David found himself sitting in a very over designed hallway. He signed and adjusted his position as the “chair” which was made of one flowing piece of plastic. To look sleeker and more modern, it was instead incompatible for human anatomy. He wanted to stare out a window, but they were absent in this area. To his left the hallway extended another 20 feet before rounding a corner in two 45-degree angles. The hall itself was interesting in its own odd way. Made up of the walls 90 degrees perpendicular to the floors then slanted 45 degrees to connect to the ceiling at 45 degrees. This gave the hall a feeling of being inside a giant octagonal pipe that someone had sliced in half. The walls alternated between 10-foot sections of smooth alabaster-colored synthetics followed by dark brown mahogany like wooden planks. The lighter sections had a single thin 6-foot-long gentle light running center of the hall. The dark sections had similar strips sent into where the floors met the walls. The floors appeared to be made of the same substance as the lighter parts of the walls but a more granite gray. He gazed 40 feet down the other direction at the glass doors of the security checkpoint down the hall. He straightened his tie and tried to fix his shirt remembering an unnecessarily invasive security check that was followed by an even more thorough one after he rode the elevator to this floor. “At least they could have bought me dinner first…” David mumbled to himself. Pondering the architect’s design choices took another 15 minutes of waiting, he rechecked his resume and security clearance. Then reviewed the job description just for something to do. He stopped trying to guess if the plants alternating down were real, fake or even the “NU” engineered kind. Checking his pockets out of habit for his cell and he realized it was checked in at the front desk for “security” reasons. He felt more violated being away from it than even the frisking and scanning he received. It was already a half hour after his appointment time. No one had entered or left the room in front of him except for a small, automated floor scrubber. It beeped in annoyance as it paused in its path and then slowly went around his feet. Debating if going to the desk to check if they told them he was here was worth the scrutiny of the security staff. He shook his head “Nope” to himself and dug himself into waiting.

  Another half hour passed before the door opened and women in business casually exited the door in front of him. She looked at him and didn’t say anything and just arched one of her eyebrows at him in a neat olive drab pants suit. David was taken by surprise after having retreated into his own imagination. He was trying to design a device capable of extracting him from his purgatory. Coming too he jumped up and offered a hand to the obvious HR person. “David Wilson?” she asked, ignoring his hand. “Yes, sorry I was…” David was interrupted by her turning and called out “Right in here.” He followed her in and sat opposite her on the desk where she asked for his resume, clearance, ID and then she appeared to ignore him completely while reading them. Even tossed an original of his masters in mechanical engineering onto the floor and typing into the computer for exactly 14 minutes and 45 seconds. He knew this because he had been watching a surprisingly analog clock behind her on the wall. “Either this person is a straight ass or they are trying very hard to irritate me.”, he thought to himself.

  “Well…” she startled him. With a slight grin she continued, “everything seems in order. You are qualified, you have the correct background and security clearance but that just leaves one thing. After a short pause waiting, he asked, “Umm, and what is that?” She monotone, “Why?”, which he found himself parroting back, “Why…Why?” Now smirking, “Yes, why would you even want to work here?” Stunned, he sat for a second, “I am sorry I don’t even understand the question.” A short laugh escaped her mouth and as quickly as it started it died. “Oh you don’t know, so you are one of those people. Didn’t they tell you?” she continued after brushing on her long black hair behind her ears. “Dr. Jamie Rivera has never had a single assistant last the one-month probation period. I heard it is such a common thing they actually shortened it from the normal 90 days to 30 days… juuussst for this position.” “Who wouldn’t?” it was his turn to smile as he answered her this time. It started to fade as her brown eyes stared back at him again with another raised eyebrow. “Who wouldn’t want the chance to work here for someone who …” he paused and copying her tone from before, “…I have been told, not only is Dr. Rivera is a full decade ahead of anyone else in computer tech but he may actually be the 21st century’s greatest minds if not the greatest.” She leaned back in her chair which he noticed was a much more normal and comfortable looking one that he had in the hall. She seemed to be tasting his words and judging the flavor. “So if He is such a “genius” with a capital “G” why is He so hard to deal with. Why is He so secretive… hell I think other than me less than 95% of the people wouldn't know Jamie if they were in the same room.” She was right he realized, in the news other than accomplishments and discoveries attributed to Dr. Rivera no one knew what he looked like. Even a very thorough search of the internet was frustratingly absent of pickers or Bio data. It was actually quite refreshing, if not humbling to his computer skills, to find someone that famous who was also not a fame whore. Gathering his thoughts if a few breaths, he responded with confidence this time, “I respect the secrecy and history is full of people ahead of their time being eccentric.” She leaned forward and tossed a pass from the drawer with his name on it and the picture he submitted with his resume. He juggled in the air for it. He was so confused by the sudden turn he almost missed what she said. “Sorry what now?” “I said, are you ready to meet him?” He smiled to himself and he couldn’t help it. “I got it!” he cheered for himself. He followed the much shorter woman to meet his new boss. This smile stayed with him out of the office and around a corner where she lead him through a door after he tested his card at the door for the lab. It was very clean and looked so new compared to his state run computer lab he dealt with that he was excited and nervous all at the same time. He tried to keep his hands to himself until she handed him a clean white lab coat which he attached his badge onto. He noticed a lack of the doctor so far but continued admiring the terminals and various cooling towers and cables run amok in this section. The smile on his face refused to die as the HR person who never bothered to introduce themselves also put on a lab coat. The smile then suffered a massive brain embolism and was pronounced dead on the scene as he watched her put her ID badge on. Clear as day with her picture was written, “Dr. Jamie Rivera.” “Oh shit.” Dropped from his mouth.. The weird HR persona she had before shed like a dead skin off a snake. After it passed an almost completely different person stood in front of him. Her posture, look and mannerism was completely changed. The slight changes each subtle added together in a strange alchemy as they turned a gossipy HR person into a person which exuded a sure and cold confidence. Her angry eyes examined him and he felt like a specimen on a petri dish. “The Doctor is in…” she stated in dramatic voice.

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  He exited past security into the elevator. Playing the unbelievable events that just happened over. He scrunched up his face in remembering the embarrassment of calling his new boss a “He”. He clutched a paper in his hands. She was irritated but almost simultaneously happy about the mistake. She with some satisfaction seemed to lay out the rules of his employment which he hastily wrote down on a piece of paper due to a lack of phone. he now carried like some sort of divine edicts. Any violation of them would be grounds for immediately firing him during his 30 days of probationary employment. Parts made sense as the “Never be a second late.” Others were more arcane like “Always have beef jerky available for me on demand.” He entered the elevator drained but excited. Although he got the job he had a feeling he was already on thin ice with a person who was notorious for axing their help. Alone in the elevator he came to a conclusion. “No…a person that loves to play games. A person who socially engineers situations to be entertainment.” He realized. He is not only an assistant but also a toy for a bored genius. At first he was taken aback by the manipulative nature of the situation. By the end of the ride to the lobby he was resolved. He had worked too hard and this job despite all its interpersonal draw backs was too good for his career and wallet to turn back now. Tomorrow was a new day and he would make it a better one than today.