Chapter 7
Jack woke suddenly, coming to with a violent flinch as his dream-self decided to fall off of a cliff.
Fucking classic.
It took a moment for his eyes to focus, and he had to shut them again to get rid of the stinging pain behind his eyelids and the pounding in his temple. When he opened them again, it was to the harsh light of his office and the realization that he was laying on his desk, his head pillowed on his arms, making them ache something fierce. With a groan, he straightened himself in his chair, stretching his arms above his head and making his spine pop with each movement. There was that familiar feeling of static in his arms, shooting down and all around until both limbs with tingling with sleep. Jack scowled, shook them out, and leaned back into his chair with a huff. He absentmindedly wiped at a spot of drool on his forearm and stretched out his legs underneath his desk.
Sleeping in his office was fucking stupid. Angel would probably have something to say when she found out he didn't go up to the penthouse last night. Again.
It was just another floor up, at the very top of Hyperion, but the trip was often too far for Jack who was neck-deep in work. The entire penthouse was decked out like a mansion, complete with kitchen and toilet facilities, and served as a temporary lodging for him and Angel when his work was too important to leave.
That... happened more often than Jack would have liked, if he was being honest with himself. But jackholes at work demanded his attention at seemingly all hours of the day, which he supposed was his fault for working them so hard, but to hell with it. He was the CEO, he should be able to leave the damn building without it falling down on everyone else's head. Jack could have been at home, spending time with his baby girl and tending to his frankly lovely buzz-babies, but no. Hyperion seemed to be in overdrive lately after the shift in power and numerous people leaving, and it all served to give the CEO a headache and a pain in his back that felt like Wilhelm just pile-drived him into next year.
Jack tapped his fingers on the desk surface, thumbing the mouse pad with his other hand to get his computer out of its sleeping state. His schedule was the only window open, informing him that he had several meetings today with various people ("Cyber Boy, Dumbass in Accounting, Board Meeting- more like BORED meeting! Ha! srsly tho fuck those guys, ANGEL").
He perked up a bit at the first entry. Jack was a little excited to see the kid again, if only to get a good look at the kid's tech. It was a real nice piece he had. Obviously old and out dated, but nice nonetheless, and it was clear that the guy took real good care of it. Jack hadn't seen a single nick in the paint when Rhys was in his office. It made sense from what Jack gleaned from his records.
Born without an arm, first in line for an experimental prosthetic and one of the only recipients to seamlessly adapt to the technology, and willing to have his organic eye gouged out and replaced with the ECHOeye. The kid was brave, he'd give him that. Stupid too, since the optic surgery could have left him as a cyclops, but brave. But he was hurting for a new arm, and with Hyperion able to deliver, it probably meant the world to him.
Jack liked that.
People owing him for bettering their lives?
Yeah, that was nice.
Hell, Jack might as well tattoo Hyperion across his forehead in like, bright yellow and high lighted with that glow-in-the-dark ink, just to make it stand out more.
The kid was also something fuckin' else. Who willingly asked Handsome Jack to just deck them in his office? Honestly he would have gone for it instead of the slap, but he didn't want to ruin Rhys' eye and neural port. Jack was kind like that.
His computer screen lit with up a timed alert, telling him that he had ten minutes before he was due down in R&D. Nah. He was still waking up. Jack needed coffee before he could handle those nerds down in the labs. The CEO fired off an email to some scientist or engineer or whatever the fuck he was down in R&D informing them that he'd get there late, and then paged his secretary to have some coffee brought up to him.
Like, half cream with a shit ton of sugar. Super sweet, just like him.
Jack spun around in his chair, swiveling freely until he made one full rotation and used his foot to stop him when he faced his desk again. Gotta have a little fun, right?
He stood, stretching again and scratching at his stomach when he lowered his hands. Waking up was such a pain in the ass.
He grabbed his ECHO off of his desk and scrolled through his contacts until he came up on the cybernetic department head and sent off a text, leaning against his desk as he exited his messages and thumbed through his menu until he opened up some slot machine game.
'Robotics, dropping off my things. I'll be up in a minute.' Came back through to his phone, interrupting his winning streak and pausing the game. Jack smiled despite himself and started typing back.
Jack was obviously wrong about Rhys being dedicated to taking care of his cybernetics, if the squeaking joints were anything to go by. He sounded like the goddamn Tin Man. Jack was surprised he wasn't hobbling around the lab asking for people to oil him.
"I'm sorry, sir! I just, I lost my oil recently and I haven't had the funds to replace it. I'll get more first thing after I get paid, sir, I promise." Jack rolled his eyes and hit Rhys on the back his head, not caring in the least when he stumbled forward. Jack noticed that Marky, or Marshall? What the fuck ever, Jack noticed he put up in his hands as if he was going to catch Rhys, but with one look from Jack, the engineer put his hands back down again, frowning at Rhys.
"Don't let my shit get ruined, Rhys." He saw Rhys give one shaky nod, his eyes still downcast and zeroed in on something on the ground.
Jack didn't talk much after that, giving simple orders for the engineer to take Rhy's measurements, and keeping quiet when they asked Rhys various questions about his cybernetics, how long he'd had them, how they were working, etc. He had his arms crossed over his chest, eyes boring into Rhys and whichever engineer was currently seeing to him. They quickly drew up drafts for new arms and programs under Jack's gaze, each one of them nervously eyeing him out of the corner of their eyes.
It was honestly a real fucking hoot seeing people piss themselves over him when he was in a mood. Some guy a few lab tables down even tripped over his own feet when Jack slid his eyes over him. He survived, just barely catching himself before he caved his skull in on the metal corner of the table.
