Tales of the Admins

[Garrett Jax]

Huggerz nestled close to his master, the Xenomorph Admin, Garrett Jax. His tail twitched impatiently, waiting for the beleaguered Admin to get some much needed rest. For several days now, his master toiled at the desk tip-tapping on a keyboard, trying to write the novel of a millennium. Many times, he didn't even make it to bed before collapsing from exhaustion. He rarely left his office/bedroom anymore, coming for air only to grab a pot of coffee and take Huggerz out for a walk.

Suddenly, a strange noise echoed through the airducts and into his room. It sounded like someone was scrubbing something. For several minutes, the scrubbing continued, followed by swearing, and then more scrubbing. After each bout of scrubbing, the swearing grew louder. Huggerz was worried that the noise would wake up his Master. Sure enough, his Master's eyes opened, and he picked himself out of bed.

Huggerz whined softly, eliciting a comforting pat on the head from his Master. He waited for his Master to dress, eagerly waiting for his signal to leap on his shoulder for his daily walk. He backed up all the way to the other side of the room this time, to see if his eight thin legs could make the leap. Garrett smiled at him, warmly. He tapped his shoulder, prompting Huggerz to jump. Huggers leapt with all his strength, flying across the room, landing perfectly on Garrett's shoulder.

"Good boy, Huggerz," Garrett commended. "That's a record jump for you, I think."

Huggerz tail whipped back and forth appreciatively. He loved his master.

Garrett scratched Huggerz head in just the right spot. "Let's go find out who is making all that noise, okay boy?"

Huggerz danced excitedly on Garrett's shoulder in response. It was going to be good getting out again. It was boring sitting in a room all day doing nothing.

Garrett walked the halls of the Temple, the scrubbing noise getting louder with each step. Finally, they arrived at the source of all the commotion. Three Oranges, as his Master called them, were trying to scrub off some graffiti painted on the walls. When they caught sight of Garrett, they swore loudly.

Garrett glared at them. "What do you think you are doing, Oranges?"

One of the Oranges stepped forward, nervously, eyes dancing between Garrett and his pet. "Sorry for waking you, sir," he said, quickly. "We were trying to clean up this mess on the walls, before any of the Admins found out."

"You are making too much noise," said Garrett, in an eerily soft voice that made Huggerz shiver.

The Oranges recoiled. "I...I'm sorry, sir. The graffiti is impossible to remove. It's painted in permanent ink."

Huggerz watched his Master as he gazed briefly at the walls. "Which one of you did this?"

The Orange's mouths shut tightly. Apparently, they didn't want to rat out one of their own.

"You're loyalties are admirable," said Garrett, smiling. "However, you will tell me. Huggerz? Go get him, boy!"

Huggerz immediately leapt from his perch on Garrett's shoulder and landed squarely on the chest of the nearest Orange. His eight spidery legs strained forward, in the direction of the Orange's face. His powerful tail whipped around the Orange's neck successfully and began to tighten. It wouldn't be long now. He could already feel the strength waning from the hapless Moderator.

Just before Huggerz could achieve lip lock with the Orange, the other two Moderators screamed in unison, "It was Marburg!"

Garrett smirked. "Huggerz! Down boy."

Disappointed, Huggerz slowly relaxed his tail's grip around the Moderator's neck. Before he left, however, he gave the Orange a little peck on the lips, causing the poor human to collapse in a faint. The other two Oranges shrieked in fear.

Huggerz left the prone man, skittering noisily across the floor and back onto Garrett's shoulder.

"Good boy, Huggerz." He looked at the two Moderators as he scratched Huggerz head playfully again. "Huggerz, I think Marburg is acting out. I think it's a cry for attention, don't you?"

The two Moderators nodded their heads slowly, their eyes less than certain. Huggerz was practically dancing on Garrett's shoulder.

Garrett continued. "Huggerz, go find Marburg and give him some love, okay boy?"

Immediately, Huggerz leapt off of Garrett's shoulder, scurrying down the edge of the corridor toward Marburg's room. Huggerz knew exactly where to go. This troublesome Orange liked to sleep in coffins, of all things. How fitting. Huggerz eventually reached the empty coffin, found a nice dark corner to hide, his tail twitching impatiently for Marburg to finally go to bed.

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