Good Work

Beck had a meeting with the boss pop up after lunch. "Shit shit shit," was the appropriate response to the reminder; the mistake had been a stupid one. Beck knew better, but had been lulled into a false sense of security by the lack of people and the smell of old books. The boss didn't invite Beck to sit, but steered them both to the back elevator and down 3 levels to the locked reference room. "I'm unlikely to be murdered, so the secrecy is intriguing," Beck thought, proceeding through the now-unlocked doors to the clean room ... which, as it turned out, was more of a not clean lounge. Fort and Stahl were both there (on their days off) and neither looked up. "Got a little sloppy with the search yesterday," the boss said, smiling. "Can't have you staying sloppy with good work." Beck's eyebrows rose. "Fort's hack rounds down the 0.01 cents interest across two credit card companies and re-routes it to incrementally settle the outrageous medical bills of people on their way to Collection," the boss explained. "It appears like they've been making payments," Fort said quietly (still not looking over), "but it's a hassle. Gotta stop it, start it, adjust it every damn day across a bazillion sites." "Job security," the boss responded, and Fort laughed. "Stahl stewards a program called "Everyone's A Doomsday Prepper"; it applies rebates, refunds, and free item coupons to the grocery purchases of those well below the poverty line." "They end up getting their stuff for nothing or almost free," Stahl added, riveted to the screen. "Join us here at SSOUL," the boss invited with a gesture. "Secret Society Of Uppity Librarians. Get help. Get protected. Get better at it, whatever you're trying to do attempting to access campaign contributions." Fort and Stahl both drew sharp breaths simultaneously and smiled. Beck hesitated, a little overwhelmed; the boss sighed and added, "No meetings and you don't have to be social." "I'm in," Beck ante'd with zero hesitation.