Chapter 4.

Artwork.

The goody closet was a room near the company president's office. It looked like it was meant to be used as a meeting room, but instead of a large table in the center, it was filled with shelves that were covered in equipment.

“Now, how this will work is,” Tempest looked at her paper, then reached up and grabbed a box with a laptop printed on the outside. It was the same laptop Ash used at home, and this made him happy, “none of this equipment can leave the office. We take security very seriously. Some asshole company stole some of our designs because we'd taken one of the laptops with us to a meeting, and they hacked it. We have specific laptops we take with us that have been encrypted beyond what a god could crack, thanks to my sons, but they aren't the ones that stay behind our firewalls all the time. We strip any info off those we take with us and only put pertinent info on them when as we need it.” She put the computer box in his hands.

Ash guessed that made sense. It would suck to have the new game expansion or their artwork stolen and used for some cheesy knockoff game. “Do we have internet access on our art computers? A lot of programs only run on the internet now, Like Photo Simulatrix is web-based now.”

Tempest shook her head. “It's great that they have subscription fees now, I'm sure that makes them feel awesome at how much they're making a year, but we won't use it. We've created our own add-ons for software or apps if that's what your brain wants to call them, which allows us to get the same feel as Photo Simulatrix without having our work hanging out on the web like bait. Cloud services are nice, but not as secure as we like our work to be.

“This laptop will be on the intranet only. You'll get a second one that will be connected to the internet so you can look up references. You just can't download those references onto the computer with your SRG work on it. It's a confusing clusterfuck, but it's worth it in the end for the added security.” As Tempest was talking, she was piling more and more boxes into Ash's hands, until he could barely see over the top.

The woman grabbed up a few more items and a laptop that wasn't in a box before shooing him out of the room and back towards the art department. Ash's arms were shaking from carrying so much, and Tempest grabbed half of the boxes, much to the man's relief.

“Also, make sure you never search for anything you don't want our security department to see because they will see everything. Both of my sons are crazy good with computers, but one is super nosy, so he finds out all the dirt.” Tempest huffed a laugh and rolled her eyes.

Ash could tell she adored her sons, and he found it refreshing that she worked with her family. “Noted, I'll remember not to search for porn while in a room full of my coworkers.”

Tempest laughed. “You'll do, Ash, you'll do.”

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It took most of the morning to set up his new work station. Tempest had thought of everything he might need, and his station was better outfitted than his home one was. And that was saying something since he'd spared no expense in his home studio.

She'd even given him the digital artist's best friend. Ash smiled happily at his new two-fingered gloves. Using a visual artist's tablet was a lot like using a regular tablet. It had a light-up screen, and he drew directly on that screen with a special electronic pen. The glove was made for the screen so it wouldn't cause static, but it would allow the artist's hand to smoothly glide over the surface of the tablet without smudging the glass or causing drag.

Ash didn't want to go home. Ever. Tempest was still standing next to him; she'd helped him get everything set up and logged into their intranet. “Boss, can I just live here? I can bring in a sleeping bag and stay here forever. Seriously, I only need room for a suitcase and a sleeping bag.”

Tempest grinned. “But what about raid days?”

Ash thought about that for a moment; he didn't want to lose out on gameplay either. “I can bring my game system from home and set it up near the sleeping bag. I'm small, a six by three-foot area would be plenty big enough.” He was only semi-serious about moving into the office, but it was such a cool place to work, and he'd barely started!

“I've been tempted to do the same if I'm honest. But for now, let's just finish getting your responsibilities worked out.” Tempest had a charming smile that reached her eyes.

Ash thought Tempest would make a good artist's subject, and he saved that thought for later when he had time to do his own art. “Okay, what do you need to know?”

“Besides your online portfolio, do you have another portfolio?” she asked.

Ash pulled his messenger bag out from under his desk and unzipped it. He pulled a black fabric folio out and handed it over. “I don't have everything I've ever drawn in there, but I have fan art of the game that I've never posted, as well as anything I thought might be pertinent to my job working here. I've even included heavily detailed backgrounds and structures since I'm better at those than I am at people.”

Tempest sat down at the desk next to his and started thumbing through the portfolio pages. She gasped when she saw one of the pieces of artwork, and Ash peeked over her shoulder to see what had caught her eye. It was the inside of a castle. Each piece of the stonework was lovingly crafted in a gothic fantasy style. In the center sat a wizened old ruler. His eyes were sunken, his shoulders were hunched, and one hand covered half of his grieving face. His eyes glowed, and a scepter was held in his other hand. He was clearly a magic-user. The overall piece was beautiful and somber. Ash thought it was one of the best he'd ever made.

“Is this piece based off of anything or anyone?” Tempest asked urgently and held up the page so he could see it fully.

Ash shook his head. “No, and I've never posted that one online. I just finished it last night. I don't have anything similar to that one that's posted either.”

Tempest snapped the collection of artwork closed and stood up. “Meeting in twenty minutes!” She cried out with a clap of her hand on the portfolio. Everyone waved a hand or nodded, showing they'd heard. She grabbed his wrist and said, “Come with me,” as she dragged him from the room.

Ash's eyes were wide, and he had to run to keep up with Tempest's strides. “Where are we going?”

“To see Sunny. I need to set up a meeting,” Tempest said over her shoulder.

“Why am I going too?” Ash gulped.

“Because... the meeting is your fault,” she said as she stormed into Benton's office.

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30 minute drawing I did today. <3 I hope you like it!