Chapter 7: We're All Mad Here

Omar spotted them almost immediately when they got off the elevator. “Good morning! I was wondering if we lost you.” 

Rosa smiled back weakly, “Good morning. I apologize for being late. I’m afraid I detained Naomi too.” 

Omar frowned ever-so slightly as he looked at Rosa but quickly moved on, “No worries at all. We’re just glad to have you here. The team has a lot to report.”

They all settled at a conference table where Omar asked Pradeep, “Can you repeat what you learned yesterday for Rosa and Naomi?"

Pradeep took a sip of his coffee and launched in, “Well, it occurred to me yesterday that I have friends who work in all the big companies around here. I couldn’t call them to ask about work, but I could call them to come over for a friendly dinner. That way, the virus wouldn’t know I was calling about work.” 

He paused and smiled at this point. He was clearly proud of himself for coming up with such a great idea. 

Naomi threw him a bone, “Clever.”

Pradeep smiled, “So, my wife and I probably had 20 people over last night. And let me tell you, I heard stories. This valley is in chaos. 

“It’s not just cute, fuzzy animals on people’s laptops and phones. At one of my buddy’s companies, the virus used the building’s emergency broadcast system to replay confidential recordings of executive meetings. Everybody got to hear these execs discussing how to cover up the harmful effects of social media on kids to improve profits.”

Pradeep smiled like a Cheshire Cat, knowing he was dropping a major truth bomb. 

“At another friend’s company, the virus leaked the entire engineering team’s performance reviews and salaries. Apparently all the female engineers are getting low-balled, and now they’re going mental about it.”

Naomi and Rosa glanced at each other but said nothing. 

“Oh! This one’s my favorite. At another company, the virus leaked information about some shady accounting practices. Apparently, the accounting scheme was pretty elaborate, so the virus gave the employees a whole presentation explaining it using an animated fox. It’s fucking hilarious.” 

“Where did the virus give these presentations?” asked Naomi. “People’s laptops?”

“The virus popped up alerts on everyone’s phones inviting them to watch parties in conference rooms all over the building.” He laughed, “It was so lit!”

“So, you’re a fan of what the virus is doing?” asked Rosa. 

“Hell ya!” replied Pradeep. “These big corporate CEOs have been screwing people over for years, and now they’re finally getting exposed. I mean, did you have any idea about this stuff? It’s mind-blowing, right?” 

Again, Naomi and Rosa shared a silent glance. 

“What?” asked Pradeep.

“Well yes, these things are appalling,” said Rosa, “but is the virus doing something to fix it?” 

“Well yeah,” said Pradeep. “It’s exposing it.” 

Naomi and Rosa said nothing. 

“What?” asked Pradeep. “Don’t you get it?”

“Yeah, we get it,” said Naomi. “It’s just that I’m not sure that exposing the problems is enough. People have basically known about these issues for a long time, and they haven’t gone away.” 

Pradeep looked a little deflated. “Well,” he replied, “It’s throwing these companies into chaos. That’s something.” 

“Yes, that’s something,” replied Rosa. 

“But is it really enough?” asked Naomi. 

“That’s not all it’s doing,” said Michael.

Everyone turned to him. 

“It’s trying to help people too," said Michael.

“What do you mean?” asked Omar.

“You know how I told you yesterday that my wife is a teacher?” asked Michael. 

Everyone nodded.  

“Her school district has been looking for volunteers for a long time because they don’t have enough money to cover all their essential services. She keeps asking me if I know anyone who can help with IT. She texted me again about this morning. But this time, a white rabbit ran up onto my screen too, and a little word bubble popped over its head just like in the cartoons. It said, ‘Tell Frank in Finance your wife’s school needs volunteers.’ 

“Frank isn’t even in IT, but I saw him in the breakroom later and mentioned it to him. You know what he said? His daughter needs work experience for her college program and would love to help. This is exactly the type of thing she has been looking for. I mean, I know it’s an unpaid position, but it seems to me like this virus is helping people help each other.” 

“It’s a nice thought,” said Omar. 

Naomi looked over at Rosa, who seemed lost in thought. Then, she spoke up, “Has anyone else seen a white rabbit?”

