The entirety of floor seven sat in the morning meeting room expectantly waiting for their new floor manager to walk in. Right at the chiming of the bell, Lark walked in wearing his standard black clothing. He walked across the meeting room to the set of long tables lining the wall. He set the wide, thin boxes that he was carrying on the tables. Lifting their lids, he revealed a plethora of donuts.

  He returned a moment later with several carafes of coffee, while Gil floated in behind him with stacks of paper cups, spoons, small pitchers of cream, and small dishes of sugar.

  Lark turned and addressed the room for the first time. “Please, help yourselves. I can’t imagine a meeting this early in the morning without coffee and donuts.” As if to show his point, he poured himself a cup of coffee and grabbed a donut.

  Keylynn joined the migration towards the coffee and donuts. She added a touch of cream and sugar to her freshly poured cup of coffee following Tiv's advice. Both sugar and cream were required for making a pleasing cup of coffee.

  Lark sipped his coffee and his donut while he waited for everyone to finish and return to their seats.

  “I know Akzer had a unique way of managing this floor. I apologize now for any difficulties or frustrations that arise from the transition between his management style and my own. Hello, I’m Lark Skyheart, your new manager.” He introduced himself with a small nod of his head.

  “As of today there is no longer a floor seven. We are now the Annual Assessment Division. It was a compromise for my taking over floor management. It’s a bit of an experimental division designed to prevent the embarrassment that was the Ody’s Journey quest.” The room filled with a low murmur that steadily grew louder. Lark raised his hands. “Everyone relax; I know you should have been informed before now. Before your complaints and transfer requests are filed, you should know there are perks for being part of a unique division. The first is a 5% pay increase to everyone who stays. I call it hazard pay for dealing with disgruntled storymancers. In addition, I plan to institute bonuses for every annual assessment successfully completed.”

  The whispers slowly died down at that. Lark went on to explain that all annual assessments conducted by their division will be conducted in person, which was another rationale for their pay increase. Their division would be out of the office more times than not. In addition, all of their travel expenses will be covered by the division. The best part was their new division doesn't have a cap on travel expenses.

  “Also, I find morning meetings odious at best, so this will be our first and last morning meeting. I think there are better things we can all be doing.” He paused as a few people cheered. Tsunami and Inferno were the loudest. “As for the business of your missing compensation, I will be personally seeing to it that everyone in my division gets paid for the hour every day that they spent at these pointless morning meetings.” He lifted his coffee to his mouth for a drink.

  That was a clever move on his part, retroactively paying everyone for attending the cursed morning meetings. By the whispers that she was hearing, there were very few people wanting to transfer from the division.

  An orange and black striped paw raised in the air, belonging to Tobias, a member of one of Akzer's preferred assessment teams. He always sneered at Keylynn whenever she walked by his desk. “So about those bonuses, since you mentioned teams were encouraged to work together. What happens to the assessment completion bonus?”

  Excellent question. Tobias, any team that participates in an assessment will receive the completion bonus. Completion bonuses will be applied to every other pay period or can be saved to be paid out at year’s end.” Of course Lark would know everyone’s name. With one sentence Lark was going to promote more synergy than Akzer ever did.

  Tobias nodded, satisfied.

  Lark didn’t need the full hour to debrief the entirety of floor seven and answer their questions. When he dismissed everyone, he told them as long as they were ready when the office officially started its workday.

  “Keylynn, can you stay behind for a moment, please?”

  She refilled her coffee cup, this time adding more sugar and cream. She watched as slowly everyone left the meeting room. Gwen paused midstride and gave her a questioning look. Keylynn smiled and gestured for her to go. Regardless of what Lark has in store for her, she will be fine.

  He closed the door behind the final person. “I have you to thank for the creation of this new division and my new appointment.”

  She bowed her head. She couldn’t tell if he was cross or not because he was always so stoic. “My deepest apologies; that wasn’t my intention at all. All I wanted was the means to provide my team with real work.” She sipped her coffee, pleased with the taste.

  The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

  “Make no mistake. I should be furious with you for blackmailing Akzer while I was in the midst of terminating them. It caused me to expedite the process.” He paused to sip his coffee. “Luckily, I was able to angle for the new division. Couldn’t have ended better if I planned it myself.”

  She felt a mushroom slip from her cheek. She caught it before it could dissolve into a splash of slime. She’s discovered that some slimes release noxious fumes, while others alter her body temperature.

