Royce Miller's POV

While I am busy signing the documents piled on my table, I saw Charles through the glass door, coming into the office. I pressed the button tapped at the edge of my table to open the door, for him to get inside. 
"Welcome back on your first day of duty my dear cousin!", Charles approached me and I stood up to give him a light hug.
"How's your first day Reid, I guess it's difficult for you since you've been comatose for one month", he said, showing a brittle smile.
"No, I'm fine Charles. Though there are a lot of documents to look into, but it's okay. I can manage", I responded in a casual tone. As much as I could, I don't want Charles to find out that I am a little bit uneasy of the situation.
"Oh, by the way, what happened to your elbow, did you scratch it?", I asked curiously.
"Uhm. Ah, yes. my allergy attacks so I scratched it, out of itching", Charles answered without looking at me, instead his eyes were roving to and fro around the corner as if he was searching for something. I didn't bother asking him anymore because even if I ask, he would not tell me anyway.
"Well, I just dropped by to check on you, Reid. And I think I have to go now. If you need anything, I'm just around", Charles uttered and stood up, heading his way out of the office. 
When I am alone, I think about the scratches on his elbow. I am not fully convinced that it's due to his allergy, I don't know but I have a bad feeling about it. Another thing is that he was eyeing something in the office. And I find it very strange. I know his eyes were focused on the documents placed on my table.
What could it be? I began to ask myself. Was it related to the anomaly he and Uncle Sam did before my brother's accident?
I budged the swivel chair to my right where my brother's personal computer is placed. I turned it on but to my surprise,  it wasn't protected by a password. Reid always has his password on all of his personal devices. So how come this computer has none? I tried to scroll on it and go over the folders. But it was empty. There are no files on it. As if it was purposely deleted. Even the recycle bin was empty.
What the hell is happening here?

And if I'm going to think about it, there's only one person who has access to everything in this office and that's Wal---"

"Oh no! It could not be. It's impossible", I said it mentally. But what if there's another person who knows the security code of this office?

I set aside those thoughts because as much as possible I don't want to doubt Walter. He is my brother's best friend and most trusted employee in META. But maybe, it's not wrong to ask him why there are no files on my brother's personal computer.

Maybe Walter was observing me all of the time so he approached me and asked if there's anything he can do to help me. I told him about the empty files and why Reid did not set a password for his personal computer.

Walter told me that two days before the accident, Reid asked him to transfer all the files to a flash drive and removed the password of the PC. My doubts were gone when Walter handed to me the flash drive and told me to take a look at it.

I kept myself busy studying the agency's financial reports and my eyes were on the computer screen. I decided to have another copy of all these files on another flash drive, so I tried to open the drawer to look for one. Unfortunately, I did not find any so I just copied it to the PC and protect each file with a strong password.

In the meantime, I considered everything in this office to be mine until Reid will regain his consciousness. I am trying out my best to perform my role even if it's so hard for me.  And I realize only this time, that I also have a high IQ, although not the same as Reid, if I only had finished my degree, maybe I can do something better in this company. 

Suddenly, I heard the ringing of the telephone near Walter's table. After a while,
"Dude, let's take our lunch. Remember the employees were preparing a welcome-back lunch for you. C'mon and let's proceed to the function hall", Walter said and stood up.
I could also hear my stomach already grumbling because I haven't taken my breakfast. So I saved my work and shut down the computer.
As soon as we stepped out of the office the sliding door was automatically locked.

We took the elevator going to the 6th floor where the function hall is located.

When we reached there, the employees greeted me showing their utmost courtesy. I looked around and the whole place was well-decorated. Tables and chairs were properly arranged with covers and beautiful skirting. A rectangular head table was placed at the center and a tarpaulin "WELCOME BACK SIR REID!" was posted on the wall.

When everyone gathered around, a short prayer took place. Then, I had a short speech thanking them for preparing the welcome back lunch for me. Afterwards, I told everyone to partake the food. Sitting with me at the head table were Walter, Charles, and Uncle Sam, who initiated the proper toast of a red wine.

I looked around to clearly see the faces of each one of them.  There are around 250 employees in META and to memorize all of them was really hard for me, but through the help of Walter, I got to familiarize their names and their position.

When we're done eating, everyone went back to their work. Suddenly my phone vibrated. And when I noticed it was an incoming call to Royce's cellphone number, I excused myself and went to a private area to take the call. It was coming from the cell shop, informing me that my brother's cellphone was already fixed and that it is ready to be picked up anytime.

I feel delighted when I heard it and I want to go there immediately but I was thinking, it's still office hours. So maybe I can drop by later before I go home.
I ended the call and went back to my office. I noticed Walter was already there in his office, busy encoding something on his computer.

I know this man is dedicated and committed to META so I think he deserves a promotion.  Walter was been Reid's Executive Assistant for already five years so I think it's time to promote him to a higher position. I'll gonna tell dad about this as soon as I'll get home.

The hours quickly run out and it's time to go home. I told Walter to go ahead because I still need to drop by somewhere. I did not tell him about my brother's cellphone for safety purposes. It's better to be more careful this time.

I pulled the driveway to the Cellphone Care Center to pick up my brother's cellphone. I hope I could find something there that could be at least of any help with regards to his car accident.

After picking it up, I rushed my way heading to our residential house. 

My parents are not yet around because it's still past five. Usually, they would get home around six or seven in the evening. Both of them have their own cars and personal drivers as well, who are waiting for them to get off from the office.

I hurriedly went to Reid's room and changed my clothes. But I got a call from Vince. 

"Yes bro", I spoke.

"Bro, how about at Perch later?", Vince said eagerly.

Perch is one of the best bars in LA. My friends and I used to hang out in this place because of its beautiful view and pleasing ambiance, plus the drinks were great with cool bartenders.

"Uhm. Unfortunately, I am in Beverly Hills right now bro", I lied, just to make an excuse. 

Vince asked me why I'm in Beverly Hills, but I just told him it's all about family matters. Gladly, he did not ask me anymore about it, because even if Vince and I are best friends but we always respect each one's privacy. After a few conversations, we ended up the call.

Then, I took Reid's fixed cellphone from my pocket and started turning it on. It was protected by a password. I'm just hoping I could unlock it or else the phone will have a force reset. I tried all the possible combinations of letters and digits until I finally unlocked it. I scrolled over his apps, messages, and photos on his gallery. But I could not see anything suspicious because all that was stored in the phone's internal storage were just photos of him and Walter. Some were pictures of him together with other businessmen and employees of META.

There were pictures of us taken a year ago when we celebrated our birthday and a family picture.  I scrolled over his social media accounts knowing that he did not log out from any of those, but I did not find anything strange. The messages and all the conversations were purely business matters and there's nothing to be skeptical about.

I continued scrolling everything until I happened to click the 'Recordings'. I listened to all of them but there was nothing suspicious. Until I happened to click the safe file folder. When I tried to click it, it was protected by a password. 

Out of curiosity, I wanted to unlock it because I have a bad feeling that something very important was stored in there. I tried the password I used to unlock the home screen, but it did not work.

Now, I am puzzled again. Why did my brother use another password that is different from what he set on his home screen? I already tried many attempts but still not working.

I cannot think of any other possible password, so I was in deep thought what could it be?