Wednesday, June 8, 2045

Day 3

“Whoa, dude, you’re getting around! I thought interns weren’t even allowed up on the 10th Floor,” Bill said in-between bites of his buffalo chicken wrap.

Kaden and Bill sat at a small, circular table in a corner of the cafeteria on the 3rd floor. They decided to meet up for lunch today and compare notes. Kaden was wrapping up a quick summary of his first two days.

“It was definitely an interesting experience,” Kaden said. “The pressure I felt while I was there was pretty intense. I guess my manager thought it would help me understand more about how the Tower works.”

Bill nodded his head. “Yeah, I’ve been learning about Wards in the Marketing department. They can be quite complex, but it sounds like what you experienced was a pretty straightforward application of a security ward embedded in the floor structure. Pretty common application throughout the Tower, actually.”

“I also delivered a package to an HR manager’s office on the 6th Floor yesterday,” Kaden added, “and their office was definitely colder than the surrounding office area. Super frigid. Made me shiver.”

Bill looked thoughtful. “Probably intentional. I can see how that could be useful in some situations, like interviews or investigations. Imagine being interviewed in that environment?” Bill shook his head.

Something occurred to Kaden. If that type of application of mana was common throughout the Tower, then were there wards all over the place?

“So what about here in the Cafeteria? Are there any active wards here?” Kaden asked.

Bill nodded. “Sure thing, dude – let me think of a good example – so, it’s kinda hard to tell, but can you feel how the atmosphere here feels light and airy, like sunshine on a spring day?”

Now that Bill mentioned it, Kaden thought he felt something. Even though they were far away from any exterior windows, their small table did seem to have an inviting and cozy atmosphere in the way that Bill was describing. Not in an overwhelming sense, but complimentary.

“Interesting,” Kaden replied. “Yeah, I think I can sense that. Very interesting.”

“So you’re the only intern in the Mailroom?”

“Yeah, it’s a small department. I’ve only met one other employee besides my manager. Makes sense though. Most of the work is sorting through and delivering packages for different departments. It doesn’t take all day. How about you?”

“I’m one of three interns assigned to Marketing. I’ve actually only met my manager once for about five minutes. They hooked me up with an outside agency almost immediately. I’m part of a team working on an upcoming social media campaign. Apparently they heard about some of my work moonlighting on social media strategy for my band, back in the day.”

Bill raised his hands into an air guitar position and cracked an ironic smile. “Once a rock god, always a rock god,” he intoned with a wink.

Kaden laughed and shook his head.

Bill pointed at Kaden’s glasses. “Those are interesting, I don’t recognize those. It wasn’t one of the choices I was offered.”

“Wait – what do you mean choices?”

“On my second day, HR hooked me up with a standard Company kit. Mobile, specs, etc. I chose the contact lenses, since they have prescription lenses available. How about you?”

So apparently everyone else got their specs for free, Kaden thought. He had to work for his pair and earn them from Peter and Julia. Interesting.

Kaden shrugged. “I was offered a few different choices and went with these. To be honest, I’m not sure how it works.”

He wanted to know more about what made his glasses special, but he didn’t want to talk about it more with Bill at the moment.

“So did you see the message about team assignments that just came through?” Kaden asked.

“Yeah! Teammates, bro! Rock on!” Bill stuck out his hand for a fist bump.

“Have you met the other person on our team? Jill, I think was her name?”

“Not yet. She’s in the Purchasing Department. Haven’t had a reason to go over there yet.”

Kaden nodded. It felt comfortable to be on the same team as Bill, but without knowing what would be expected of them, it was impossible to know how to be successful. If the first couple days were any indication, there would be a lot of opportunities to fail out of the program. He didn’t want anyone dragging him down.

“I’ll look for a delivery opportunity to that department this afternoon, see if I can introduce myself in person.”

“Excellent,” Bill said. “And you’re in the training at 3pm on the 4th floor, right?”

“Yes,” Kaden looked at the time. “We should get going.” Both stood up to go.

They made their way back to the elevators through the cafeteria space. It was designed in such a way as to provide a lot of little nooks and crannies for individuals or small groups, but also retained an open and atmospheric feel with tall ceilings, lots of natural night and plenty of greenery. He thought he could hear a water-feature off to the side somewhere. Kaden shook his head; clearly, the Company spared no expense on corporate amenities.

Before heading back to the Mailroom, Kaden decided to grab some coffee to go. He said goodbye to Bill and walked over to the coffee bar. He marveled at the beautiful sight in front of him: multiple, gleaming stainless steel espresso machines, imported from Italy, with a variety of fair trade blends and locally sourced beans available.

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This – this he could used to, Kaden thought as the espresso filled his cup.

A notification popped up in the corner of his glasses. He focused on it for a moment to expand it. It was a message from Sandy, the office dog.

Hey, bitch. Where’s my peanut butter?

Kaden raised an eyebrow. What the hell?

Turning around, Kaden saw Sandy standing behind him. The Corgi was looking up at him with an open-mouth dog smile. He was panting a little bit, and licked his chops.

“Who me?” Kaden asked, pointing to himself.