  “It sounds as if my actions were fortuitous then.”

  He gave her a grin that didn’t feel like it was a happy one. “If you dare do something so stupid or put me in a situation like that ever again, I’ll personally see to it that you never know peace or joy ever again.” That’s why his grin was off-putting. “That being said, thank you for your hard work in my investigation; if not for your team’s reports, I don’t think I would have been able to remove Akzer from their management position.”

  She let out a sigh of relief. “What would you like me to do with the vast collection of old paperwork that my team was directed to digitize?”

  “Right. Pack it all up and bring it to the HR floor office. I don’t plan to waste a competent team on mindless work that doesn’t need doing. I’ll be emailing you with your team’s assignment soon enough.” He drained his coffee cup and crumpled it before tossing it in the trash bin. “And that mimic of yours, it leaves my office if it harms anyone.”

  She nodded. “You have my personal thanks for allowing them to remain. The files will be moved immediately. My team will be pleased to watch them go.”

  Her coffee cup joined his, and she left the meeting room. At least Lark didn’t bring up the coffee cart. She doubted he will be pleased when he learns she was involved in the business, according to what both Riv and Dauven told her.

  She returned to her desk and promptly began to pack up the dusty old stack of files on her desk. Not even her fungal colonies can keep up with the massive amounts of dust, and the janitorial slimes have avoided the stack of files.

  “As of today we are more than glorified secretaries. We are bidding these dusty files farewell, and we will be given a real assignment as soon as Lark is able to email us.”

  Ragna raised an eyebrow. “Just like that?” He began packing and put away the files that cover his desk. He decided it was only fair to help her whenever he has a spare moment.

  “Just like that,” she agreed with a smile.

  He shot Demetra a smirk. “For the next month I expect to see a fresh cup of coffee on my desk. Preferably from the Cup Stop with a pastry to go with it.”

  She let out a defeated sigh. “Yeah, yeah. A bet’s a bet.”

  It didn’t take her team long to carry all the boxes of dusty old files to the floor HR manager’s office. There was a small cheer when the final box was carried away. No one else in the office will be tripping over those boxes again.

  All that was left to do was wait. Good thing her team got good at waiting. Keylynn worked on her team leadership training and learned why she should never form romantic entanglements with a member of her team. Demetra worked on a small assignment from Riv while Inferno worked on his botanical research project. Ragna and Tsunami each found something to fill their time; Ragna looked through the HR portal for any available assignments, while Tsunami organized his email inbox.

  All at once their computers chimed with a new email. Keylynn eagerly pulled up her most recent email.

  To Keylynn

  From: Lark

  Subject: Annual Assessment Division (The AAD)

  I would like to welcome you and your team, Team Mushroom, to the Annual Assessment Division. Outlined below are the following changes and benefits I have for your team:

  I recommend rethinking that team name; it seems like it was made to ridicule you.

  For you specifically, I worked into your contract Fungal Health Days to replace sick days. After seeing how Ody’s journey affected your fungal colonies, I have seen firsthand that their health affects yours, and when they are diminished, you should be able to take a sick day. You will have the corporate standard allotment of Fungal Health Days, fourteen days, with the ability to negotiate for more as needed.

  Your team can now request anything they need from the records room without needing to prove relevancy; you will simply need my approval. Hopefully this new measure will increase annual assessment efficiency.

  Your team will now be qualified to assess any level of quests due to their success, and your supervision, of course, with Ody’s Journey. Should you finish your assigned work for the week early, please feel free to take on any assessments that you wish.

  Your team will be awarded their bonus retroactively for their work on the Ody’s Journey assessment. Because that assessment led to the development of this division, I’ve doubled the bonus you each will receive. This also applies for Dauven’s team as well.

  I will have a mentor for Inferno by the end of the week. I’m hoping to get someone on this floor; if not, then I’ll ensure they meet with Inferno once per week at a minimum.

  I’ve attached the file for your first assignment. It’s a quest that adventurers start but don't finish. Figure out why, and if possible, fix it.

  Lark, Manager of the AAD.

  Keylynn smiled at the email. It seems there were more benefits to being in a new division than simply a pay increase.

  She forwarded the quest file to her team, which only solidified their support for the new division and Lark as their manager. She got to work arranging their transportation, at her team's request. The sooner they arrive, the sooner they can get to work. That and it was a mimic farm. How many of those will they get a chance to see?