Page 67 of The Honeymoon Hack
I scrolled through my phone, pretending to be absorbed while still watching the people around me in my periphery. Three tables away, a couple of engineers from the morning shift were arguing over something on one of their screens. A woman in a Mnemis hoodie laughed at something on her phone. No one was paying attention to me. I was simply another employee on break.
Here we go.
I took a spoonful of my soup and frowned. Stirring it with exaggerated annoyance, I tried it again. Rav had said the cameras in the cafeteria weren’t regularly monitored, so the small crowd was my only concern. Loud enough for any of them to hear if they were listening, I muttered, “Too cold.”
With my gaze focused on my phone screen, I carried my bowl to the bank of microwaves along the back wall. I set the bowl down on the counter, typing a message to Will in the Mnemis app:I was hungry and came to eat early.
I positioned my phone above the bowl. Nudged my ID card with my forearms and jostled it with my phone. It fell from the clip Will had weakened this morning, landing in the soup with a soft plop.
Even better, it settled against the bowl’s side, with the chip end breaking the surface.
See you tonight,came Will’s reply.
Tucking my phone into my pocket, I carefully put the soup bowl into the microwave and started it. Five seconds later, a loud pop came from the microwave, and soup splatters hit the door.
I jumped back with a yelp. “Holy shit!”
Tiny blue sparks lit up the microwave, and I jabbed at the stop button, unsure if I should open the door or not. When I did, a wisp of smoke escaped.
“Everything okay?” A tall man with a shaved head appeared beside me, peering inside the microwave.
“I don’t know what happened,” I said, nervous enough at what I did that I didn’t need to add a shake to my voice. “It just started… sparking.”
He reached in hesitantly, tapped the bowl to check the temperature, then pulled it out. “How strange.”
“No kidding.” I stirred the soup, and something solid clinked against the side of the bowl. Fishing around, I pulled out my ID card, now partially melted along one edge, the plastic warpedfrom the heat. The chip had turned black where the sparks had erupted. “Oh no.”
A woman from the table nearest the microwaves approached with a handful of napkins. “You didn’t notice it fall in?”
“I was on my phone, texting my husband.” I gave a dramatic sigh, squeezing my eyes shut. “The card fell off this morning in our room, too.”
“This happened to Jenkins in security last month,” the woman said, handing me half the napkins, so we could clean the microwave and counter. “At least his only wound up in the laundry.”
The man shook his head sympathetically. “There is no way that thing’s going to get you through security, though.”
“Thanks.” I cleaned the ID card, acting appropriately embarrassed. “Just my luck, I guess.”
I returned my tray and soup to the discard pile and made my way to the security checkpoint between the common areas and the data center. Crossing my mental fingers, I tapped my card to the scanner at the end of the X-ray machine’s belt.
Nothing.
Yes!
The guard extended his hand for my card, and I passed it to him.
I sighed and shrugged my shoulders. “Long story.”
He took the card to his console and tried scanning it himself, then examined the melted chip more closely. “Yeah, this isn’t registering at all. You’ll need to visit the main security office for a replacement. I’m not allowed to let you through.”
“Got it.” I shuffled back from the checkpoint, allowing a few others to process through. I pulled out my phone to call Claire. When she answered, I said, “Claire, I had another incident with my ID card. Security’s telling me I need a replacement.”
Claire sighed. “What happened to it?”
“The chip’s fried, and they won’t let me through security.”
There was a long pause. “Thanks for the heads up. Come in as soon as you’re done.”
“Will do.” I ended the call and gave the guard a sheepish smile. “I’ll be back.”
