in particular looking like his overworked heart would stop any minute. Cyuss was leaning over the table a bit with both hands as he watched them leave. Once they closed the doors behind him he looked to Mitsuhisa.

“Mr. Aotsuki,” he began, “I shall discuss your end of the matter with you later. For now, return to your duties in Los Angeles, I wish to speak with Mr. Lewis alone.”

“Yes sir,” the wolf bowed stiffly, exchanging glances with Ryan before heading out, closing the door behind him, leaving the two alone with each other finally. The room was completely quiet at this point. Cyuss looked at Ryan, who he could see was looking back with hesitant apprehension, poor kid, this was quite hard on him. When he saw he was still hunched over the desk he straightened himself up, straightening his suit and tie to try to calm down.

‘We’re alone now,’ Cyuss told himself, ‘Mewus said I should ask him, but is it really appropriate to do so here? I’ll need to be careful.’ Cyuss gave a sigh and knew what to say next.

“Apologies for the outburst,” he said, “that was rather unbecoming.”

“Um, it’s alright,” Ryan said quietly, he seemed to calm down a bit. Cyuss walked over to a nearby cabinet and opened it up and pulled out a bottle and a couple of glasses.

“Would you care for a glad of wine?” Cyuss offered, “I find it to be quite calming myself.”

“Uh, s-sure if it’s alright,” Ryan nodded quietly, “So I’m not in trouble then.”

“Not at all, perish the thought,” Cyuss uncorked the bottle and poured a small amount into each glass, then brought them over to the table, setting one glass in front of the human. It was a very small amount, no need to inebriate the human while he was one duty.

“Oh, that’s good,” Ryan took a deep breath, finally calming down, and carefully picking up the fine glass.

“It’s utter nonsense when you think about it,” Cyuss took a sip, looking out the nearby window, “you shouldn’t get in trouble if you don’t do anything wrong. Simple really.”

“Makes sense I suppose,” Ryan also took a sip, clearly it was his first-time tasting wine.

“So don’t worry, you have quite the talent at your job. I must say I’m impressed Mr. Lewis.”

“T-thank you, um-”

“Ark, Cyuss Ark.”

“Oh,” Ryan seemed surprised, as if something clicked in his head, “Mr. President.”

“Cyuss is fine,” the Arceus stated, “Mr. Ark is fine if you’re not comfortable with it. Honestly I prefer not to deal with formality when it is not required.”

“Oh, alright then… Cyuss.”

‘There we go,’ he thought, ‘maybe I should ask him now.’

“Speaking of formality. Do you know of the NWC Global Gala?” The human shook his head no. “It’s a formal gathering of the top brass of my organization throughout the biggest branches around the world. It is hosted here in Seattle every year to encourage good tidings for future business practices. It will take place within the next week, and I would like it if you would attend.”

“Really?” Ryan asked confused, “a Gala is like a high-class ball, right? Is that really a good fit for me? Why would you want me to go?” Cyuss caught that last bit easily, he was questioning his motives, very sharp human.

“I was merely asking as a gesture of good will, your skills are top notch and have great potential. I would like to see how you develop while under my wing at this organization. If you’re not comfortable with the idea though you don’t have to attend. I just thought you’d might like to... partake in the festivities.”

“Well,” Ryan thought as he finished his glass and set it gently back on the table, “If you really want me to go, I won’t say no. I’m afraid I don’t have anything fitting to wear though for such an event.”

“Do not worry,” Cyuss said, “I shall make all the necessary arrangements for you, consider it a gift for your hard work.”

“Really?” Ryan asked curiously, “thank you, you’ve been very kind to me.”

“It is no trouble Mr. Lewis,” he said, “with that said, take the rest of the day off, you earned it from your hard work.”

“T-thank you Cyuss,” Ryan said and stood up quietly, “you can call me Ryan by the way, if you want. I don’t like formality much either to be honest.”

“Very well Ryan,” Cyuss turned to face him, still holding the glass in his left hand. Ryan turned to the door and opened it, as he was stepping back he turned back and was about to say something but stopped as he seemed to look at Cyuss’s chest. “Something wrong?”

“Oh, it’s nothing,” Ryan said a bit shyly, “just, your suit. It looks, nice on you.” He gave a bow and closed the door behind him carefully, leaving Cyuss alone in the break room. He looked down at his suit. His jacket was what the human was staring at. It was exactly the same one Cyuss used to blanket Ryan the prior Friday. Did Ryan figure it out when he saw it?

“It looks like things are getting more interesting by the day,” Cyuss smiled to himself, finishing his glass. It seemed like he finally landed a date with his fascination. Now he just had to make sure everything was perfect.