With my editor still working on chapter one we once again decided to just go ahead and release chapter two for now. A word of caution for these chapters is they are mostly unedited still. It will take sometime for him to catch up with his editing but please be patient as the delay was caused by a major fire. But he is working to get it done as quickly as he can which is incredible, and once he is finished we will get the proper chapters up.
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“Hi mom, hi Dad. I know you guys aren’t back home from your trip yet but I just wanted to let you know how things are going out here. Well, Chicago since the restorations in the lower wards finished is incredibly beautiful. There’s even talk that the slums have decreased. I have to say that city life here is nothing like back in Edmonton though. Yeah our city is big but this is just, well, enormous! I mean 30 million people live and thrive here, it’s incredible. As for work well sadly I still haven’t managed to find a job yet. Although I guess having a home and a roof over my head certainly says I’m doing better than a lot of others out here, so count my blessings right,”
With a sigh Adam ran his hands through his hair, trying to think about what else he could say to his parents, “Oh yeah, I almost completely forgot to tell you guys but I had an interview at ARK Industries about tow weeks ago. Haven’t heard anything back from them yet so I don’t really know how I did. Though I can’t tell you much about it since they made us sign these non-disclosure agreements but I think I may have done ok. I will admit though it was a... very odd interview to say the least, but again I think I did alr-”
“Hey Adam can you come help me with groceries man?”
“Shoot Mikes back. Ok well I’ll call you guys again real soon once I find out how I did ok. Love and miss you guys, bye.” Adam hung up the video phone and confirmed the message had been sent and received.
Getting up from the desk in his small bedroom Adam headed to the front door where a tall young man standing roughly 6’3” with deep black skin and full brown eyes stood gasping for breath. Leaning with his back to their heavy steel door he stood bracing it open as he rested. Sweat poured down his body and his short black hair was matted from exertion as if he had just come back from a long run. He held in both his arms what appeared to Adam as an entire grocery stores worth of food, his large muscular frame straining under the weight of the obscene number of bags he carried.
“Mike, did you seriously just carry every piece of food left in the city up 13 flights of stairs?” Adam raised a skeptical eyebrow towards his friend and roommate.
Smiling as if he had accomplished some great feat his friend looked at Adam with a glint in his eyes and his voice coming out in raspy gasps, “Hell yeah I did, skipped legs day this morning so I figured what the Hell, yah know?”
“No I don’t know. Personally, I’d use perfectly good elevator literally ten feet away from our door. Your bloody insane dude, anyone ever tell you that?”
“Yup all the time but damn do I look good for it… Ok yup these are getting heavy now so give me a hand will yah.” Mike unceremoniously dropped the bags on the ground while letting out a long content sigh as slide his way down the still open door. Rolling his eyes at his friends antics Adam could only shake his head in wry amusement. Really, who actually chooses to climbs thirteen stories with arms full of grocery bags anyways? Picking up the bags he headed back though their small two bedroom apartment to the kitchen at the other end of the hall.
“Oh hey, did you hear anything back from ARK at all yet?” Mike inquired from his place at the front door.
“Nope not a even whisper. I’m not really sure how long it’ll take to hear back anyways. I mean there were thousands of people there, so I’d assume it could take a while for them to call everyone,” Adam shouted back.
“Yeah but its already been two weeks though dude. I mean its ARK, they probably have people who working for the people who call people. Hate to say it man but if you haven’t heard anything back by now you just might not have made the…“
“Excuse me? Who didn’t make the what now? I’ll have you know that my obscene levels of fear, and nervousness, were both endearing and clearly good enough for a pos-”
“Uhh hey Adam, can you shut up and come here for a sec? I think theres someone here to see you.” Normally Mike wasn’t one to get nervous or intimidated by much of anything. His ability to take things as they came and adapt to different situations typically meant very little could surprise him. However, something in the way Mike spoke caught Adams attention. It almost sounded as if his friend was… intimidated?
Making his way to the front door he found Mike still sitting with his back against the door staring up wide eyed at the three men in deep blue suits standing in his doorway. Two of the men stood well over six feet tall and looked to have more in common with grizzly bears than they did people. They both stood with their backs toward Adam as they scanned the hallway and elevator doors searching for invisible threats.
Exuding a far more intimidating air than his compatriots however was the third man facing Adam. He was tiny in comparison to his men behind them who were both at least a head taller than him, but with the way he held himself the size differences seemed reversed. He had piercing green eyes, immaculately styled auburn hair, and a smile that showed off his perfectly straight white teeth. The two men may be grizzlies but the small man in front of Adam bore an aura more comparable to that of a shark, a very intelligent shark.
