The workers kept staring at him.
Waiting.
Expecting.
Kairo's brain screamed.
Say something. Say ANYTHING. You're the boss now. Bosses talk. Confidently. Loudly. Probably with swear words.
"Uh…" he began.
The three men leaned in slightly.
Kairo straightened his back, remembering how the supervisor usually stood: chest out, hands on hips, annoyed at the universe.
He tried to imitate it.
It felt wrong.
"So," Kairo said, voice deeper than his own, cracking only a little, "the d… delivery."
Silence.
"Yes?" one worker prompted.
Kairo nodded rapidly. Too rapidly.
"Yes. The delivery." He cleared his throat. "It is… late."
They blinked.
"…Yeah," another worker said slowly. "That's what we just told you."
Kairo's face heated under the helmet.
"Right. Yes. Obviously. I was just uh... confirming." He waved his hand in what he hoped looked like a dismissive gesture, but instead resembled someone shooing a fly.
The workers exchanged glances.
I'm failing. I'm failing so badly.
Inside his head, Veylor was wheezing.
"Oh this is delightful. You look like a child wearing his father's face."
Help me, Kairo begged silently.
"No," Veylor replied cheerfully.
One of the workers scratched his chin. "So… what do you want us to do, boss?"
Kairo froze.
He had no idea.
What does a supervisor even DO in this situation?!
His mind raced. Delay. Delay was good. Delay meant fewer decisions.
"Take… initiative?" Kairo blurted.
The men stared.
"…Initiative," one repeated.
"Yes!" Kairo latched onto it desperately. "You know. Be… proactive. Very proactive."
"How?" another asked.
Kairo panicked.
"Uh. By.... by standing around," he said quickly. "But, uh… professionally."
The silence that followed was heavy.
Then one worker chuckled. "You feeling okay, boss? You hit your head or something?"
Kairo laughed. Too hard. Too fast.
"No! No head injury! I am perfectly normal!" He winced. "I mean perfectly fine."
The worker raised an eyebrow.
Veylor leaned in mentally, voice dripping with amusement. "Careful, little human. You're one stutter away from a mutiny."
Sweat trickled down Kairo's spine.
"Look," Kairo said, trying to sound authoritative, "I want… everyone to take a break."
The workers' eyes lit up.
"…A break?" one asked.
"Yes. A break. A long one. For safety." Kairo nodded firmly, proud of himself. "Safety is very… important to me. Suddenly."
The men stared at him like he'd grown a second head.
"…Did the company finally replace you?" one muttered.
"What?" Kairo squeaked.
"Nothing," the worker said quickly. "Uh... sure, boss."
They began walking off.
Kairo exhaled so hard his knees nearly buckled.
I survived, he thought.
Then one worker stopped and turned back.
"Oh boss?"
Kairo flinched. "Y-yes?"
"You usually yell at us for asking questions."
Kairo's mind blanked.
He opened his mouth
and shouted, far too loudly, "WHY ARE YOU STILL HERE?!"
The workers jumped.
"…There he is," one said in relief.
They hurried off.
Kairo sagged against a steel beam, heart racing.
"I can't do this," he whispered. "I'm not him."
Veylor laughed softly, satisfied. "Of course you aren't. That's the point."
A new system message pulsed into view.
TASK IN PROGRESS
Objective: Sabotage Site Operations
Method: Supervisor Authority
Remaining Time: 5h 42m
Kairo stared at it in horror.
"…I have to keep pretending?" he asked weakly.
"Oh yes," Veylor said happily. "And if you slip up…"
The god didn't finish the sentence.
Kairo swallowed.
Somewhere behind him, the metal container creaked.
The real supervisor stirred.
------
Kairo had just begun to calm down when the radio on his belt crackled to life.
"Supervisor, we've got a situation on the east scaffolding."
Kairo froze.
He stared at the radio like it might bite him.
"…Situation?" he echoed.
The radio crackled again. "Yeah. One of the supports doesn't line up with the updated blueprint."
Kairo's stomach dropped.
Blueprint? There was a blueprint?
"Boss?" the voice pressed. "What do you want us to do?"
Kairo's mind went completely blank.
Inside his head, Veylor practically purred. "Ohhh, a decision point. Choose poorly. I insist."
Kairo swallowed. "Uh... don't move."
The workers waited.
"Like… don't move the beam?" the voice asked.
"Yes," Kairo said quickly. "Do not… move… anything."
"…At all?"
"Correct."
The radio went silent.
Thirty seconds later, another voice crackled in. "Uh, boss? We were mid-lift when you said that."
Kairo's eyes widened. "Mid what?"
There was a loud metallic CLANG from the east side of the site, followed by several people shouting.
Kairo winced.
"Oh no," he whispered.
Veylor laughed. "You've frozen them like statues. Delightful."
Kairo sprinted toward the noise, boots slapping against concrete. When he rounded the corner, he saw it: a steel beam suspended at a dangerous angle, workers awkwardly holding it in place, faces strained.
"Boss!" someone yelled. "Can we move now?!"
Kairo raised his hands instinctively. "Yes! Yes, please move! Carefully! Slowly! With… intention!"
The beam shifted.
Too much.
It slammed into another support with a deafening crash, knocking over a stack of materials like dominoes.
The site erupted into shouting.
