Vitcity

Nora smiles pleasantly. "Well, I would love to be able to put names and faces together, if only to help me avoid any embarrassing moments. Is Ms Ekantha all right? Alice told me she got hurt, but not that she had to go to the hospital..."

Nora is taken aback only for a moment, then she laughs and proceeds to fist bump. "I think you might be the most colorful person I've met here yet, and my, that is saying something. Pleasure to meet you. Please, call me Nora. My full name is horribly obnoxious."

Gabriel

You poke around through the electronics for a bit. A few vacuums that might be salvageable. A VCR, some DVD players... You don't find much computer hardware, but you do find some old games. And you notice they're in a bit of disarray, like they were recently browsed.


Nora

"Yeah? You call me whatever you want. So this is Human Resources. We handle hiring and firing, training, stuff like that. I'm the one who processed your paperwork and all that. Uh... If I remember right, you're up in... legal... yeah, you're with Ol' Man Liam. Cool. So we'll probably talk about the finer points of NDAs and stuff at some point, maybe have to run you through the legal end of a termination, but mostly you just need to worry about us being here if you got beef with someone that needs fixing."

"Ah, yeah... NDAs. We'll have to draw up a patent or two before your internship's done. Probably worth heading up to the research floor to meet Mihaela."

"Nah, coat-bro's holed up tight in the labs, total lockdown. No one in or out until she makes sure all her pet projects are set."

"Hm. Well, only one place left to go before we start on some work, then. See you later, Leanne."

"Later, dudes."

You head down a few floors while Liam lectures you. "Now, one of the most important aspects of running a modern company is the cyber security, making sure no one can get into our networks and steal our tasty little secrets. And more importantly lowering how many points of access people have. And teaching people how to use things correctly. Our head of IT is really proud, we've only ever had one security breach at Vitcorp, and they ended up only stealing a few dummy files... or... something, I don't really get it. Something about a fake network and a... zibomb? Zap bomb? You can ask the IT guy about it. Yeah, some good advice for any workplace is to make friends with the guys who handle your computers."

Liam nods to himself as you go through a few more doors, then grabs his shoulders as he walks through the next door. A moment later you understand why. The room is freezing, with cold air blasting from the ceiling... and filled with racks upon racks of servers and cables.

A man wearing a fur-lined jacket comes out from a small side room you hadn't noticed and looks between you and Liam. A tall, lanky man with mis-aligned teeth. You read the nameplate on the door and see his name is Mir Ahktar. He waves at you, then starts gesturing rapidly at Liam. Liam starts making gestures back and you realize they're talking in sign language.

"Right, forgot to warn you, Mir's mute. An injury from back when he was young. Real nasty stuff. Anyway, he says hi."

Nora

Mir makes a few more gestures. Liam answers, then translates. "He says that's unnecessary. He carries a text-to-voice device with him any time he's out of the office. Like, uh... kinda like that one scientist uses. Also, you'll need this."

Mir produces a small, white flash drive.

"This is a, uh... what's he call it?" Liam thinks for a moment. "Well whatever it is, you stick it in a computer before you log in and you can, uh, log in."

Mir makes a few quick motions, then waves to you before returning to his work.

"He says the network's a mess right now and he needs to get back to work with damage control. Well! Let's go test that key and I can show you some of the work you'll be doing. For today... we'll be working on filing insurance paperwork. Gonna be a lo-o-o-o-ong day."

You spend a few hours going over painfully monotonous insurance paperwork.. Bleh.

"Nice work today, Nora. Kind of dull first day, I know, especially after waking up to that this morning. Oh, yeah. Don't forget to go visit the CEO's office before you head home. You'll need to go up to the top on the main elevator, then transfer over to a special secure elevator, then take that to its top floor. Your wristband's got special access for today only."

You follow the instructions and step out into a surprisingly small, modest office. Still fancy, but nothing like that main lobby. Just a narrow red rug leading to a large, mahogany desk with a comfortable-looking chair, a few potted plants in the corners, and a bookshelf half-filled with books and the rest occupied by some photos and assorted knick-knacks. A pair of large windows on either side of the shelf look out over the city, but one is broken open with a plastic sheet taped over it.

You look around but don't see anyone, but you do find a pair of doors beside the elevator. One is marked with a stair symbol, the other is unmarked.

Nora walks up to the unmarked door and knocks. "Hello? Anyone here? It's Ursula Norant Owan, the new intern. I was told to come up here tonight by Mr Liam."

Nora blinks, a little caught off guard at first, then smiles. "Oh, yes, of course. I'm sorry if I seem a little dazed, you really reminded me of my aunt for a moment. I think you and she would get along splendidly."

"This is a rather wonderful apartment. Chic and modern, but also adorable and homey. I quite like it. Would you like me to help you with anything in the kitchen? Something tells me you don't really need it, but I'd feel bad if I didn't at least offer."

Nora nods. "Of course. Well, I'll do my best anyway... I'm not very physically strong."

She carefully begins to organize and put the weights back on the rack. "I see where Alice gets all of her best qualities," Nora says with a smile.