Jack bit back a laugh, wanting to keep up his "I'm Really Disappointed In You" facade up until Rhys was out of sight and out of mind. How else would the kid learn to not let his things get wrecked? A little incentive went a long way, right?
That was the saying, wasn't it?
Screw it, Jack was gonna have new posters printed with that by next week, with his disappointed and angry, yet still devilishly handsome face looming in the background.
Fuck yeah.
Rhys rubbed the back of his head as he sat down at his desk, scrolling through files on his computer. The pain from Jack's strike was minimal and fleeting, but Rhys could feel it like a phantom pain. Or maybe it was the heat of Jack's glare that he was still feeling a residual ache from.
Honestly, that could have been it, too.
His eyes scanned the documents on the screen, his ECHO implant providing useful bits of information and key words as he went. It was mostly records and files from his department, pieces of reports he'd have to look over and sign off on, and requests for various things that his people needed. Among the files was a list of responsibilities that he now had, which which included bi-monthly meetings with the other department heads and quarterly reviews with Handsome Jack, followed by individual evaluations of the employees in his department which could be performed at any time he so chose.
They were simple requirements for someone of his position, and he still had some sizable work to do with actual coding, so it wasn't completely terrible. His position was turning out to be very hands-on, actually, so Rhys was starting to see why Jack was so quick to fire Vasquez, who couldn't be bothered to so much as write HTML code for a webpage from the nineties.
Rhys ran a hand over his face, groaning and collapsing back into his chair at the thought of the CEO. He had looked so disappointed in him back at the labs. So soon after practically singing Rhys' praises, too! Well, not actually singing, but Jack did tell him he was the best in the company.
Okay god fine, not exactly like that, but it was close enough for Rhys.
He blamed his usual pay date for this newest dilemma. If he had just gotten paid, then he could have his oil and his arm wouldn't have squeaked like a dying mouse at the worst possible moment. Athena was helping them out with bills, but him and Vaughn were still hurting financially and would be until they got paid. Once that date came, they could pay the pills, cut three ways, and each of them would have spending money again for whatever they needed. Vaughn? Probably electronics and health food. Athena? Really sappy presents for her girlfriend. She thought she was being sneaky with those, but Rhys and Vaughn saw them every time. Rhys wouldn't lie, he thought it was adorable. As for him? Oil. Goddamn oil. And probably a shovel so he could just dig his grave now and lie it, that way Handsome Jack wouldn't have to worry about killing Rhys himself and getting his hands dirty in the process.
God.
Rhys propped his elbows on his desk and promptly buried his face in his hands, groaning long and loud. Jack probably took his squeaky joints as an insult to his person, as if damaging Hyperion tech was damaging Handsome Jack himself. Even that engineer seemed to take offense to his negligence.
He groaned into his hands again, the sound vibrating his skin and his breath making the small space between his mouth and his hands hot and sticky. Rhys pulled his hands away, keeping his elbows up in the table as he pulled his hands back to examine them. The skin on his flesh appendage was lightly scarred from cooking accidents in the past and burns from working with his tools to tune up his arm. When he first received it, he was a bit clumsy when using the tools to dissect and doctor the inner workings of his cybernetics, so he fumbled with them until he eventually got the hang of it. The palm of his prosthetic was shiny and yellow, and the joints of his fingers reacted flawlessly to the signals his brain sent out. It had been a huge gamble to attach the arm so finely to nervous system, but it paid off in the end, and he was able to move it just as well as his flesh and blood arm.
Focusing and holding his palm up, Rhys activated the ECHO system in his arm, watching with a familiar fondness as the small lens in his palm slid open and began projecting a screen in the air above it. The graphic quality was decent for what it was, though it could have been considered out of date since Hyperion produced new models every year. But Rhys loved it all the same.
He figured it was as good a time as any to do a full system check up, so Rhys kept the ECHO screen up as his activated his eye and ran a simple diagnostic of his cybernetics. Everything came back clean for the actual tech, but his eye did remind him of physical needs that should be seen too, like tightening his shoulder socket and oiling his arm.
With a sigh, he deactivated his palm ECHO, but kept his eye going, scanning his office and taking inventory. He made mental reminders to get new decor in the place, and to throw out everything that Vasquez had put in during his run as department head. Rhys was just scanning the frankly hideous painting on the wall to the left of the door when someone knocked, poking their head after Rhys acknowledged them.
Someone from R&D came through, her white coat flowing about her as she walked into the room. Rhys couldn't help it when his eye began to scan her, revealing that her name was Selina Matthews, Cybernetic and Prosthetic Designer, age thirty-four. She had worked at Hyperion for ten years.
Rhys scowled and shut off his eye, absolutely hating when it scanned people without his permission. For her credit, she didn't seem to off-put by the act, merely regarding him with a faint smile. When Rhys was able to get his eye to power down, he gave her an awkward grin.
"Hi, what can I do for you?"
Matthews held up something for him to take, cocking her head to the side, her smile growing wider.
"Jack wouldn't stop complaining about some roboboy with terrible self-management skills ruining his toys until we agreed to give you this. It should hold you off until whenever you're able to pick up some of your own."
Rhys took the offered item, questions on the tip of his tongue which died when he rotated the item in his hand. It was small container, probably two inches in diameter and four in height, and was labeled as hydraulic fluid. It was Hyperion-made, a specialty oil made for their own line of cybernetics. In fact, it was the same oil Rhys used, only it wasn't packaged neatly like the store-bought cans were.
"Why-" Rhys gripped the can tightly and grinned up at her. "I don't know how to thank you for this."
Matthews waved him off, sticking her other hand in her coat pocket.
"Jack's silence is enough."
They shared a grin before Matthews was gone, claiming that she had various limbs to get back to dismantling. Rhys let her go, smiling stupidly at the fluid as he sat back in his chair.