Kairo stood there, heart in his throat, staring at the mess.
"…Is that bad?" he asked quietly.
Veylor laughed so hard Kairo felt it behind his eyes. "Oh, spectacular. Minor damage, maximum confusion. You're a natural."
A foreman marched up to him, face red. "Boss, what the hell was that call?"
Kairo stiffened.
Authority. Be authoritative.
"That," Kairo said slowly, "was a… test."
The foreman blinked. "A test."
"Yes. To see how everyone reacts under… pressure."
The foreman stared at him for a long second.
"…You've never done that before."
Kairo nodded solemnly. "Growth."
The foreman squinted. "Are you feeling alright?"
"No," Kairo said honestly.
The foreman frowned. "No?"
"I mean.... yes," Kairo corrected quickly. "I am feeling yes."
Veylor snorted. "You're killing me."
Before the foreman could push further, a worker ran up, panicked. "Boss! The delivery truck's here but it's blocking the access road!"
Kairo's brain short-circuited.
Blocking the road sounded bad.
"Tell them to… leave?" Kairo suggested.
"They're delivering our concrete," the worker said.
"Oh." Kairo winced. "Then… tell them to stay."
"They're blocking emergency access."
"Oh."
Veylor leaned in. "Say it. You know you want to."
Kairo took a deep breath. "Tell them to… leave… but also stay nearby."
The worker stared. "…Nearby where?"
Kairo panicked. "Nearby street ,if possible."
The worker walked away slowly, like he was dealing with an unstable animal.
" But boss, if they move to another street it will take a long time to move the concrete" another worker said with a questioning look
Whispers spread.
"Boss is acting weird."
"Did he get replaced?"
"Maybe he's on something."
Kairo overheard every word.
His chest tightened.
"I can't keep this up," he whispered. "They know."
"They suspect," Veylor corrected happily. "Much better."
Another system message flickered into view.
SITE EFFICIENCY: DROPPEDCONFUSION LEVEL: OPTIMALSOUL SYNC: +1% (Ongoing)
Kairo's eyes widened."This is helping you?!"
"Oh absolutely," Veylor said, delighted. "Disorder born from hesitation. Very human."
Kairo's breathing was shallow. Workers were still watching him. Whispering. Waiting.
Then
I thought of something.
His eyes brightened with sudden, fragile inspiration.
"Uhm... you there," Kairo said, pointing. "The guy wearing the green vest."
The site went quiet.
"Me?" a worker asked, touching his chest.
"No," Kairo said quickly. "Not you. The other guy wearing the green vest."
The workers looked at one another.
A long pause.
"…Boss," someone said carefully, "ninety-nine percent of us are wearing green vests."
Kairo froze.
His brain scrambled.
"Yeah," he said, nodding far too fast. "That's… that's true."
Veylor was cackling now, full-on laughter echoing through Kairo's skull. "Oh, this is art."
Kairo lifted his chin, desperation sharpening into reckless confidence.
"You know what?" he said. "New policy."
The workers straightened.
"The guys without vests," Kairo continued, gesturing vaguely, "are in charge for the time being."
Dead silence.
"…But," a worker ventured, "we all have vests."
"Exactly," Kairo said firmly.
The men stared at him.
Kairo nodded once, as if concluding a profound lesson. "Think about it."
Then he turned and walked away before anyone could ask another question.
His steps were steady.
His heart was not.
The moment he rounded the corner and reached the supervisor's office...a cramped temporary cabin... he shoved the door open and slipped inside, slamming it shut behind him.
Only then did his knees buckle.
Kairo leaned against the desk, breathing hard, sweat beading along his temples and dripping down his neck.
"I… I did it," he whispered. "I escaped."
Veylor hummed approvingly. "You delegated authority to nobody. A bold management strategy."
Kairo wiped his face with shaking hands. The office smelled faintly of stale coffee and paper. A cluttered desk sat in front of him, covered in folders, schedules, and a blinking computer monitor.
Okay, he told himself. Hide here. Just wait it out. five hours. That's all.
The radio on his belt crackled again.
"Boss?" a voice asked. "Quick question."
Kairo flinched. "Y-yes?"
"Who's in charge right now?"
Kairo stared at the wall.
He swallowed.
"…Everyone," he said weakly.
The radio went silent.
Then
"…Boss?"
Just for a second.
Kairo closed his eyes.
When he opened them again, he forced himself to move.
The supervisor's office was small, cramped, and suffocatingly quiet. A flickering desk lamp illuminated stacks of folders, loose papers, and a half-spilled cup of cold coffee. The air smelled like dust .
If I'm stuck here, Kairo thought, I might as well understand what's going on.
He began sorting through the clutter.
At first, it was boring. Safety regulations. Shift schedules. Delivery invoices. Kairo read every page carefully, his timid nature turning into meticulous focus. He didn't skim. He didn't rush. He read everything, twice, afraid that missing a detail might cost him later.
Time slipped by.
The chaos outside dulled into distant noise, arguing workers, radios crackling, the occasional metallic bang. Kairo barely noticed.
An hour passed.
Then
Kairo's fingers froze on a thin, unmarked folder tucked beneath a stack of blueprints.
No logo. No supervisor stamp. Just a faint watermark on the corner of the paper.
LETMI