It was Monday. The beginning of the work week had begun. Randal Page stepped out of his tiny apartment and onto the busy streets of New Americas City on Mars. Wearing his usual black jacket white dress shirt and black tie, he blended into the mass of people much like one zebra amongst the rest of the herd. The crowd filled the sidewalk to capacity but managed to flow with a chaotic order often seen in a raging stream.

He quickly made his way through the crowd, attempting to slip ahead at every chance he got. Being short of stature and thin as a nanochip offered him the ability to slip through the mass of people with relative ease and speed. As he moved through the crowd he accidentally bumped into a larger man with a serious scowl on his face. Randal quickly apologized and almost tripped over backward to get away from the man who began moving toward him.

"I am most sorry sir. Entirely my fault… Yes entirely." Squeaked Randal.

The man eyed Randal like one would look over a perfectly done steak. "What you gonna do to make it better?"

"Well I thought… I mean… I apologized…" Stammered Randal.

The man staring him down looked to his friends standing around him and let out a booming laugh. "I thought… I mean… I apologized…" mocked the man, his voice dripping with a patronizing tone. "You could have ruined my expensive suit! I want something from you other than a pitiful apology."

The crowd, wanting nothing to do with this confrontation, seemed to split around them like a stream around a boulder. No one wanted to get involved in this.

"Well, I'm sure… um… that we can come to some sort of… um… agreement…" quibbled Randal.

A vicious grin spread across the other man's face. A predator closing in on the kill.

A voice broke in. "What appears to be the problem here?"

A mars colony police officer had just stepped up. His hand rested on his holster and a quick look could easily reveal he wouldn’t put up with much. His attention was focused on the bigger man.

The larger man paled and quickly put both hands up in front and stepped back. "No problem officer Hendrix… just pulling a practical joke on a friend." A nervous laugh escaped his mouth that sounded almost like a yelp.

Randal saw his chance, and while the officer and the large man were exchanging words, he slipped back into the rushing crowd. After two blocks of looking over his shoulder Randal sighed a huge breath of relief and pulled out his handkerchief and wiped the perspiration off of his forehead.

Arriving at his office, Randal sat down at his desk hoping that the morning's incident would not be a recurring theme of the day. He worked in the Personnel Requisition department, specifically in the Potential for Acquisition sub group. His entire focus was to investigate and evaluate potential candidates to be recruited by the company he worked for. Often twenty or more names would come across his desk and he would spend most of the day looking into their public records; looking to see if they had any issues with the law, if they had any family, or their most recent home of record and work. The best source of information to determine if a person was a good candidate was social media. People revealed so much about their lives on the social media site called LiveStream. This was the most recent form of social media where people could actually stream their life through their optical inserts so that anyone could see their life. What many didn’t know was that the optical inserts could be hacked. Randal seldom had to hack inserts though because most people tended to reveal more of their life than even he needed to know.

Randal sat at his desk toying with a 21st century antique he had found in a market on mars. As he sat there mindlessly shifting the colored tiles into the correct sequence, his eyes glazed over and shifted out of focus as he gazed across the room. His imagination began to bubble, manifesting a beautiful woman before him.

"Do you want to hear about what I do here?" He confidently uttered to the woman.

She nodded her head enthusiastically and touched both of her hands to her heart. She preceded to amble up to him and place a hand on his shoulder.

He looked up at her from his seat. "My job is basic enough that it requires very little simplification to describe. And my company is also very proprietary and secretive about the job and process, so I can't tell you too much. It does make it nice though to be able to give short simple answers to people who ask."

She gave him a grin to continue.

"That said, the most accurate description of my job would be that I am a third party talent scout that focuses on low impact acquisitions. I provide a detailed report on a specific person. This report also includes my recommendation on whether they should be approached for recruitment. I finally hand everything over to the recruitment case officers and then move onto the next potential candidate on my list. It probably sounds pretty dull, but I am good at it…" Randal confidently boomed with a smooth bass voice.

"Ooohhh no! It sounds so fascinating. You must be so smart and dedicated to be able to do what you do." She said with breathy excitement.

"I mean I am pretty smart."

"And handsome. Don’t forget handsome." She fervently added.

