Things became a lot clearer today. Also a lot more complicated. Let me explain.

I got into the office, more or less on time, this morning. We're not a strictly regimented set of time keepers at the best of times, but I think that just about everybody works far more than their contracted hours in one way or another. A few people are early birds, but most prefer to work late and avoid the rush hour on the way home. I tend to work smarter rather than longer, but I do work from home on a regular basis – often logging on late at night when I get visited by the programming muse and inspiration strikes. I've had some of my best ideas at two o'clock in the morning and the boss tends to cut me a little slack when it comes to actually being in the office sat at a desk.

I was just thinking about considering the possibility of maybe heading to the coffee machine for my first hit of java of the day (there's probably a pun in there somewhere – maybe something about as opposed to my first slurp of C++, but I'll leave that as an exercise for the reader ...) I've cut down a lot on the amount of coffee I drink. It's very tempting when you are in an office with a decent supply of real coffee – at one stage three or four years ago I was on ten or more cups a day. I was out of the office working on a client site for a couple of days, more politics and hand holding than real work, but I realised that the splitting headache that I came down with was a bad case of caffeine withdrawal. Not good, but I weaned myself down to two cups a day – one in the morning and one just after lunch to keep me going through the afternoon. If I'm working late, I might have another one at the end of the day, but as I said before that doesn't happen very often. Oh, and before anyone says anything, I refuse to drink decaff on general principles.

As I headed towards the kitchen where the percolator is kept on permanent standby, the boss intercepted me and called me into his office, saying that he needed to talk to me in confidence about something. Uh oh. I shut the door behind me and asked what was going on.

“Do you remember the non-disclosure agreement you signed when you joined?”

“Yes, standard sort of stuff – no insider dealing, no passing on trade secrets to competitors, yeah?”

“A little more complex than that, but that's it in a nutshell. It's as much to protect you as the company. I'm about to tell you something that is commercial dynamite – please don't repeat it, or you will be in a shed load of trouble.”

“Ok, I get the picture – what's going on?”

“You've probably noticed some weird stuff going on round here recently. Well, the truth is that we are the subject of a hostile takeover. I'm out of a job, but they've paid me off very handsomely so I'm not too upset. They want you, Dev. You and your code, and they've got plenty of money to burn. If you sit tight and do as you are told your share options will be worth an awful lot of money. There's just one slight catch though - “

“And that is what, exactly?”

“They want you to fly to Tokyo to discuss the job. Look, just think about it for a while, and then ring this number “ - he handed me a business card.

To say, I was gobsmacked is something of an understatement. I turned the business card over in my hands – it was actually a piece of some sort of burnished metal, with the lettering and the phone number etched into the surface with some sort of holographic logo embossed on top. I couldn't read the kanjii script but the phone number was plain enough. A mobile number, it looked like.

I looked at the card for a long time on the way home. This was big league stuff – why were they so interested in me, and some (admittedly rather clever and revolutionary) encryption routines? I decided in principal to call the number – it couldn’t do any harm to find out some more information, could it? I’d leave it till the morning though – treat ‘em mean and keep them keen, I suppose. I wanted to have a clear head in case I needed to make any decisions.

I ate some noodles for tea – that was one area of Japanese life that I could certainly get used to, that and Sapporo beer and fresh sushi. Even if I didn’t take the job, a trip to Japan would certainly be interesting. I threw some clothes in my suitcase, and after a little thought some clean shirts and a tie as well. The rest I could pack when I’d definitely decided one way or the other.

My mind was churning at the speed that things were happening, so I fired up Castles and Caves to distract me for a while. I read the game news whilst the initial area was loading up. There was a new quest area available for mid to high level characters in the eastern provinces, protecting (or raiding) merchant caravans and it looked there were rumours of fire drakes and an ancient Red Dragon nesting up in the volcanic peaks. That sounded promising, so I headed to the market to stock up on potions and charms.

"Hail and well met!"

"Hello again – how are you, today?"

"In body I am well, but my spirit is troubled sweet princess"

"Er, why? What's wrong?"

"I must travel to the distant lands of the orient to defeat a fearsome dragon, and if the Gods be willing to return laden with gold, spices and rare artifacts"

"Sounds dangerous! Can I come with you?"

"No – my doom is travel alone. However I will give you this amulet as a token. It has an enchantment upon it that will bring us together should we both desire it."

"Awww – that's really sweet. Thanks! Hope to see you soon! Luv x x x"

"Now, I must be away. Fare well, my lady!"