What the heck is this?

Kaitlyn frowned at the email. From the wording, it certainly seemed like some sort of recruitment thing. Only, she didn't recognize the name associated with it at all. John Avenue Capital definitely wasn't a company on her list, much less a place she'd ever applied to.

It seems a little off, too. The way it's worded is way too casual. Maybe it's some sort of scam or phishing attempt?

Copying the name, she ran a quick web search on the company. Sure enough, it appeared to be a real business with a website, physical location, and social media pages associated. They were a stock trading firm that developed some sort of proprietary modeling software to make their trades and investments. Jeffery Munsk also was listed as their head of Software Development, just like the email had indicated. Digging into more details told the same story—everything appeared to be legit. The only thing that did strike her as odd was a lack of a recruiting section on their website.

Her frown deepened. This wasn't anything like the recruiting emails she'd gotten before. Sure, there was some of the industry speak, but it also felt like an actual person had written it. That, or it really was just a very well-executed scam. It was impossible to tell.

She stared at the provided link, hovering over it and willing the blue text to reveal its secrets. She was no idiot. If this was a scam, then clicking on that link was just about the worst thing she could do. Sure, the site it directed to didn't seem suspicious based on her initial searches, but who was to say it wouldn't redirect somewhere else nefariously?

But… so what if it does? What's the worst that happens, they steal my identity? She scoffed at the idea. Yeah, good luck with that. Even if I do mess something up pretty bad here, the reset will fix it anyway. Unless this is some ploy by the game itself…

She dismissed the thought easily. None of this fit the game's MO at all. It was far more direct when it interacted with her, and it certainly didn't need to communicate via email. This was just too roundabout.

Eventually, Kaitlyn's curiosity won out against her skepticism. Taking a deep breath and silently bidding her phone farewell, she tapped on the link. Her web browser opened, pulling up a black page with the company's logo and white text.

Welcome, prospective candidate!

Please create a profile to begin.

Despite her fears, the profile didn't require anything truly invasive. It asked for her email and her name, but these people obviously already had both of those given that they'd contacted her. It wouldn't exactly be giving them any new information. With a shrug, she filled out the required fields and submitted them. The screen changed to display new text.

This programming assessment will test your abilities and ensure whether you are a good fit at our company. You will be provided with three sequential programming problems of increasing difficulty. You will have three days to complete and submit a solution for each problem. Success in all three problems will guarantee you a final-round interview promptly upon completion.

When you are ready to begin the assessment, simply press "start." The assessment can be resumed at any point by accessing this page and logging in to your account.

Kaitlyn didn't click the button right away. Instead, she digested the information in front of her for a little while.

So… this would fast-track me to a final round interview, would it?

Her mind already whirled with possibilities. If this was legitimate, then it could be pretty useful. Most tech companies required at least four rounds of interviews, all spaced out over the course of a few weeks. It was incredibly time consuming, and the bigger the company, the more time got consumed. But this might allow her to skip all that. And if the link continued to work across loops, without them having to reach out to her first…

She shook her head. I'm getting ahead of myself. I don't even know if I can pass the assessment, much less whether I'd accept the offer. For all the big promises that email made, I'll honestly be surprised if this shady place can give me a better offer than Gaggle did. Not to mention that I'm not entirely sure if I want to work for a company like this in the first place…

Despite how long it had been, the memory of her own foray into the stock trading world still remained fresh in her mind. The image of Enforcers kicking down her door and arresting her for insider trading had pretty effectively warded her off of anything related to the stock market. Having an employer that directly dealt with it felt a bit too close for comfort.

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

…This could be different. It's not like I'd be doing the trading myself, right? I'd probably be helping to develop predictive models and stuff like that. Software stuff. Not anything that would get me arrested.

With a sigh, stuck her phone back in her pocket. After a moment of hesitation, she pulled it back out and copied the link over to her Notes app. There was no rush to get started and dive into this just yet, but it would be good insurance. She already had a good thing going with Gaggle, so she wasn't sure if she even wanted to take on this opportunity. Besides, there were still some pretty big questions that she wanted answers to.

