I was sitting on my trusty couch fiddling with the metal disk I got from Kal.

Genna told me it was a cheap knowledge chip. According to her, she already recorded everything from it. It was fascinating that she could communicate with technology through my touch. I wondered how much did this IDChip change my body. If I had a lightbulb at hand, I would have surely tried to light it up with my fingers or something.

I placed the disk on the table and accessed the information. It had the basics about the company itself, the policies, regulations and all kinds of boring shit like that. I was more interested in the parts that I needed for tomorrow. I could just read the rest if I really needed it in the future. Otherwise, it was just a waste of time.

I was still baffled by the work time. Work for two days and then you are off for two days. To make it more comfortable, you only had to work for 6 hours a day. The whole thing was ridiculous to me, but people were many and jobs were limited. There was no need to work the people like slaves here. They set up a comfortable system where more people could work for less time. I definitely wouldn’t complain. I could get more than five times the money for this much work than the allowance I could get for basically nothing. Moreover, it was a job I could do while sleeping and it didn’t even require any particular knowledge or previous experience.

My tasks were few and easy. I would work in a kind of warehouse for deliveries. Packages come in, get sorted and go out. Nearly everything was automated and done by machines or robots. The transportation of packages was typically done by automated robots, too. I asked Genna if robots had A.I.s, but apparently their use was strictly limited to the IDChips. Putting A.I. into anything else was banned.

One of my tasks would be to go around the area I would be responsible for every 2 hours and check if everything was going smoothly. Similarly, I had to check every present robot and machine once a shift for noticeable problems. Other than these I had to respond to any errors popping up.

The most exciting task was the personal delivery. If the robots failed three times at dropping off their package to someone I had to go out personally to finish the delivery. For this, I would have to go with a jumper. One of those flying cars in the sky. I couldn’t wait to drive one of those. Genna said I would be able to drive them without any training.

I honestly tried my best to read through the never-ending list of things I had to pay attention to during the examinations of the machines and robots. Obviously, I failed. Luckily for me, I had a smartass A.I. that already knew all of this.

My mind was somewhere completely different. I was thinking about my boss and my date with her. I wasn’t sure this wasn’t some kind of prank on the new guy at the job, but I would rather be prepared in case this was real.

I touched the left side of my face. I was getting stubbled. I would have loved to grow a beard but I couldn’t. I had to shave frequently because the right side of my face lacked the possibility for a beard. If I didn’t shave for a few days, I started to look like a freak, which was happening to me now. In light of my job tomorrow and possibly a date in a few days, I had to deal with this.

After another lengthy conversation with Genna, it turned out she already ordered the shaving spray. Which worked simply by spraying it on my face. No need for a razor. Moreover, if I wanted to leave a stubble, Genna could order me shaving sprays for different lengths. I managed to get a positive answer to my awkward question too about whether these could be used on more private parts of the body. Welcome to the future I guess.

I had dinner in my room, took a long steam, and I was sitting in my boxer in front of the holoscreen.

[Is this for real?] I asked.

[Why wouldn’t it be?]

[Fuck this guy... ] I barked at the holoscreen.

My problem this time was simple. A guy sent another message to dear old Rabunde, but this time there was no money… only a short message.

“I hope for your safe return! My thoughts are with you.”

[What’s wrong with people? I can’t eat your damn thoughts!] I complained.

[Don’t be so sour. The guy sent you a genuinely nice, encouraging message and you act like a child. You should learn to appreciate the small things,] Genna scolded me.

In response I sulked like the child, she called me. Which proved her point double time, but I failed to realize it at the time.

I had nothing else to do for the day, so I spent some time watching some nonsense on the computer… again.  When I couldn’t keep my eyes open anymore, I decided it was time for bed.

“Good night, Genna.”

[Good night, Aium.]

----------------------------------------

I was standing in the same building like yesterday. I knew it was nothing special, but I still felt anxious about my first day. Or maybe I was just afraid of my boss.

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[You’ve got this!] Genna encouraged me.

[Thanks!]

I took a deep breath and went up to the 37th floor.

The floor I arrived on was a vast open area. The whole level was joined together. There were countless neatly arranged machines working all over the place with a quiet humming. A few dozen robots like in the GreenHut restaurant were going about their business tirelessly. The air smelled like chocolate milk for some reason. It brought up pleasant memories.

The walls, the machines, and even the robots were painted in an ugly light green color.

I looked around but found no living.

“Hello?!” I asked, but there was no response.

Before I could start shouting the lift behind me opened up with my boss in it.

“Eeeey, being on time is nice. Good, good,” she said with a huge smile.

