Life on the Server

Morning sunrise gleamed across the steel beams of the hotel, the quad spires on the rooftop glowing softly. Down on the streets, a few cars honked and zoomed by, but the streets were mostly free of activity. The plaza was empty save for a couple of birds drinking from the plaza fountain, water gushing quietly.

Curry stood at the balcony window of her spacious apartment, on the 67th floor of the tower. Her eyes drifted across the city, looking out over the cityscape. A few miles away, the megatall r/DDLC skyscraper (which resembled the Burj Khalifa) with it's sister Discord server tower (which resembled The Shard) loomed, easily the tallest building in the DDLC city community.

Curry loved getting up in the mornings, to see the sun rise and hear the first chorus of the birds chirps and calls. It was relaxing, and about the only time of the day where she could truly be with her thoughts.

She was young, with short brown hair she always kept neatly combed. She always sported her slightly thick black glasses, otherwise kept hanging from her shirt. She was of Asian-American descent, with an average build for a woman her age who wasn't afraid to show off her body when the time called for it.

At the hotel, Curry was one of the managers for the Bakery server. A managers job was to routinely check the channels for anyone breaking the rules, and generally interacting with the other members. She was already a regular in the clubroom, and everyone loved it when she came on to chat.

It wasn't like she did the job alone. There was Akira, the first manager hired. There was Lilly and Zuccki and Dex. All great people, who she quickly made friends with on her first few days on staff.

And then, of course, there was the Owner. The boss. The founder of the Bakery.

Owner was older than her, and quite the character. Taller than her, with a genuine smile usually adorning his (cute) face. In passing he had talked about starting the page off, slowly building it up into what it is today. Most people were impressed by his dedication to his work. And who wouldn't be impressed? The Bakery was one of the fastest growing pages on Instagram, and Owner had always worked hard to make sure it was on the front page of everything DDLC.

Typically, Owner wasn't that active on the server. His attention focused mostly on the Bakery page itself, pumping out Doki posts and interacting with the community itself, making the name of the Bakery heard. He did try his best to stay active as much as possible, and Curry usually saw him hanging out with some of the members in the clubroom or elsewhere.

Curry stretched, feeling the bones in her back pop with pleasure. She yawned as she stepped into her kitchen, and reached into her cupboard. She took out a can of instant coffee mix and popped open the lid, expecting to be rested by the intoxicating smell of coffee grounds.

“Shit.” she muttered to herself, looking down into the empty can. She tossed the empty coffee can into the trash and paused, thinking of what to do. She still wanted coffee...

She reached for her keys hanging up on the rack.

The hotel usually started serving breakfast by now, and there was always a fresh pot of coffee brewing. She'd probably run into Dex, who usually liked to get first bites at the breakfast and then retreat to his room.

Curry opened the door to her apartment and stepped out. She didn't both with changing out of her pajamas (a simple pink button-up with white collar borders). She quickly locked the door behind her and started for the row of elevators, twirling her house keys in her finger.

As expected, the hallways were deserted, with most members preferring to sleep in and wake up later in the day. She pushed the button to call the elevator, and listened as the heavy cables pulled the car up to her floor.

The elevator dinged.

Curry froze.

It was the Owner.

Dressed in a neatly-pressed tucked in white button up dress shirt (the sleeves pulled up to his elbows) and khaki pants, Owner looked collected and almost peaceful. He looked quite polished, with a nice pair of brown boots and a belt to match it. His glasses hung off his shirt, and his hair was neatly combed in it's usually style.

Curry suddenly felt a hot wave of embarrassment from still being in her pajamas, and her hair wasn't even fixed...

Owner looked at her and smiled warmly, pleased to see her.

“Ah, good morning Curry.” Owner said, nodding slightly.

Curry stuttered, and pushed a strand of her brown hair back behind her ear.

“G-good morning, Owner.” she replied, her voice masked with a slight shakiness. She stepped into the elevator and pushed the button for the lobby. The elevator doors slowly closed, and the car shifted as it started to go down. Owners phone went off, and he immediately went to check it.

For a moment, she and Owner stood next to each other, not saying a word. Owner was a good five inches taller than Curry’s 5’5. She couldn't help but feel just a little intimidated, considering both his size and status among the server and community. She shifted uneasily.

'Think, damnit…’ Curry thought as she desperately racked her brain for something to talk about to break the unbearable silence. She made a gesture to the toolbag hanging off Owners shoulders. It was slightly dirty, and Curry could see a few tools and wires sticking out of it.

“What's, um, what's with the toolbag?” Curry asked.

Owner glanced down, as if he didn't even notice the bag.

“Oh, I was just doing some maintenance on the equipment up on the roof. Updating the software, stuff like that.”

“Ah.” Curry said, nodding. “Was it hard?”

Owner shrugged slightly. “Only if you don't know what your doing.” He said with a slight laugh.

The elevator stopped, and opened with a slight creak to reveal the skylobby, where all the elevators converged to one floor. It was so people could get off and get to another elevator, because not all the elevators in the tower went straight down to the ground floor.

Owner gave her a final smile. “Have a good day, Curry.” He slowly stepped off the elevator, and started to walk down the hallway.

Curry leaned forward. “Ah, y-you too!”

But the elevator closed before Owner could hear her.

Curry took a step back, almost dizzy. The elevator zoomed down to the lobby.

Why? What was it about Owner that made her head spin, and her heart beat just a little bit faster in his presence? She couldn't explain it. It, it wasn't like she liked him or a-anything…

...did she?

The elevator dinged, and quickly opened it doors. The lobby was a little more populated, with some newer faces sitting down at the couches, waiting to be shown to their rooms.

Curry stepped out of the elevator and headed for the cafeteria.