The sun glared brightly outside as the man sat at his office desk inside of his cubicle, staring out through the window, longing to be enjoying his Saturday afternoon instead of working. The people outside bustled by down below without a care in the world. Not only was he here on what was supposed to be his day off, but everyone else was away on an office retreat. He sighed thinking about the fact they even took the fucking janitor with them, but here he sat the only one in this whole office. There wasn’t any malice in their decision though, his performance was average across the board. In fact, so average, they saw him as the perfect person to make sure the office was alright, while everyone else was out having fun.
The man sighed loudly and pushed up his glasses. Adjusting them once more as the phone at his desk began to ring. He glanced at the time, “Five minutes until 4pm, sorry caller I’m already closed.” He said dismissing the call. The phone went silent, and he shut his computer down while gathering his belongings. The phone began ringing again as he yelled out, “We’re closed sorry!” The phone went silent once more, “You must assume my mom named me stupid if they think I’m answering a call this close to 4pm.” He muttered making sure the office was clean before he left. The phone at the desk kept ringing though. Walking back over he flipped the automated answering system on for the whole office.
The phone at the desk stopped ringing, but his pocket started to buzz as his cellphone went off. Pulling it out and unlocking it his heart skipped a beat as he read the number. It was his cell number calling him. His mind started to race as it became flooded with questions. What was going on? Was this a prank or something? Maybe he was being hacked or another crazy answer. “What is happening?” He asked as the phone went silent.
He stared at the now dark screen before rushing to his computer to boot it back up. His mind told him that the other calls to the office weren’t coming from his phone number as well.. hurriedly he pulled up the call logs and going straight to the last calls. They all said restricted number. His cold sweat that had been building broke with that realization, and he breathed a deep sigh of relief. The screen beeped and a message flashed repeatedly saying, “Hi call volume detected! Diverting excess calls to representatives in the call center! Warning! Overloaded servers detected!”
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The panic set in as he cried out saying, “What the hell? That’s impossible! The system should be able to manage at least 50,000 calls at once before crashing!” Phones all over the office lit up ringing. He looked at the call log; it was his number and that was all. His heart was pounding its way out of his chest, and his guts were twisting with fear. He looked at the doorway of the office and considered making a break for safety, his instincts were telling him to run as fast and far as possible. The logical part of his brain said things like this don’t really happen and if this was an elaborate prank he would look like a total pussy to everyone involved. The phones all stopped ringing at once.
The silence became as eerie as the ringing phones had been. He was still breathing heavily as his pocket started to ring again. He was shaking so hard retrieving it from his pocket, that he lost his grip causing it to bounce back and forth in his hands while he tried to catch it. Attempting one last, all or nothing grab, he went for it as it traveled through the air striking it hard enough to bounce off the cubicle wall and desk, before landing face down on the floor. Quickly grabbing it up he began inspecting it for cracks or chips, he was relieved when he couldn’t find any. A new realization struck him as he noticed the call timer was ticking upward. He froze as the seconds ticked by, watching each one holding his breath.
The call had been answered, and he was unable to move as it sat there waiting. He was still debating what the best course of action would be, when a voice came over the phone. A girl’s voice asked, “Hello? Is this Stupid? I need to speak with him right away.”