The muscles and the brains, a simple cliché that Adam was too surprised to notice as he had caught sight the ARK Industries logo pinned onto the collar of the man in front of him. For a moment Adam could only stare in shock at the simple pin, unable to process what people from ARK Industries were doing at his home.
The small man coughed uncomfortably as Adam just stood still, staring at them with a stupefied expression on his face. Reaching into a briefcase beside him the man who had coughed pulled out one of the tablets Adam had seen during his interview and began to flick through a series of pages on the tablets screen. Clearing his throat the man broke the awkward silence, his voice carrying a slight Germanic accent to it,
“Mr. Corbes my name is Andrew Finch. I am a representative of ARK Industries legal sector and am here on behalf of ARK to discuss with you some legal matters that need to be quickly attended to if you have but a moment.”
“Uhm certainly for you terrifying gentleman I think I can spare a moment” Adam mentally kicked himself for that last part, “Please, come in”
“Hey dude I’ll leave you guys be ok, but I’ll be in my room if you need me alright.” Mike glared suspiciously at Finch but said nothing more as he got up and walked to his room. Closing the door behind him.
While the two grizzly bears waited outside the door Adam led Finch through his home to the Spartan living room at the end of the hall. Mike and Adam had only two small arm chairs in the living room and a tiny television set sitting on the floor in the corner of the room. Beyond that the room was painted a dreary grey color with a matching shaggy grey carpet and nothing else in the room.
Normally Adam wouldn’t care about how bare the place was or how dreary it seemed but in front of the rep from ARK he could only feel it underscored just how insignificant and lacking for money he really was. But it seemed that Finch either didn’t care or had already expected this as he made no indications to having even noticed anything out of place as he sat in one of the two chairs and placing his briefcase open on the floor beside him.
“Well Mr. Corbes. I am are here today in order to discuss with you about how you did at your interview, and the decision that was made in regards to your possible employment.” Finch reached down into his briefcase and brought out several colour coded file folders full of documentation.
If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.
“Wait! You’re saying that ARK Industries sent you here about that? Why would they do that? I mean I was just expecting you guys to call me or something.” Adam asked.
“Well actually we normally do call people. But that is only for those who weren’t accepted for a position. Every person who is accepted for a position at ARK Industries receives a courtesy visit. It’s in order to explain several important details to them as well as to sign the hiring contract. Does that answer your question well enough?”
“Yeah it does thank you… Wait did you just say I got hired?” Adams blue eyes grew as big as saucers once he realized exactly what it was that Finch had said, ”Seriously though did I actually get hired?”
“Hahaha, yes young man I most certainly did,” Smiling brightly and suddenly looking far less intimidating in Adams eyes Finch opened one of the files before him. He took out a piece of paper with Adams name written in large bold letters on the top that was filled with numerous graphs and other points of data that were beyond Adam,
“As your file here states the Interviewers found that while your comprehension of your field in astronomy isn’t the highest you show a pronounced level of enthusiasm, curiosity, and capacity to learn. They felt that these qualities along with several other points which I won’t get into made you a perfect candidate for one of the new ARK Industries astronomy department positions.”
Adam couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Never in his wildest dreams had he actually thought he would get a job with ARK Industries, let alone one with them in his actual field of studies. His mind raced as he suddenly thought of the implications that getting a job with ARK Industries would have o his life. Never again would he have to worry about money or finding a job. Anyone even offered a position with ARK Industries their future became secure.
No company would turn away no matter how bad the person was at their job if ARK had offered them one. If ARK saw something in even the worse people that let them get hired then other companies would as well. In just a few seconds Adams life had completely changed. Joy and elation filled his heart with a warmth he hadn’t felt in a very long time. A weight that he hadn’t even realized he was carrying suddenly lifted itself from his shoulders.
His student loan payments, or his moving to Chicago only to have his professor vanish on him, how about the lack of work available for someone in his field of studies, and all the combined stress of the last several months hardships were gone thanks to just a single simple sentence that held so much power. Adam had been hired with ARK Industries. Adam was allowed to wallow in his place up on cloud nine for a few minutes before another cough finally dragged him back to Earth and Earthly concerns.
“Well Mr. Corbes I can see from the look on you face that you approve of this decision and that you will accept their offer?” Finch raised his eyebrow as he asked Adam what was obviously a needless question.
“Heck yeah I do,” A toothy grin ten miles wide plastered itself upon Adams face as tears were gathering at the corners of his eyes, ”Man I can’t wait to let the folks back home know about this, their gonna freak once they hear the news.”
