Chapter 496 - Orion Enterprise Annual Meeting (9)
Not long after, Sarah walked out of the office. Her smirk showed that they were successful in accomplishing their task. "We found the team. Four members. Team name: Venus. All teams are progressing one point at a time, as expected. But this team started with five points. We also have name of person who made this entry."
Sophia nodded absentmindedly while thinking of her next steps.
Felix was concerned that all this stress will impact Sophia negatively… and their baby. He started gently massaging her shoulders with hope to get her to relax.
Sophia smiled and tilted her head to show Felix that she appreciates his concern. She also told him not to stop.
"Good news: we are first by 3-point margin!", Sarah grinned. She imagined already that they will be winners, standing on some pedestal, winning medals and trophies. All this was her imagination, but still, it worked for her. She was happy.
Sophia received text from Edward with names of employees who worked on the app for scavenger hunt.
"Is any of these names on the team?", Sophia showed phone to Sarah, forcing her to get out of her daydreaming.
"This one looks familiar… let me check" Sarah took Sophia's phone and went back to the office. She came back a bit later. "Yes. The second one is member of team Venus. But that is not the person who entered 5 points for their team."
JoAnna looked at Sophia who seemed to be spacing out and decided to pull her out of her daze. "Now what, big sis? We know the team. They also have the capability of making changes… and at least one more person is implicated by altering the scores. Do you still want to cancel the event?"
"Cancel the event?! But we are winning this!", Sarah was surprised. She was in the office when Sophia mentioned this first time, so it shocked her. Sarah was not willing to let go. They are winning!
"What's the point in knowing current status if they will alter the score?", Leah reminded her.
Sarah frowned for a second and then her face lit up. She got an idea. "What if we don't let that happen?"
Sophia looked at Sarah expecting her to explain.
JoAnna knows that Sarah can do anything on the computer and believes that she can ensure that Venus team does not cheat. With this, she understood what Sarah came up with: the only thing they need to do is win, and other team will be powerless. They are already in first place with three points lead. If they continue at current pace, there is no chance they will not be first. JoAnna stood up and faced Sophia. "Yes! We can win this and prevent them from cheating… and you get to rub it in their faces when you dance with Felix!"
"How can I dance when I'm not playing? I should cancel the dance part.", Sophia frowned.
JoAnna and Sarah glanced at each other. "You will dance.", they said in unison.
Sophia can tell that her sisters thought of something. She has confidence in them. Sophia smiled and nodded. "All right… I will leave this to you then."
"Yes. You go downstairs and mingle with your employees. Leave everything to us.", JoAnna beamed.
Felix didn't want to leave Sophia. "I will join you."
"Hey! We need you, if we want to win.", JoAnna reminded him.
Sophia saw that Felix is torn. He wants to stay by her side. She smiled and approached him. "Go and win this for me.", Sophia caressed his cheek. She removed silk scarf which was resting over her shoulders and tied it over his bandaged left wrist. "There… something to make you think of me… until we meet again…"
Felix felt like a knight from medieval period, and his damsel is giving him her scarf as a token of her love. He looked at her with a silly grin on his face.
"Don't worry, we will be with Sophia.", Leah assured Felix, and Isabella confirmed.
Felix didn't hear them, but it was obvious that he will continue with scavenger hunt… as soon as he snaps back to his senses.
Aiden came out of the office and observed the situation. "It seems there is some plan."
"Yes. I will explain… but first I need to get Eve to watch scores of that team. Come to help.", Sarah taped her earpiece and went back into the office. Aiden followed.
Everyone had a task. Everyone except David.
David stood there, not sure what to do. When they were about to disperse, he called after Felix: "Boss, what should I do?"
"Watch over my fiancée. Make sure she is safe until I return from my quest!", Felix instructed without looking at him. He was busy listening to explanation JoAnna and Sarah gave.
David was not happy that he can't go with Felix. But his Boss gave him a direct instruction. He needs to obey. Slowly he turned away from direction in which Felix left and then panic came over him when he noticed that Sophia, Leah and Isabella are not there anymore. He rushed toward the elevators.
…
On the ninth-floor, team of four was walking through the hallway. They are four people who make team Venus.
"Why are we doing this? If Saya will handle the scores for us to win, why can't we just sit this one out?", one woman said.
"You can be so thick sometimes, Nea…" Woman lowered her voice and continued. "We can't just sit, because we need to make it look real. People need to see us walking around and solving clues."
"Sorry for being thick, Samantha!", Nea snapped back.
"How long we need to do this?", man complained, obviously irritated by the situation. He is the only man in the team and definitely not interested in dancing with Felix. He was wondering what got into him to accept joining this team. It was supposed to be an experience of him sneaking through the building with three ladies, but it ended up with him listening to those three daydreaming about Director Martin… while he is ignored.
"Just a bit more…", Samantha pacified him. "We can't finish too soon. People might suspect something."
Samantha needed him to stay on their side and to cooperate. He is the one who got Saya to tweak scores for their team. They promised him a dinner, later. But now it seems that his patience is running short and that dinner is not a good enough incentive for him.
They chatted for some time when Nea observed. "Hey, don't you think that Denise is very quiet?"
"Nothing wrong with quiet…", Samantha responded. "She is probably mentally preparing for our rock-paper-scissors which will decide who dances with Director Martin…" She started humming a song and extended her arms in front, as if she is dancing with a big grin on her face. She was imagining herself dancing with Felix.
After some time, Samantha announced with a big smile: "This is enough… we can go down. Let's have some drinks and celebrate while we wait five teams to complete challenge." She laughed, and others followed her to the elevator.
Members of team Venus are confident that Saya will alter scores so that they are first team who completed all challenges, no matter what.
The rules state that top five teams are winning rewards. Game ends when five teams complete all tasks. At that time players will be notified that the scavenger hunt is completed. Players get game-wide notifications through device which is attached to the bags they received when they registered their teams. Device changes color: green means that game is in progress, and it will turn red when first five teams complete all challenges, notifying other players that the game is over. There is also a button which players can press if they need assistance.. If that button is pressed, someone from security will locate them through in-built locator which is designed within department led by Director Martin.