Chapter 2: Campus Tour
-May 11th 2106
The next morning Duke was roused awake by his cellphone alarm indicating it was 7:30 am. Exhausted from lack of sleep the previous night, Duke had to forcibly drag himself out of bed and into the bathroom.
30 minutes later refreshed and awake Duke strolled into the kitchen for a light breakfast. While eating, he checked his emails, and read some daily news.
Walking out of his room Charles approached the dinner table. Duke noticed Charles was dressed in sportswear. Thinking about where he was going, Duke asked “Are you going somewhere this early?”
Charles replied, “About to go for a quick run,” while grabbing his warm toast.
“Oh wait for me, I need to stretch my legs as well.”
Cramming food down his throat he rushed into his room to change. They discussed when they planned on doing their shopping before heading off to their Campus tour at 2 pm.
“Yeah let’s go to a local grocer around 11, then grab a quick lunch before heading off around 12 pm” confirmed Charles.
After finishing their 3 mile run around the block quickly, Duke practiced some Martial Arts he picked up recently for about an hour. While Duke was practicing martial arts, Charles was reading a novel he was currently engrossed in.
By 11 am, Duke and Charles were dressed and ready to head out. Using Duke’s car this time around they drove to a neighborhood market about 5 minutes away. Once there Duke and Charles split up to cover more ground.
Checking out 35 minutes later, Duke said “We have about 40 minutes for a quick lunch. Where should we go?”
“Hmm, let’s just go to a fast food place nearby.”
“There is a Subway nearby.”
“That works, let’s go.”
After spending about 25 minutes inside Subway it was time to leave for their orientation.
Driving into Silicon Valley took about 45 minutes, so by the time they pulled into a parking space in the employee parking lot it was past 1:50 pm.
“Made it just in time,” said Charles relieved.
“Now we just need to figure out where we need to check in. This place is like a shopping complex,” replied Duke frustrated.
Walking towards the main building Duke was checking out his surroundings. Manicured lawns, gardens with flower beds decorating the landscaping, cobbled walk ways through the gardens, and lawn chairs. It looked more like a park meant for couples rather than a company campus. Heck people were even riding bicycles, motorized scooters and longboards arounds. Duke had seen pictures about the campus, but seeing it personally was truly breathtaking.
“I have finally made it here” said duke.
“It truly looks like a fun work environment doesn’t it?” replied Charles.
“Have you been here before?”
“I have actually. I actually know someone that works here”
“Seriously?”
“Yep! How do you think I got this job? I have a referral” smirked Charles
“Damn, lucky! I had to bust my ass with their hiring process.”
The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.
Walking through the front doors, Charles spotted a receptionist.
“Hello my name is Charles and this is Duke. We are here for job orientation. Do you know where we go?”
“What department will you be working for?” asked the receptionist.
“I am in the finance department while he is in the engineering department.”
Waiting for a few seconds as the receptionist typed on her computer, Duke was observing his surroundings.
“What’s up?” asked Charles
“Nothing much I was just observing the people and the décor” replied Duke. “Not what I expected from an IT company. By that I meant not…”
“Okay it looks like Charles has to go to the Business Center and Duke has to go to the Engineering Center. Someone will meet you by the main entrance to guide you on your tour.”
“Thank you for your time” said Duke
“Well we know where we have to go based on this map. Engineering Center is only 2 minutes north from here and the Business Center is about a minute west from here.”
After separating Duke walked into Building # 2 imagining what it would be like to work for one of the world’s leading technological companies in biotech.
“Hello my name is Duke. I am here for a tour” said Duke while approaching the receptionist.
“Okay, I informed someone to come here. They will be here in a minute. Hang tight until then”
About a minute later, a gentleman in his forties appeared and introduced himself
“Hello, you must be Duke. My name is Peter and I am in charge of your tour today.”
“Nice to meet you Peter”
“If you will follow me I will show you around.” Replied Peter as he turned and walked away.
“The first floor is more for social interaction. We have a cafeteria, lounges, game rooms and even a library to suit people’s needs. People normal relax on this floor, other than that there isn’t much that happens here work related at least.”
Walk down the hall, Peter pointed out the various game rooms, and lounges. There were even dart boards and Billiard tables. All kinds of people could be seen relaxing and having fun.
“The second floor is more focused on the Computer Science than anything else. All the floor are divided based on the field in question. Therefore, the third floor is focused on mechanical engineering, the fourth floor on…”
Going up an elevator, Peter crammed as much information as possible so that they can move to different sections of the campus without wasting too much time. Duke will be working in the fifth floor primarily.
Some 40 minutes later Duke learned everything related to his responsibilities and where everything was to best of his ability.
Walking out of the building and towards building # 3 Peter said, “You won’t have much interaction with this part of the campus, but might as well show you where everything is”
“Sounds good to me. So how many sectors are there?”
“There are 7 sectors on this campus and more overseas.”
“That sounds a pain. Having to travel all over the place” complained Duke.
“Hah! That’s why you see people with bikes, and boards. Not many like walking all over the place.” Agreed Peter.
Around 5 pm their tour ended and they were ready to go home.
Driving home Duke said, “I am thinking about buying a longboard. I don’t feel like walking all the over the place.”
“That’s smart. I already have one so I don’t need to worry about one.”
Finally home Duke collapsed on the couch. “Ah this feels good. Today exhausted me.”
“I just want to take a nap.” Replied Charles.
Waking up from a 30 minute nap. Duke decided to eat some dinner. While eating he was reading up on any new information regarding SIO and their release 6 days away.
“What are you doing?” asked Charles walking out of his room.
“Seeing if there was any new update regarding SIO.”
“So is there any new information.”
“Nope, oh I almost forgot our pods will be here tomorrow morning around 10 am.”
“Sweet! I am pretty excited about using the pod even if the game doesn’t actually work for another week” said Charles excitedly.
“Wait a second there is information regarding the pod that was released just now.”
“What does it say?”
“Looks like the pod has more uses than just playing a game. Apparently once you are immersed you enter your personal room. That room has the time distortion similar to SIO in addition you can customize it however you wish. Also, just like SIO there is restriction on how long you can be inside.”
“Wait does that mean you can do whatever you want in there? Like can we do our work in there?”
“Holy Shit! Exactly you can literally take your work in real life inside there.”
“I wonder how many people will take advantage of it. If I had this pod while I was in college, homework would have a breeze. Also all those last minute cramming before an exam.”
“I know right? Damn, the demand for these pods are going to skyrocket.”
“Is there anything else?” asked Charles
“Let’s see… wait there is more. You can actually link your personal space with others as well! You can hang out with others as long as you have their permission, and you can do whatever you want. Legal of course.”
“That sounds convenient if you have like a group project or a study group. Heck you can even have conference meetings in there.”
“I wonder if our company with take advantage of this and buy a bunch of pods. That way people don’t to run around so much” questioned Duke.
“Knowing them I am sure they will.”
“Man SIO really thought this through. They have some innovative ideas. No one has thought about linking up personal space with others.”
“I wonder what sex feels like inside there” smirked Charles
“…”