Today she was wearing more low-key clothes. Black pants, blue shirt, and those same, ugly, furry slippers.

“Don’t be so nervous. This isn’t black hole harvesting...” she said while gently touching my shoulder and looking me in the eyes.

“Where’s Helen? Didn’t she come out to greet you?” she asked with a frown and looked around the place.

“No. I said hello, but nobody answered.”

My response made her frown even more. She started walking to the only enclosed area in the corner. She was murmuring something under her breath, but I could only hear something about clones.

She threw open the door to the small office.

“Helen!” she snapped.

The office was small and boring. A tiny couch in the back, another door next to it and a table with a computer at the other end. The top half of the two inner walls were windows that looked at the warehouse.

At the table, a girl was sitting wearing an overall with the same ugly, light green color. She was staring absentmindedly at the holoscreen. From behind, all I could see was her long, brown hair. It was refreshing to see a normal hairstyle.

“HELEN!” shouted Kal while stepping closer and clapping her hands.

“Wha… OH! Hey boss, what’s up?” She woke up with a jolt and greeted Kal with a friendly smile.

She had brown eyes and the beautiful token features. She was young and looked like the typical girl that hung out with guys, drank beer and joked around like the others. You know, that typical, approachable, fun face.

“Can you be more attentive, please? Your new co-worker was here, and you didn’t even notice him,” she reprimanded her.

“Sorry boss! I’ll pay more attention next time,” she answered nonchalantly without missing a beat.

“This is Aium, your new co-worker who will take over the shift after yours. Be nice to him,” introduced me, Kal.

“Hey there. I’m Helen! Whatcha cookin’?” She waved at me enthusiastically.

“Hey, not much. Nice to meet you.” I smiled back.

“I’ll go change back!” Helen said, and she went through the back door with a spring in her leaps.

Kal just shook her head.

“So, any questions about the job? Think you can handle it?” she asked and then sat down on the couch.

“It’s nothing complicated. Probably a monkey could do this.”

“Monkey? What’s that?” she asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Nevermind...”

After a few minutes of awkward silence and uncomfortable stares, Helen walked out.

She was wearing casual clothing. The girl was surprisingly normal for this place.

“Well, I guess I’ll see you tomorrow! Have a nice first day!” she said and hit me in the back with way too much force.

I forced down a small cough. I couldn’t look like a wimp in front of my future date.

I looked at Kal, but she was just sitting there smiling at me.

“I guess I’ll go change into uniform.”

“Sure, sure. You can do it here. No need to go to the back room. Kal likes a good show.” She winked at me. The crow’s feet beside her eyes just made her more attractive.

“I-I’d rather go back.” I stuttered.

After successfully escaping the deadly trap, I found myself in a small changing room with a steam in the back and a toilet in the corner. They already had a fucking ugly overall with my name on it. I put it on cautiously. I wouldn’t want to get jumped from behind while being in my underwear only.

“It looks horrible on you,” said Kal. “Can’t help it though, company regulations,” she said. “Let’s talk business then. I won’t hold you up for too long. I’ll just ask you to tell me your tasks, so I can at least now you are somewhat ready.”

I did as she asked. Wasn’t my most excellent performance but it would do.

“Good enough, good enough. Don’t worry about it too much. Nearly everything is automated. It’s hard to mess up,” she said with a dismissive wave.

“If you end up messing up, call me. Oh, and don’t forget about the day after tomorrow. Kal can’t wait,” she said with another wink and left.

I sat down and somehow I felt relaxed. It was nice that I was alone on the whole floor. I wouldn’t have to deal with idiot co-workers. I could do anything here as long as I completed my tasks.

[Well, I have a job now.]

[Yes! Finally!] cheered Genna.

I spent my shift in mind-numbing boredom. I couldn’t even watch documentaries here.

I did my duties. Examined what should be examined, paid attention to what required my attention,  but other than that nothing else noteworthy happened. Time crawled at a snail’s pace. At one point I was looking at the holoscreen’s clock and counted the seconds between minutes.

Five minutes before my shift’s end one of those yellow-eyed guys walked in. He barely even noticed me, only when I loudly greeted him did he came to himself.

“Oh! Hello there. You must be the new guy.”

We introduced, and I left shortly after. I was so numb from the boredom I could hardly wait to get out from here. This was worse than lying on the couch the whole day and watching documentaries. This was boredom galore. I had to remind myself that this was only temporary. I would only do this for a short while until I had enough money to do something else. In the meantime, I had to come up with something to do during these work hours otherwise my brain would become a sponge.