"You know I have an apartment near here if you would like me to show you some of what I do. I'm not technically supposed you show you, but for you I am willing to bend the rules." Randal's silky voice sounded.

"Hey clueless! What are you staring at?" She said in a deep bass voice.

"Huh?!" Randal stammered.

Randal was shocked back to reality when the Rubik's cube was slapped out of his slack hand. He gave off a slender high-pitched yelp of surprise.

"I asked what are you staring at?" Avery repeated. His flat face scrunched into a mischievous grin.

Randal's mouth opened and closed; a fish breathing out of water.

"You have to see this Randal." Continued Avery unfazed.

"What is it this time Avery?" Randal finally getting back come composure after having his fantasy so unceremoniously shattered.

"Come over to my desk and see for yourself!" Barked Avery.

Randal stood up from his desk and slowly and shuffled over to Avery's workstation. The sound of his shoe made a shush sound as it scraped against the office carpet.

Avery had beaten Randal to the desk and was pulling something up on his computer. "Take a look Randal. It doesn’t get much better than this!"

Randal looked up at the screen to see a video feed from the eyes of a naked woman looking at herself in the mirror. Immediately Randal averted his eyes. "I..I….. I don't think you should be hacking into that person Avery." Randal stammered. Every few seconds his eyes would flit up to the screen and then just as quickly flit back down. A hint of rose appeared on his cheeks.

"Come on! This is awesome!"

Randal abruptly made his way back to his desk. His shoes made a quick squeak sound with his increased pace.

"Ha! Maybe you're not interested in women. I could pull up a feed with a guy if that floats your boat. Haha!"

Randal sat at his desk and began working at his computer.

"For the record I didn’t hack into her feed… She is actually broadcasting this on her LiveStream. I'm no creep" Avery shouted. He then preceded to look back at the screen with a ravenous look in his eyes.

Randal glared at his screen and did not respond. Sometimes he hated this job. The reality was that in order to determine if a person was a good candidate for recruitment they all had to invade people's privacy… Randal squirmed just thinking about it. Unfortunately Avery was right, most of the time optical lenses didn’t need to be hacked. Invasion of privacy was almost a thing of the past. Randal scratched the base of his neck and looked back at Avery. Avery's eyes were glued to the screen and his mouth hung open. Randal knew why Avery liked this job and shuddered just thinking about it.

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Randal turned to the frame mounted on his wall and lightly dusted it off with a brush of his hand. The frame held his picture with the title "Employee of the Year." Feeling overwhelmed, Randal flipped open his previous case files on his screen. He pulled up the first one he had ever done. Mary Osterly was his first case. He took a soothing breath and opened the file. She had been homeless due to domestic abuse situations. Randal had tracked her down for a company looking for models. Nexus picked her up and coordinated her getting a job and a future. Randal grinned and smoothed down his black tie. He closed down the files and cast his determined gaze toward the workflow inbox on his screen. "Alright, who is the next Mary today." He whispered.

Randal worked through the day only stopping to go to the restroom or eat his packed lunch. As he chipped away at the files piling up in his workflow inbox he heard someone breathing over his shoulder.

"Avery, I have a lot of work to do. Are… are you going to try to show me more… you know… things.. on LiveStream?... Avery?" Confused, Randal spun around in his chair to see that it wasn’t Avery. "Oh! Mr. Spencer! I am sorry. I mistook you for Avery. What can I do for you?"

Mr. Spencer was a late middle aged man with a polished bald head and a perpetual grimace. He looked down at Randal. "Johnson from work group Bravo is no longer with us. His open files and backlog will be given to you."

"Wh.. What?"

"Randal you are our best analyst. I know that even if you have to stay late you are the best guy to get the job done." Mr. Spencer casually inspected his nail as he talked.

"Th.. Thank you Mr. Spencer. But what happened to Johnson?"

"He turned traitor. Can you believe it? He went to work for our competition Arrow Industries."

"Arrow!? They are sub par. Why would he leave Nexus? We are the premier requisition agency in the United Planets Federation." Randal scoffed.

Mr. Spencer looked at his watch and then back at Randal. "I don’t understand it either, but sometimes people are unpredictable. Anyway, his work is now yours. Get it done."

