Nobody Panic

The first clue that something was wrong was the screaming.

Being the office receptionist, and therefore contractually obligated to leave her phone out of reach except on lunch breaks, Maia took a little longer to catch on to the latest calamity. The flood of people stampeding to find a spare charger was a bit of a hint that it was something to do with mobile phones. "How did all your phones die at once?"

Tom, Maia's fellow elder employee, leaned against the wall. "I don't think it's just us. From what I heard through the wall and window, the other offices are also freaking out."

Sometimes, Maia wished she worked with people who didn’t grow up glued to a phone screen. “Has anyone checked the computers? I’m on the Intranet right now, but as long as the entire Internet isn’t down, it’s just a bit more legwork.”

Tom grinned over the huddle of heads. “And the fact that office computers block social media sites.”

Maia sent him a glare that was meant to convey ‘stop instigating’ but apparently looked a bit more murderous, by the speed with which he made himself scarce. Serena, the youngest in the office, raised a tear stained face. “TikTok, Bluesky, even Facebook…. I can’t even get onto AO3! How will I live?”

Ok, that last one was a little more concerning. Maia’s favourite ongoing fanfic had been due to update tomorrow! Giving up on the rest of the office being useful, Maia opened a new tab to check the status of the Internet. It was lagging a little more than usual, but nothing dire. “The Internet is still working, it’s just your smartphones. Pull yourselves together and get back to work, or at least out of sight, before the next patient arrives!”

Because the universe was apparently out to get Maia personally, the next day, the Internet followed suit.

Maia wasn’t the only receptionist who took one look at the chaos and decided on a coffee break. “Our Intranet is still functioning, but it’s closed-circuit. Yours?”

Two of the other three offices were in the same boat. The third was a tax and financial services business, whose in ability to access the government tax office and stock options was officially A Problem. “We’ll probably wind up being sent home until it’s all fixed. Though how long it will take me to cancel a week’s worth of appointments without email, I couldn’t tell you.”

Maia shrugged. “If they want to get into financial services, they’re going to have to get used to answering phone calls. Leave a voicemail and call it good, if you have to.”

The coffee shop was plastered with signs saying “CASH ONLY” clearly hand drawn in a hurry this morning. Maia ordered a hot chocolate and handed over the required change, smiling at the barrisa’s surprise and relief. “Yes, I’m one of those weird people who still carries cash.”

The barista grinned, “Bless you and everyone else who shares your common sense for it.”

The financial services receptionist hung up the phone and turned off her Customer Service voice. “Had a few meltdowns today?”

The Barista gestured at the signs. “You would not believe the number of people who didn’t take yesterday as a hint to go withdraw enough cash for a few days.”

Ebony, who ran the custom stationary store check out on the other side of financial services, grinned. “Common Sense is not actually all that common. If it was, all of our jobs would be a lot easier.”

Maia took a bracing sip of hot, sweet drink. “Well, let’s go inform everyone else that the coffee machines are still working, and get ready for a day of talking people off the edge.”