“Well, I wasn’t going to mention it because I thought it made me sound crazy,” said Pradeep. “But yeah, I saw a white rabbit yesterday afternoon too. I was scrolling through my contacts to invite people over for dinner, and this white rabbit kept closing down my texts and opening up my little brother’s contact info. Finally, I got the hint and called my brother. It turned out he was having a super bad day, and he needed some advice from his big brother.” Pradeep was quiet for a minute as he thought about the call. “Anyway, after that, the rabbit let me plan my dinner party. It was cool.” 

“Interesting,” said Omar. “So, there’s two documented cases of the white rabbit trying to help people.” 

“I saw it too,” said Rosa. “It was in my mother’s bank statement. I was checking her balance to make sure she had enough money to tide her over for a while. I wanted to make sure she’d be OK after I lost my job. But there was this big deposit in my mom’s account, and the rabbit was just sitting there, twitching its nose. It’s like it was showing me my mom would be OK.” 

“Wait a minute, you lost your job?” asked Omar. 

“We both did,” said Rosa, gesturing to Naomi. “They fired us yesterday because we couldn’t figure out what was happening with this virus.” 

“What? Nobody can figure it out. That’s not fair!” said Pradeep.

“Since when are corporate decisions fair?” asked Naomi.  

“Aren’t you, like, you’re company’s entire IT department?” continued Pradeep. “How does that make sense? Who’s going to fix it without you?”

Naomi shrugged. 

“Why are you here if you don’t have to fix it? Are you trying to get your job back?” asked Michael.

Rosa laughed, “No, definitely not. But I want to know what’s happening. Who gave my mother that money? What was that rabbit trying to tell me?”

“Rosa, I’m so sorry,” said Omar. “You too, Naomi. You must be so stressed.” 

Naomi shrugged again, “Not really. I probably should be, but I can always work at my mom’s restaurant. After I heard how Williams treated Rosa, I wouldn’t go back if he asked.”

Rosa smiled. 

“Dude, I’d be so pissed,” said Pradeep. “There’s no way I’d put up with that shit. I’d totally be in his face.” 

Naomi was tempted to tell Pradeep how little that would accomplish but knew immediately that there was no point. Pradeep wouldn’t believe her any more than Williams did. Instead, she tried to tune out while Pradeep told her and Rosa how they should have handled the situation. 

Thankfully, Omar interjected relatively quickly, “I’m sure Rosa and Naomi handled themselves just fine. I think we can skip the Monday morning quarterbacking.”

“I’m just saying…” 

“We know what you’re saying,” Omar interrupted. “I’m sure Rosa and Naomi will let you know if they need any more advice.” Then he turned to the women, “Is there anything we can do?"

Rosa smiled, “Thanks, Omar. Really, I’m just hoping I can learn more about who gave my mom that money. It seems to be connected to the virus. I know it’s a lot to ask, but I was hoping our investigations would help me understand more. I’m looking for some type of sign that the money is for real and won’t be taken away.”

Omar nodded, “Do you have any ideas where it could have come from? I mean, other than the virus?” 

Rosa shrugged, “I wish I knew.”

“Maybe it came from your boss because he feels bad about firing you,” said Michael. 

“Could he have transferred it to your mother’s account.” 

“Doubtful,” replied Naomi. “Although he should pay. That guy’s an ass.”

“Also,” said Rosa, “He doesn’t have access to her account.” 

The conversation paused. 

“Maybe he is paying, but he doesn’t know it,” said Omar. “You still haven’t been able to fix his systems, right? Who knows what money is coming in or going out.” 

“Well, that could be true for a lot of businesses. We aren’t the only ones who are shut down,” said Michael.

“We did say this virus had an agenda,” noted Naomi. 

“As far as I’m concerned,” said Pradeep, “they should be paying. These companies are making crazy amounts of money while laying people off left and right. Who else is going to pay?”

“Eat the rich?” asked Michael. 

“Totally,” said Pradeep. 

“Sounds like my old college professor, Alice Lewis,” said Michael. “She was always talking about that type of thing.” 

Naomi’s mulled over what Michael had said, losing track of the conversation. Eventually, she pulled Rosa aside and asked, “Do you like soul food?”