Randal zipped back around to his desk and selected the workflow inbox and downloaded the new influx of files. One file he opened was labeled high priority. The request inside was extremely detailed. It was asking for a woman with D size breasts, pink nipples, natural black hair, and no scars. Randal looked at the list of specifics that seemed endless. He continuously waved his hand upward to scroll through the rest of the list. At that moment, Avery ambled by. "Oh you got a high priority! Ha, had one of those myself yesterday. They are a pain in the butt. Some stupid art photography studio that believes in physical film and no aftereffects keeps sending us these ridiculous lists of requirements."

"Since you… well… you are familiar with this client, do you want to take this one?"

"Ha, you will have to do better than that for me to take that one off of your hands."

"Is there one that you have been having issues with that I could take a look at and help you out? I'll stay late and finish it up for you and log it as your requisition recommendation." Randal offered.

"Actually now that you mention it, my last three cases for the day have been giving me some trouble. They are keeping me from going home." Avery eyed Randal with a mock generous smirk.

"Well… I don’t know… I don’t think this high priority one is equivalent to your three cases…"

Avery backed away. "You try to help a guy and he throws it back in your face. Looking a gift horse in the mouth…"

Randal opened his mouth to say that it hadn't seemed like Avery's deal would have been helpful at all but instead watched as Avery turned and walked back to his desk.

Randal looked over the file again. This one would be a ton of work. There were so many specifics. Randal never understood why small details like that were so important to people, but he reckoned that if someone was doing an art photo shoot they would have specific needs especially as nude or seminude art was now back in vogue. He knew he was doing good for both those who were recruited and also the industries that needed those specific people. He was also proud that his company put great value on recruiting people in poverty or dire life circumstances and to bring them out of those situations. These realities made the arduous process of finding the right person worth it in the end.

Hours later, Avery walked by Randal's desk, the shift almost over. "See you later Randal. Don't stay too late and keep the strippers waiting!" Avery teased.

"Um… I don't.. I mean.. I am not going to go to the strip club. I don’t think I could ever…"

Avery walked out of the office without so much as a backward glance. "Ha I know."

Randal was almost finished with a task for a modeling agency that was looking for women who were exactly five foot four inches tall, had blond hair, pale skin, and medium chests. These modeling agencies were always so specific. Randal had been looking into a woman named Sandy. She seemed to match the description but he could not confirm her height. She was in a tough situation. She had just lost her job and was behind on rent. She had no one to rely on. She was truly alone and without options. Randal desperately wanted to confirm her height so that he could recommend her for recruitment and give her a shot at improving her situation.

Finally he stumbled upon her medical record from an accident she had been in that documented her height. "YES! " Randal shouted. "She is five foot four inches!" He yelled to no one in the empty office. Both of his fists were in the air. Randal quickly organized her file on his computer and clicked the submit button recommending her for recruitment. "Now it is up to her" Randal whispered, a smile still on his face.

…

Sandy sat in her tiny one room apartment that would soon be taken away from her. She sat against the wall sobbing. How had her life gotten to this point. Losing her job, getting behind on rent, and having no plans for the future. She stood up and began packing what meager belongings and cloths she had, when she heard a voice.

"Hey honey. You won't be needing any of that where you are going."

Sandy, startled, looked up to see a man with a shaved head, a black t-shirt, black cargo pants, and work boots standing in her doorway. He had a menacing presence.

Sandy backed away. "What are you doing and who are you?! Did the landlord send you!? Tell him I am leaving. I understand what an eviction is."

"Oh the landlord didn’t send me Sandy. Sexy Sandy…" The lust was clear in his voice.

Sandy immediately bolted to her bedroom toward her back window only to stop dead when another bulky man stepped into her path. Leering he said "Where are you off too in such a hurry?" He mockingly looked back at the bedroom. "Oh so eager to get to the bedroom! Don’t worry sweetheart, you will have plenty of opportunity to be eager in the bedroom after today. You are lucky we are not allowed to use the merchandise during the recruitment process or you would be able to show me just how eager you can be." He smiled a wicked grin.

Dread filled Sandy almost making her black out. Just when she thought she might faint she felt rough hands grab her and a black bag thrust over her head.