Wrongly Read
A story about the internet, protection, and unintended harm

What s protection?
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It was a blurring of boundaries in the worst way. A report adjusted this time, and no more.
If it escalated, the job turnover in the department would rise - with immediate effect. I had to stop it.
To save my own. It wasn't about getting anyone into trouble.
So I crafted the email.
That email. It raised the issue, in apparent confidence. I kept my superiors in the BCC loop - it warranted guidance.
Not action.
Written in the hopeful belief that it would preempt and correct - quietly.
I clicked on the send button and went on a mid-morning coffee break.
It was Procedure. That's all.
Nothing unusual, just a log of a routine slip.
But HE accessed the inbox,through a shared terminal. One which he had delegated access to.
A misdirected forward loop.
And the reaction.
The cardboard box. The desk, cleared.
Him, walking past, giving me that lowered, sideways glance.
It accused. "So this is what you really think of me. You never even asked me anything."
I would have fixed it. But it's already on the company's records.
I only meant to protect.
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Original microfiction for World Internet Day. AI tags are coincidental.
And for Mikeydred's February prompt
About the Creator
Michelle Liew Tsui-Lin
Hi, i am an English Language teacher cum freelance writer with a taste for pets, prose and poetry. When I'm not writing my heart out, I'm playing with my three dogs, Zorra, Cloudy and Snowball.

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