#tech corp

Like a storm, Paula whisked through her apartment collecting items from all over, knocking over piles of books and empty juice cartons in the process. Pearls of sweat had formed above her frowning brows as her eyes darted all around. Then she took a deep breath.

‘Okay. Ready. Late, but ready,’ she sighed to herself before walking out the door.

Her first day in the new job, she could hardly believe her luck. It was her dream job, or well, you know, what she imagined was probably going to be her dream job. If she was being honest, she wasn’t really sure what she was even meant to be doing, but she was sure she’d love it!

Somehow she managed to drive fast enough to make it to the new office building in time after all, by only breaking one or two relatively minor traffic laws. She’d probably be fined for it later, but with the wages she’d be making here, that hardly mattered. Paula pulled on her skirt and straightened her blouse as she stepped into the elevator that would bring her to the seventh floor. She looked through the mirrored box, her gaze lingering on the company’s logo beneath the dial. Tech Corp. It was such a tacky name. Nobody in town really knew what the firm was meant to be doing, but it was rumoured to be something high tech, possibly on the same level as Cern.

The seventh floor greeted Paula with several stressed people rushing back and forth carrying papers, fear of failure and stress gleaming in their eyes. Paula gulped, but she stepped forward with a smile after clenching her fists and giving herself a push. She found a receptionist who was typing furiously, several shrill phones ringing in the background.

‘Excuse me,’ Paula said politely.

The receptionist glanced up and slipped her a piece of paper while picking up one of the phones.

Confused, Paula read the paper. It told her to report to room C91832BH2. Upon a questioning look, the receptionist granted her a nod towards a door on the far side of the corridor. Paula mouthed words of thanks and walked over. She tentatively knocked on the door. A camera above it moved to focus on her. Paula didn’t know where to look. She felt immense relief when the door opened to let her in.

What she saw, was a man standing with his back to her, looking through a glass pane. The room behind it was lit, but this room was shrouded in darkness.

‘Excuse me, I’m Paula Simmons, the new Data Analyst, I’m meant to start working here today…?’

The man didn’t turn to her, but instead waved her to step next to him.

She closed the door behind her and approached the glass. Behind it, she saw a man dressed in peculiar white robes inspect a bonzai tree with immense interest, just to then turn and walk over to a small metal table and inspect a sandwich with equal curiousity. The room was filled with items of all sorts - a bycicle, a torch, some rubber bands, a magnetic toy, a dreamcatcher, sticky tape, a teddy bear, a cooking pot….  there was even a snail, and a small dog, for whatever reason. Paula could see no connection between the items, and watching the man sniff at the sandwich after taking it apart, and then placing half of it on his head, with the buttered side facing downwards, increased her confusion further.

‘I don’t think that person knows how sandwiches work,’ she noted.

‘Indeed, he does not,’ the man next to her sighed, still studying the man behind the glass with interest and slight amusement. ‘I’m Richard Marcens, your boss.’

Finally he turned to her and stretched out his hand. Paula shook it gladly.

‘It’s a pleasure to work with you,’ she replied. ‘But may I ask what exactly my task will be?’

Mr Marcens nodded towards the man trying to put sticky tape over the sandwich to keep it together.

‘I want you to investigate this man’s claims. It’s of vital importance. He brought many documents from a different time, and I want you to estimate their validity. I’m sure that I don’t have to tell you that all this information is highly confidential.’

‘Of course, sir. May I ask what his claims are?’

Mr Marcens looked Paula directly in the eyes. He didn’t smile, he didn’t flinch. With a dead pan expression, he said: ‘This man has come to us from a distant future to warn us of an event that will destroy the world as we know it.’