“Yes well before you get to excited there are some legal matters that we need to discuss before your hiring can be considered official alright,” Even though he was smiling as well Finchs green eyes stared holes into Adam until the younger man finally calmed sown enough for him to continue. With Adam finally calmed down as he saw Finchs posture and way of speaking had taken on a more professional tone. It seemed it was time to get down to the business portion of their meeting.
“Alright Mr. Corbes the first matter of business is the hiring contract. The contract is for a ten year term of service at ARK’s newest facility here in Chicago as one of their undergrad employees. Pay will be monthly with an overall yearly salary of $165,000 to start. You will work in ARK’s Advanced Astronomical Research Department under Dr. Michael Graveur as one of his assistants. This is just the general information contained in the contract but it does include sections on sick leave, vacation days, and such but all this will be in your briefing booklet given to you once you sign the contract.”
Finch reached out and handed Adam a stack pf papers and a pen with which to sign. Skimming over the contract as quickly as possible Adam did indeed realize that once signed he would be bound to working for ARK Industries exclusively for ten years. But besides that nothing of note made itself known is his quick skim through. While he may very well have missed something Adam didn’t care, he just wanted the work no matter what. It only took him moments to sign his signature at each spot Finch indicated and then add his signature to the last page of the contract. He was now an official employee of ARK Industries.
“Well Mr. Corbes now that that is complete this document is another non-disclosure agreement like the one you signed during your interview. However unlike that document this one is far more binding and restrictive. It also stipulates that you agree to have a bio monitor injected beneath your skin. ARK Industries maintains and tracks the health of every employee in order to ensure the most research conducive environment possible and that means keeping everyone fit and healthy.
Also you’ll be gaining access to some of ARKS top secret departments and we have to make absolutely sure only those authorized will have access. So along with the blood samples taken before, this injection will add another layer of security measures to protect both yourself and ARC secrets.”
Finch Handed Adam another several sheets of documentation which Adam read over the new non-disclosure agreement more closely than the last contract, paying especially close attention to the section detailing how the injections worked. As Finch had said it seemed that the injections were a way of monitoring and tracking both the health and mental state of ARK employees, able to alert security of any accidents or injuries a person could incur while on the job. But it also acted as a sort of access system to allow or deny a person entry into security section blood sample checks just weren’t good enough. It also stated that the chips were only active inside ARK Industries complexes and when on duty outside of a complex.
Uncertain about how he felt about giving someone access to his body like that made Adam shiver slightly. It just seemed such a thing could be used in a very big brother sort of way which made Adam nervous. But even through his nervousness it was too good an opportunity to turn down so Adam signed the sheet anyways figuring he could think on his paranoia later. With a slight bit of hesitation he handed back the sheet to Finch.
After signing more documents than he ever had in one sitting both Finch and Adam ended up discussing final details about his hiring and what the the short term future would look like for Adam. It seemed that since the new astronomy department in the ARK facility in Chicago had yet to be completed Adam and the other new employees to his department would be sent elsewhere to learn their new jobs. According to Finch the new hires would have roughly one month’s time to say their goodbyes to any family and friends or to close up any loose ends that couldn’t wait eight months for them to return.
They were then to be sent to ARKs latest Japan facility for roughly eight months of training and researching under Dr. Graveur. ARK Industries would also be paying for all their housing, food, and transportation costs during this time away as well. Anything extra though they would have to cover themselves. Thankfully though they would even be getting payed their usual salaries while in training so even that wasn’t a big deal to Adam. It seemed to that ARK really did take care of their employees.
Escorting Finch back to the door where the two grizzly bears still waited the mans professionalism had once again slipped down. He smiled warmly at Adam as they shook hands and said their good bye. Why he had even thought Finch was such a terrifying person at first Adam couldn’t recall, he did recognize that the man was someone he shouldn’t piss off, but after the last couple of hours Adams opinion of the man couldn’t help but increase.
“Ohh Mr. Corbes I almost forgot to give you your plane ticket,” Reaching into his jacket pocket he handed Adam a single plane ticket dated for exactly a month from then, “Be sure to be at the airport approximately 4 hours in advance in order to ensure everything goes as smoothly as possible. Well I do believe that should be all then, good bye Mr.Corbes.”
Without even a backward glance Finch and his two bears entered into an open elevator and were gone. Closing the door Adam walked back to the living room in a daze. His entire world had changed in less than 3 hours and it still felt unreal. It would take getting used to not having to worry about the foreseeable future but he liked the idea. Deciding that he should call his sister and parents in order to tell them the good news he head back to his room with a smile on his face. The future was looking bright and Adam couldn’t wait for it to come sooner.