The company was late on its

rent

. There was nobody to resolve the issue so they assigned it to an 

intern

. However the intern didn't take care of the issue and so the startup was getting kicked out of the office. Not because the building they rented a space in wasn't willing to accept late payment. But because with all of the back pay in rent the company no longer had any money.

Oh well the CEO said while standing on a box on that final day addressing his team. He tried to talk like Roger would. Nonchalant. Dropping some life lesson about how they'll come out stronger for this. He said the words but he knew it didn't land well. People were pissed. Or at the least scared.

He felt free. No longer did he wake up to worries about how the company could fail in dozens of ways. He became more social. Roger was no longer his only friend. This went on for a few months but then reality sunk in. He needed to make money and pay his own rent.

He was hired by a more mature company that rented a larger office space at the same building that his failed startup worked out of. He only had climb two additional flights of stairs to get to his new working place. He looked through the glass, where he used to look at the sea of people who looked like 

sunflower

s lit up blue by their screens. His new view was a bit different. He was on the top floor and so he was looking at the people from above.

Of course this meant nothing of his status. He had a good job, but nothing beat being 

CEO

of your own thing. Did he miss it? Damn he did. But wasn't he just feeling relieved that he had gotten a break from it all? How long had his break even been? Now he was missing the thing that had previously burnt him out. What was wrong with him he thought.

He then got a call. Normally he didn't pick up the phone while at work. But this time he felt bad about the phone call. A 

phone number

that wasn't in his contacts, but looked familiar. He picked it up.

It was a police officer from back home. His mom was dead. He screamed into the phone: "REALLY? YOU SERIOUSLY COULDN'T DIE ON A BETTER DAY! I HAVE TEN MEETINGS TODAY, ASSHOLE!"

The police officer didn't know how to respond. So he just said "I'm sorry for your loss." and then the other person hung up on him.

Strange he thought. He had never had someone blow up on him in that manner when delivering such news. The police officer thought about his mom and how he would feel if she died. Then the phone rang. He picked it up because it was his job.

"Eddy. I'm sorry. It's your dad."

The police officer didn't have to hear the rest. He knew it. He took the gun out of his holster and began shooting people near him. 

Later on the news and on the internet people were discussing the 

police

HQ shooting. The first shooting that took place inside of a police HQ by a police officer. Apparently the officer was in good standing and mental health. There was much speculation on why he had blown up. Many argued that this was a sign that mental health issues could go undetected. Others argued that this was a sign. That the phone 

virus

was indeed true. It was at this time still a 

conspiracy

theory, that only certain people believed.

But it went like this. You would get a phone call from someone. They would tell you someone close to you had died. But it would then come true. That person would die.

Kids who didn't believe the theory began recording themselves calling their friends and telling them that their loved one had died. They would post this on 

TikTok

. It was called the Phone Virus Challenge.

A hand turned off the remote to the TV. The man in the expensive suit smiled.

"See. This is just our time to get you back in front of people."

The face next to him grimaced. He knew eventually he would need to return to the stage. He hoped it wouldn't be linked to death though. He was hoping for something more funny. But a lot of the world did find it funny. The people who didn't believe that the phone virus was real. They would prank each other. Calling a friend and telling them someone had died, and then laughing about it.

"How are we going to get you to be the face of the phone virus?" the man in the expensive suit licked the amber scotch off his lips.

"I don't know. It'll just come to me."

"Good." The man in the expensive suit got up to signal to his guest to get out. "I'll be looking forward to it."

In the 

Uber

, he got a call. But he did not pick up. Shortly after he got a text.

"Why are you not picking up? Do you seriously believe that thing?"

"Can't be too safe right?"

"Well just come over. I miss you. Okay?"

"OMW"

Did he believe in the phone virus? He'd seen too much batshit crazy stuff in his days. Even had killed multiple people live on social media just for the likes. There was nothing he was unwilling to believe.