No no no - the other intern behind you. Of course, you! Did you forget about me? Not so smart, I see. Makes sense why you’re ranked at the bottom of the list of interns.

Sandy snorted, looked around and then back up at Kaden.

Listen, kid, I ain’t got all day. I’ve got my rounds to make. Next time I see ya, I expect a double treat. You got it?

While Kaden had no problem understanding the messages as they popped up on his glasses, he was having a hard time understanding what was happening. How is this dog talking to me? What’s with the attitude? Is this some kind of shake down?

A thought occurred to Kaden as he struggled to respond.

“Alright,” Kaden finally replied, kneeling down to speak more directly to the dog. “But what’s in it for me?”

Sandy did one of those cute little doggy sneezes and fixed him with a one-eye stare. He raised a single paw towards Kaden.

What’s in it for you? You mean besides basking in the warm aura of my glory? Bitch, please. I might let you scratch my belly if you’re a good boy.

Kaden couldn’t help but smile. This guy was over the top, but it was kinda charming. This “no filter” setting on the AI-translator was for real.

“I tell you what,” Kaden said, as a passing pair of women paused their conversation to look over at him with strange looks. He paid them no mind, focusing on Sandy. “I’ll bring you a treat every day if you agree to tell me about the other interns. Feed me some intel, and I’ll feed you all the treats you want.”

Well well. Maybe you’re not so simple after all. OK fine. It’s a deal. Shake on it.

The Corgi lifted his left paw in the air, waiting. Kaden reached down and shook it.

But if you want the good stuff, you need to deliver. Got it?

“Got it!” Kaden said, standing up. “Next time I’d like to hear what you can tell me about my teammates, Bill Smith and Jill Chen.”

Yeah yeah yeah. See ya later, kid.

Sandy turned and waddled off. Not sure that dog really needs any more snacks, Kaden thought.

When Kaden got back to the Mailroom, Peter was waiting for him.

“I have a job for you,” Peter said smiling. His hand rested on the handle of dolly loaded with large boxes.

“Ok! Where am I taking this?”

“Second Floor. Mark Hernandez. He’s a director in the Purchasing Department.” Peter kept smiling.

Kaden was suspicious. “What’s the catch? And why are you smiling?”

Peter laughed. “Oh you’ll find out. Make this delivery and we’re even from the other day.

“Also, let me show you where we keep our counterwards. You’ll need to borrow one to carry all this stuff into Mark’s office.”

Peter led Kaden to a separate storage room in the back of the Mailroom. Inside, shelves with neatly organized equipment lined all the walls. In one corner was a locked cabinet. Peter took out a key and opened the cabinet doors.

Peter pulled out a bin in the shelf on the middle and handed it to Kaden. Inside were dozens of matte black cylindrical tubes. Kaden picked one up. It was cool to the touch and fit within the palm of his hand.

“Sometimes we have to make deliveries to places with special protection measures,” Peter explained. “Each of these has a label on it – for example, there should be ones like ‘+10’ or ‘anti-grav’ or ‘temp’ for temperature control.”

Peter hefted an overly large one. “This guy is my favorite. ‘+50.’ Good times.”

“What does ‘+50’ mean?”

“You would need this for access to any floor above 50,” Peter replied.

“Oh ok.” It made sense for the Company to have additional access control for the higher levels. Kaden wondered what went on up there to warrant such secrecy.

Peter fished around in the bin until he found what he was looking for. “Here you go,” he said, handing it to Kaden. “Pair it to your mobile, and you’ll be able to access it on your interface.

Kaden took the small tube with the label “M.Hernandez.” He raised an eyebrow and looked back at Peter, who was looking a little sheepish.

“You guys have a specific counterward just for this Mark Hernandez?” Kaden asked.

Peter laughed again and rubbed his chin. “He’s a special guy, what can I say.”

Peter took the bin back and locked up the cabinet.

“So you know – there is an electronic log of these devices recorded in the Company system. When you take anything out of this room, Julia’s notified. Some of the stuff in here is pretty powerful, actually.”

Good to know, Kaden thought. He was quite excited with this development. His thoughts were already starting to turn on how he could use this to his advantage.

“By the way, how are the new specs working for you?” Peter asked.

“Good so far!” Kaden replied. “Still learning about all the features, of course, but no problems so far.”

“OK good, good,” Peter replied. “Let me know if you have any issues.”

Out in the main sorting room, Kaden paired the device to his system using an app on his mobile. As he did so, he noticed a small dot appear in the corner of his vision. Focusing on it, it expanded to a simple notification:

Counterward “Mark Hernandez”

Status: Inactive

Charge: 06 / 06

“Alright,” Kaden said, grabbing the dolly and heading for the door. “I’ll be back in a bit.”

“Have fun,” Peter called as he left the door. Kaden shook his head. He wasn’t sure if it was just noobie hazing or if he should be worried. Both his manager and coworker seemed to have something of a sadistic streak. But at least he was getting opportunities to explore the Tower and meet lots of people within it. More deliveries and more connections meant more opportunities to peel back the Company’s secrets.