All of Them People

Tip tap went the keys on Emmett's computer as he sat crossed legged and hunched over it, his limbs getting stiffer the longer he stayed unmoving. A large blanket was draped across his shoulders as he stared angrily at the screen in front of him, displaying the source of his frustration. It was the website with the locked files he'd been trying to crack into, on and off, for the past week. He held his glare for a few more moments before shutting his laptop and shoving it away from him.

"Ugh" He moaned, pulling the soft blanket over his bed head and rolled over onto his side. He proceeded to roll back and forth on the floor while making a whining sound. "This is so annoying!" he hissed to no one in particular. Sean wasn't home since it was a school day and Emmett would rather see the devil kid, Sean kept telling him to call the kid Cian, than go to school too. Instead he kept the floor company, lamenting that it was the only one who understood.

He woke up a while later to someone knocking familiarly at the front door. Groggily he thought, Sean must be home early today, and sauntered down the stairs. To his horror he was greeted by a couple of people who were not Sean or anyone else he knew for that matter.

"Good afternoon." Said a woman. Her blonde hair was tightly wound in bun and she wore a pleated skirt and blouse. By all means she looked like a normal office worker, her companion on the other hand looked like he'd just returned from a Russian internment camp. His face wore a blatant scowl and he kept his arms stiffly at his side. Emmett only gawked a little. " Ah, you must be Mr. Brinkerhoff's son."

"Uh, yeah no. Sean's at school." He replied immediately, wishing it was socially acceptable to slam the door in her face so she would go away. The woman didn't seem to be fazed at all by his off-putting answer though because she kept talking.

"Is that so. Well my name is Kathleen (lastname) and this is Sid." She spoke casually. "I hope you don't mind letting us come in to talk, it is a bit hot outside she continued without missing a beat stepping slightly closer to the door.

"Uh. Sure, whatever I guess." He mumbled, hoping against hope she would change her mind and leave. She didn't. Instead he found himself sitting at the table across from her and her intimidating companion in awkward silence.

"I don't recall Sean having a brother." The women, Kathy or something said smiling sweetly.

"That's because I'm not his brother." Ugh why did he let them in, he should have said no they could come back later if they wanted to talk to Sean. Trying to distract himself he glanced over at the microwave clock, only to see that it was quarter after two and Sean wouldn't be home for another half hour.

"Hmm" Kathy hummed "I don't suppose he's the one with the affinity for computer technology is he?"

Emmett actually almost let out a chuckle. "Him? With a computer? No way." Sean could use a phone but that was about his limit for advanced technology.

"That makes this easy then Emmett." The sudden use of his name got his attention, and he stared quizzically at her. "You see we know about you. Or more specifically your, little hacking expeditions."

At first he started mouth agape at her, but then it all clicked. That government website with those files he was trying to get in. Which means they must have bee sent from the government to get rid of him! Panicking he tried to sputter a defense.

"Wh- no. I am an upstanding citizen of the the law thank you." So please don't take me to jail he pleaded in his head. She laughed softly then, a mix between a conspiring chuckle and honest amusement.

"We're not here to punish you or anything. So don't get your knickers in a knot." Instead she pulled up her briefcase and put it on the table. "Kids these days are so suspicious" she muttered to herself.

"If possible I'd like to avoid the police getting involved. You didn't do any damage to our company except to our I.T. department's good night sleep. So our company has a proposition for you, if you're open to it of course."

He squinted at her trying to discern whether she was utterly off her rocker. Her companion didn't offer him any words of condolences or any words at all really. Emmett was beginning to like him a little bit more.

"What kind of... offer?" He rubbed his hand nervously together under the table.

"We'd like you to do some work for us." He gawked. "Something akin to community service if you will utilizing your skills, unless you'd rather we report you to the RCMP to do some real community service."

Emmett made an audible sound of disgust at the thought of going out in the hot sun to pick up garbage all day. And grumbled louder in his head when he saw the look of satisfaction on Kath-somethings face.

"If you prove yourself an excellent worker, we may even consider paying you for your work with us."

"I'll do it." He said quickly. "But only for the volunteer time or whatever. After that I'm gone." She smiled.

"Excellent. Then I'll get you to fill in these papers" her briefcase clicked open as she revealed said papers. "and we'll contact you when we've scheduled you to start."

"Great." He muttered.