…and it is Riddler.

HPDEB is out for the day, so the KFP and I were moderately shocked by the Rid’s appearance in the office this morning.

We got in at 8-something, as per usual. The Rid strolled in at 10:15, stopped in the middle of the workspace, announced “WELCOME ABOARD!” and began singing and dancing on his way back to his office. We both ignored the strange apparition and continued with our work.

Later in the morning, I had to step in when the Rid tried to access one of the production machines. Despite having me:

  1. Verbally tell him the password for the machine, complete with proper cases
  2. Spell the password out loud after the second failure
  3. Stand over top of him, supervising his typing after the fourth failure

He was unable to input the correct password and I had to do it for him. I went about my business and tried to forget that it had happened. The rest of the morning was fairly productive, and I took lunch a bit after noon.

I got back a few minutes ago and began ignoring the sweet sounds of the Rid using a power tool in his office. To do what, I’m not sure, but the aforementioned metal lathe and arc welder can’t be far behind.

When I tried to pick up my work again, I found that I couldn’t access my DVD drive or the 80 gig drive attached to my local machine. Puzzled, I tried restarting. No dice. I checked some settings and hummed and hawed for a couple minutes before the Rid came to the rescue.

Riddler:
Did he tell you?
GHC:
Uh, who?
Riddler:
KFP. Did he tell you?
GHC:
Tell me what?
Riddler:
I decided to replace your computer’s RAM while you were on lunch. It didn’t work out. But everything should be OK now.

And in the blink of an eye, he donned his coat and vanished. It turned out that he had unplugged both drives from the motherboard and then put the case back together.

No longer content with destroying contracts and new business, he has moved onto sabotaging the company’s infrastructure when our backs are turned. I will have to keep a much closer guard on my equipment in the future.

UPDATE - 15h30 - The Punchline:
The KFP, a computer science professional and programmer currently building the underlying infrastructure for our next-generation operations, began having problems with his network card this afternoon. He found a screwdriver and popped open his case.

The Rid’s head appeared from his office.

Rid:
Hey, KFP…
KFP:
Yes?
Rid:
Do you know what you’re doing?
KFP:
Yes.
Rid:
Are you sure?
KFP:
Yes.
Rid:
OK. If you need me to step in, I will.

Ten minutes later the Rid left to coach a sports practice.