Day 11

Thursday, June 16, 2045

As Kaden exited the meditation chamber after his two hours of morning meditation, he saw a familiar face approaching down the hallway.

He nodded his head in greeting, the other man did a small wave and slowed down, as if he wanted to speak to Kaden.

“Hi,” he said. “I’m Han Mifan. I’m in the internship program. Are you one of the other interns?”

Kaden stuck out his hand for a handshake. “Yes I am. Kaden Chen.”

Han shook his hand vigorously. Han was a big guy, but not very tall. Quite round, actually. With somewhat short and stubby arms and fingers. But he had a vitality and briskness to his movements. He was always moving, bopping up and down on the balls of his feet.

“Nice to meet you! You know, I don’t see many other interns here doing meditation.”

Kaden smiled. “I know right?” He raised his fingers to lips. “Let’s let it be our secret.”

“Ha! I don’t know how long that will last. Hey quick question, if you don’t mind. What aura did you pick for your primary meditation practice? I picked tau for the speed. Also working on beta for strength as a secondary.”

Kaden thought over what he learned about auras thus far. Apparently there was a large spectrum of possible mana auras, each with unique characteristics. He thought of it like a ice cream store with very large selection of potential flavors. Some flavors went ell together, and some did not; similarly, some auras combined well together, and others did not. That was why mana collection became complicated when presented with a group of monsters with too many different types of monsters.

But also like ice cream, there were the mana auras that were most common, like vanilla, chocolate and strawberry. There was a simple chart Kaden had committed to memory, in order to keep track of the basics.

* Beta | Green | Strength

* Tau | Purple | Speed

* Ni | White or black | Stamina

* Sigma | Amber | Will

“Well, you know, for me I guess it was more like I felt most comfortable with sigma, so I’ve stuck with that one.”

“Really! Just sigma as your primary, no secondary or anything?”

Kaden shrugged. “Nah, just keeping it simple for now.”

“OK! Nice. Anyway, I’ll let you go, I can see you’re on the way out.”

“OK! Let’s talk more later!”

“Sure thing, I’m sure I’ll see you around.” Han bopped along with a spring in his step, turning the corner quickly.

While Kaden knew the faces of most of the interns, very few made a point of connecting with each other, probably because of the competitive nature of the program. Han was one of the few who had introduced himself to Kaden and was probably the friendliest by far.

Also, he knew enough about the meditation chambers to be here early in the morning. Not as early as Kaden, of course, but even so, he was truly surprised the benefits of the meditation chamber hadn’t caught on yet. Not that he was complaining. He was going to take any advantage he could get.

He checked his messages quickly as he made his way to the 3rd floor for some breakfast and some coffee. Nothing new or urgent had come across in the last couple hours, so he had a little free time before he was due to meet the rest of the team for a repeat of yesterday’s training exercise.

Kaden grabbed his food, made himself a double-shot mocha latte in a to-go cup, and found a hoteling station in a quiet corner to do some work while he ate.

There were a number of workstations available on a first come first served basis. Theoretically he could do anything that needed doing on his Company mobile, but it was definitely better to use a full keyboard and large display for some tasks, particularly anything to do with the Company’s ERP system. Such small font!

He put down his empty yogurt-granola parfait and took a sip of his before starting on the next equipment requisition.

He went through the form quickly, tabbing through a series of drop downs quickly.

“Quantity 1, item number CC0100245, replenish stock, direct pick-up option…” he mumbled to himself as he typed away.

His team needed collectors, so he was buying them.

Except he wasn’t really buying them. He was using the Mailroom department to order collector “replacements” for the inventory closet, placing a requisition for one collector at a time, That way the system would auto approve the order, because the order’s total value was relatively low, without any additional approvals required.

He had debated asking his manager Julia first, or even Peter, but in the end he decided this was the type of situation where it was probably better to ask for forgiveness, rather than ask permission. Even if someone did raise a flag or complain, he didn’t expect anything more than a slap on the wrist. Why would there be loopholes like this if people like him weren’t supposed to use them? It’s all for the greater good, right?

Kaden hit submit. He checked his messages. He already had a notification that the part was in stock and available for pick up on the fifth floor.

