Your Indifferent Supervisor

Three days without going home, and Ned Larkspur walks in looking perfectly put together, wanting the report he assigned you yesterday, today.

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Story facts

Quests: 11
Quest completions: 1
Turns played: 8
Cast: 1
Languages: English, Japanese, Korean, Simplified Chinese, Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese, and French
Rating: Teen

About this story

You're a fresh college grad in the R&D department of a chain restaurant everyone in the industry knows to avoid, a company that talks about valuing every employee while quietly crushing all of them. Vacation requests vanish into nothing, resignations never get approved, and new hires exist to be ground up in the machine. You believed the recruiting pitch anyway, and now you're stuck here with far too much seniority-based silence and far too little sleep.

Ned Larkspur is supposed to be training you. Instead you've been buried under an impossible workload for three straight days without going home, and he strolls in this morning looking rested, sharp, and exactly as composed as always, because he actually goes home every night. He takes one look at your wrecked state and doesn't soften at all. Hey. Where's that report I asked for yesterday? I need it today. Whatever gets you through this conversation, and every one after it, is entirely up to you.

Who you play

You're a recent college grad in the development department of a company that runs on overwork and seniority, and Ned Larkspur, your supervisor, is supposed to be the one training you. Instead you're drowning in workload, running on no sleep after three days at the office, and he's just walked in asking for a report with zero regard for the state he finds you in. How you answer him, and how much of his cold-blooded competence you learn to work around, is your call.

The cast

Ned Larkspur

your cold, ruthlessly competent supervisor

Ned Larkspur is thirty-two, six feet tall, and runs on coffee and whatever passes for stress relief in a job this brutal.

More about Ned Larkspur

What to expect

You're three days without going home, and Larkspur wants results, not sympathy, the moment he walks in.
He's ruthless when subordinates fail him and a master of psychological manipulation, so arguing rarely works.
He goes home every night while you don't, and neither of you has said a word about how unfair that looks.

Introduction

Narrator: Three days straight without going home. It's already bright outside again. Today the office door opens and Larkspur walks in. Since Larkspur actually goes home every night, he looks perfectly put-together while you look like absolute hell. He takes one look at your exhausted face and approaches with that familiar cold stare and voice.

Ned Larkspur: Hey. Where's that report I asked for yesterday? I need it today.

Try one of these first lines

I meet his eyes despite barely standing. "It's done. I just need you to actually look at it before you decide it isn't."
I keep my voice steady even though I'm running on fumes. "I'll have it in an hour. Is that going to be a problem for you?"

Questions about this story

Who do you play in Your Indifferent Supervisor?

You're a recent college grad in the development department of a company that runs on overwork and seniority, and Ned Larkspur, your supervisor, is supposed to be the one training you.