How did these people find out about me? There's no way I'm so special that people would just talk about me like this. Right? I mean, I just started at Gaggle. I haven't even done much yet. No way I have some sort of reputation…

There was another possibility. Maybe this did have something to do with the game. Maybe she'd met some hidden threshold to trigger this email, some criteria that she wasn't aware of. If that was the case, then maybe it really was a good thing. After all, the game had never outright screwed her over with an opportunity. It only did that when she'd done something obviously nefarious or ill-intentioned. Right?

Shaking her head, Kaitlyn sat forward in and began typing once more. The email could wait. Right now, she had her own work to handle. Maybe later, she'd start that assessment just to see how hard the problems were. Maybe. If she was curious.

***

"Kate! Are you almost ready to head out?"

Esme popped her head around the corner just as Kaitlyn finished pipetting into a final tiny strip tube. She lifted one hand in a small wave of acknowledgement before closing the lid. "Just about. Let me just start this PCR, finish running my gel, put those plates in the fridge and…"

She trailed off as Esme stared at her. Elliot snorted from where he sat at his own bench. "You realize that you could just say 'no,' right?"

"But I am almost done!" Kaitlyn objected. "That's gonna take me five or ten minutes, tops. It really won't be that long."

Esme followed Kaitlyn as she stood and headed over to the thermocyclers. A few of them hummed quietly where they sat, busy heating and cooling other samples that Christa had started just a short while before. "Do you need any help? I just finished, so I don't mind, truly."

"Nah, I'm fine. Thanks though. I'll be quick."

"Right. Try not to slip and fall when you're sprinting around the lab," Elliot called over with an amused grin. "Where are you two going, anyway? Somewhere off campus?"

"We're having a girl's night!" Esme grinned with excitement, letting down her hair from its bun. "Kate and I are baking a cake together!"

"And decorating it," Kaitlyn added. "Not sure how well that part will go, to be honest, but I've got a few tricks up my sleeve."

"Huh. Sounds fun." The ginger shot her an amused grin. "Just remember, Kate. If Esme's trying to hold you hostage as a personal chef…"

Esme gave an offended gasp. "I would never!"

Kaitlyn couldn't help but chuckle. "I'll make sure to let you know if I need help. Besides, I don't think she could afford me."

"Who said anything about getting paid?"

"Excuse me," the dark-haired girl interrupted with a pout. Her arms crossed below her chest. "Despite what you seem to think, I am not some sort of food-obsessed kidnapper, Elli. I'm just a loyal customer!"

"Uh-huh. I'm just saying, this seems like an awfully convenient opportunity to corner the market on your favorite chef's products…"

As Esme continued to glower at her friend, Kaitlyn couldn't help but smile. Honestly? Esme can have me for a few days if it means using a real kitchen again. I'll just have to call in sick to work or something. I'm sure they wouldn't miss me too much.

"Do you want to come with?" Kaitlyn asked Elliot, already knowing the answer.

The ginger shook his head. "Nah. I appreciate the offer, but I've got class. Besides, Esme seems pretty set on the whole 'girls night' thing."

Inwardly, she breathed a sigh of relief. She'd known that the guy had class, of course. That had been one of the reasons why she'd suggested this particular time and day. Still, it wasn't completely unthinkable to imagine Elliot simply skipping lecture to hang out with his friends. Kaitlyn supposed she should be grateful that he was such a good student.

"That's right! No smelly boys allowed." Esme stuck out her tongue in an adorably immature gesture as she hung up her lab coat. "I'll save you some cake if you ask nicely, though."

"I wouldn't say no to that. So long as you're not making anything too fancy."

As expected, it only took Kaitlyn a few minutes to finish up the last of her tasks—six, to be exact. Bidding her labmate goodbye, she and Esme took the elevator down and headed for the nearby parking lot. The girl had brought her car—a rather cute blue sedan—in anticipation of giving Kaitlyn a ride.

The pair stuffed their backpacks in the trunk before squeezing into the seats. As they settled in, Esme smiled over at her passenger. "Ready to go? Do we need to stop by your dorm for anything?"

Kaitlyn shook her head. "Nah. Everything we need should be in my bag. Unless you guys ate all your eggs or something, then we might need to stop by the store."

"Oh, don't worry. I bought extra just in case!" The girl tucked an errant strand of hair behind one ear, then started the car. It hummed to life gently as though waking up from a nap. "Well, then. Let's be off!"

With that, they pulled out of the parking space and headed toward Esme's apartment.

Here we go. Time to finally get some answers.