“Perfect. Let’s do this nine more times and then head upstairs,” he said to himself. “I’ll have time to pick up the collectors on my way to the gym.”

After a few more minutes of processing the same requisition nine more times, Kaden grabbed his latte and strolled over to the elevator bank.

For the first time this week, he was feeling pretty good about things. He was excited to try out his idea on how to deploy their new collectors, and he was optimistic Bill would have something good to share today as well. Instead of the constant overwhelming sense of too much to do with too little time, he was feeling optimistic about making a big step forward with the team today. He also had a concrete lead on the mystery with David Olson and a plan in place to meet or confront him within the next few days. Things were coming together, and it gave Kaden’s stride a little swagger.

As he left, he spotted Han standing at a self-service counter. Han was taking what looked like a glass of orange juice out of the microwave.

That’s weird, he thought.

On the 5th floor, Kaden didn’t know where to go to pick up his supplies, so he stopped for directions at the front desk. He was directed around the elevator bank and to the rear of the Tower core, where there was a service counter with a glass window in front of rows and rows of shelves. It looked a little bit like a pharmacy, with the security screening, except instead of drugs, there were bins and bins of parts and equipment. He rang the bell on the counter and waited.

“I’m coming,” a sweet soprano voice called from the back.

From behind the shelves, the young woman with the long, black hair that Kaden had seen on the 5th floor last week came into view. She was tall, but small-boned, and not skinny at all. A tight-fitting blouse and form-fitting skirt let the world know to slow down and drive carefully, lots of curves ahead.

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Kaden must have lost a moment because when he came to his senses, his mouth was open and the woman had a quizzical look on her face.

“Picking something up?” she repeated.

“I’m Kaden,” he said, putting his hands in his pockets, and then on the counter, and then under the counter. He didn’t know what to do with his hands.

“And I’m pretty busy,” she replied, still wearing a smile. “Can I help you?”

“Yes, sorry, of course, I’m picking up some supplies for the Mailroom.”

“Do you have the PO number?”

Kaden pulled out his mobile and pressed furiously on the screen to find it faster. He felt his cheeks turning red.

“Here you go,” he said, showing her order number.

“OK! I’ll be right back,” she said.

He took a deep breath as she disappeared around the corner. After about a minute of him still wondering what to do with his hands, the woman arrived back at the desk with a small box, which she placed on the counter.

“Here you go! Sign for it, please. Just wave your hand over the ID scanner so it can read the implant in your hand,” she explained.

“Oh, uh,” Kaden said, picking up the small, squarish cardboard box containing a single collector. It fit in the palm of his hand.

“You know what, I forgot to mention that I have multiple orders to pick up.”

“Oh. Ok.” The woman did her best not to sigh out loud. “Order numbers?”

Once again, Kaden dove into his mobile to pull up an order number. He felt the heat increase on his face. There’s nothing quite like being the obstacle between a pretty girl and the rest of her day.

“What was your name again? Kaden? I’ll just look it up that way,” she said, typing away at her workstation. She turned to look at him.

“Ten individual orders of the exact same item… is that right?”

He nodded his head and smiled sheepishly.

She looked at him closely. She was about to say something, but then seemed to decide not to. He felt like she saw right through him and what he was trying to do.

“Alright, I’ll let it go this time. Not sure what you’re up to, and I don’t really want to know. But please don’t do this again,” she said with a wink.

Kaden’s blush went even deeper, approaching beet red territory. “I understand. And appreciate it,” he added.

She brought back a shoebox-sized cardboard box with the rest of the collectors. “Here you go,” she said.

“Thanks, uh, I didn’t get your name,” he said.

“Alicia,” she smiled sweetly.

“Thanks, Alicia! I guess I owe you one. Uh, see you later,” he said, backing up to go.

“Uh-huh, okay,” she said, smirking.

Finally able to do something with his hands, Kaden grasped the box of collectors like a football under his arm and hustled back to the elevator. Hot girls still flustered him, and this one had caught him by surprise. He didn’t expect to run into a supermodel in the Facilities department. While he wasn’t completely unskilled in romantic relations, it had certainly been a while, and he definitely was focused on other things at the moment.

Focus, he reminded himself. Next up was the team training. He needed to get in the right headspace to improve on yesterday’s performance.

Absentmindedly he glanced at his left arm. Under his new sports jacket and shirt, his arm had completely healed. Just a light pink scar quickly fading. The mana absorption was doing amazing things for his body already.

Andy, Bill and Jill were waiting for him on the 4th floor.

“Good morning, sunshine,” Andy drawled. “Nice of you to join us.”

“Hey Andy,” Kaden replied. “Give us a minute? Need to coordinate with the team before we redo yesterday’s exercise.”

He shrugged. “Suit yourselves. Clock’s ticking – you’ve got the room reserved for thirty minutes.”

Kaden showed the box to Jill. “Here you go – more collectors.”

“Wow, where did you get these?” she asked. “How did you get these?”

He shrugged. “Perks of working in the Mailroom?”

Jill frowned but didn’t say anything.

“Bill – what’s that you have on your shoulder?” Kaden asked.

Bill unslung the case and set it on the ground. Popping it open, he showed them what was inside.

A sleek guitar with a purple body gleamed inside the velvet lined instrument case. It looked exactly like an electric guitar except for a few noticeable differences. The strings were iridescent, with strangely attenuated tuning forks. In the body of the five-string guitar were five circular slots, each the diameter of a standard ward cap.

“Is that what I think it is?” Kaden asked.

“Yep! Got this prototype on loan from Emmett over in R&D. Agreed to let me do some field tests in exchange for performance data. And keeping it safe from damage, of course.”

“That’s… interesting, I guess,” Jill said, “but how does it work?”

“Five slots for five different wards. When I play the strings, I can control and adjust those wards.”

“Ok I guess that makes sense,” she said, “but how is this better than using your mobile or the ocular interface to control the wards?”

“Response time,” he replied. “I can react in less than a tenth of a second with this. Also I’ve programmed the interface to allow me the same breadth of control for all the ward settings, all on the fret board. No more diving into menus on the fly.”

“Any limitations?” Kaden asked.

“Well, I haven’t thought about that too much,” he replied, “but I suppose protecting the instrument itself is the biggest potential problem. If it’s damaged, the wards most likely won’t stay active. And it will take time to reconfigure and load those wards in the normal manner.”

Kaden nodded. It made sense. In a way, the instrument was a large analog control board, programmable in different ways. As long as it was working, there shouldn’t be any problems. But if it stopped working, then the group would have to have a back-up plan in place.

“Alright,” Jill said, gesturing at the guitar and the collectors. “How are we going to run the training differently today?”

Kaden grinned. “I’ve got a couple ideas.”

After a quick five-minute discussion, the team filed into the training room. They had about fifteen minutes left in their allotted time.

Andy yawned. “Y’all sure you want to do this? If you run out of time, I’ll have to shut it down and you’ll fail the assignment.”

“We got this,” Kaden replied with more confidence than he felt. “Let’s do this.”

The lights fell as before, and the horde of massive bat creatures began to appear. The group stayed clustered together. This time, they planned to work closely as one unit, utilizing their new equipment.

Kaden activated an air-shield ward as their inner shield. Using the Mailroom wards on his fingers that he had borrowed from Peter, he pushed out four of the new collectors until each one was firmly lodged in the semi-permeable air-shield at equal intervals around them and about halfway up the height of the shield dome.

“Ready,” he called out to Bill, who had been plucking a single string on his new guitar to keep the growing horde at bay with a long-distance null ward. A few of the creatures had pushed through and were starting to attack Kaden’s shield, and as Bill dropped the outer ward, all of the creatures rushed in.

As they did so, Bill pivoted to recreating the shield pincer the team had employed last time. The massive bat creatures struggled as they were caught in between multiple shields and pressed into the dome surrounding the team.

Jill was already pulling in mana from the well-positioned collectors. The bats had little time to attack before their essence was being pulled away into the bank of capacitors at Jill’s feet. In less than a minute, the whole thing was over.

Andy walked over, twirling his lanyard around his finger as the lights came back up.

“Not bad for a bunch of noobs,” he conceded. “Not bad at all.”