I only had to wait for half an hour before the small crew of n showed up with several boxes and a form for to sign. I did so and they dropped so of it off on the desk and the bigger boxes on the floor. They were clearly marked with cyberdeck and viewscreen, so I ignored them and looked at the other boxes.
One long wide box had a garnt bag inside and it contained a nice corpo suit. It had nothing on the one I made for myself, though. But, I was only an intern while at work, so I stripped off the Arasaka Academy uniform and dressed in the Arasaka Corpo Suit. I left the jacket off, because I was going to be putting things together in the cubicle.
I opened the smaller wide box and was surprised by the thin ballistic vest inside. It was almost unrecognizable for what it was, since it was designed to emulate a suit vest and would fit in well with the rest of the suit. I put it on, just because I could, and opened the next smaller box. Inside was an over-the-shoulder gun holster and a belt holster.
I took the shoulder one, since it was much easier to hide and much less easier to steal the gun from than the hip holster. I put it on and adjusted the straps to fit. I silently cast a cushioning charm on it and it felt like I wasn't even wearing it.
The next smallest box obviously held the gun they provided with, the Arasaka Tamayura. It was a second gen semi-automatic power pistol and there wasn't a manual or any tools to clean or maintain it. I got it for free, so I wasn't going to complain about it. I'd search for them in the company's database after I set up the cyberdeck.
The next box held two magazines of 8 shots each and held the standard ammunition the gun could use. Those two boxes, the gun and the ammo, were unmarked from the outside in case anyone tried to steal them from where they were stored. I put one of the clips into the gun and holstered it under my arm. It settled well and didn't impede my movents in any way.
The last and smallest box on the desk had a pair of sunglasses inside. I softly chuckled at that and slipped them into the inside breast pocket of the suit coat I hung on the back of the chair. I opened the vidscreen box first and set it up on the desk. I didn't see any external cords in the cubicle, so I wasn't sure how I was supposed to hook the thing up to receive a signal or to power it.
I ignored that for now and set the cyberdeck up under the desk and out of kicking range. It had ports for the vidscreen and for power; but again, nowhere for the power to plug into. I hooked it into the vidscreen and couldn't do much of anything else. Just when I thought about contacting the maintenance departnt again, one of the technicians returned with a handful of cords and cables.
I smiled slightly and nodded to him as I stepped back and out of the way. He gave a grateful look and disappeared under the desk. The sound of tools being used ca from under there and I didn't try to look and see what he was doing, since I could easily guess.
He ca back out about five minutes later and still had a cable in his hand. He attached it to the back of the vidscreen and dropped the other end down behind the desk, then went back under again. He ca back out and stood.
“I need about ten minutes to hook you up to the service panels, sir.” He said and had a look on his face as if he expected to berate him for it.
“That's quite efficient for the task.” I praised. “Carry on.”
“Yes, sir.” He said and looked happy as left my cubicle at a fast walk to the elevator, then changed his destination to the door to the stairwell and was gone from sight.
“That was pretty slick.” The black guy in the next cubicle said as he stood. “He'll be eager to help the next ti you ask for sothing.”
“That's the plan.” I said, lying through my teeth. I just figured no one had ever said anything positive to the guy and it would make him happy. I knew better than to thank him vocally, though. I'd be seen as weak and easily fooled.
“Na's Harry.” He said and held a hand out to shake.
I stepped close and shook it. “Veder.”
“I know.” Harry said and then chuckled. “We all know.”
“Abernathy made sure of that.” I said.
“Standing in the doorway to stop it from shutting was a smart move.” Harry said and sat down at his desk. “It let everyone hear what was going on without having to eavesdrop.”
“I figured.” I said and leaned against the wall. “What's it like working here?”
“There's good points and bad points, like any job.” Harry said with a shrug.
I glanced at the slight grey hair at his temples. “How long have you worked here?”
Harry gave a sad look. “Longer than I wanted to be.”
“How so?” I asked, curious.
“I'm ambitious and not suicidal.” Harry said.
I needed a mont to think about that and understood. “You've climbed the corpo ladder as far as you're willing to risk.”
“I'm good at my job, just not too good.” Harry said and pointed with a thumb over his shoulder. “I do not need to be promoted into that ss.”
“Heh, I hear you.” I said and my vidscreen activated with a soft beeping sound. “I'll let you get back to work. I need to set my gear up.”
Harry gave a little wave and turned back to his own and continued working.
I entered my cubicle again and sat down. I turned on the cyberdeck and had to wait for all of the Arasaka proprietary software to boot up. Two minutes was ridiculous, considering the inherent processing power. What the hell kind of software was the thing running?
I checked it, now that it was on, and it was full of Arasaka spyware and things from three other major corporations. I had to buy the license to use my own Cleaner program for it, too. I was a corporate employee as well as a student, so the fair use license I had only applied to things I'd use as a student.
I imdiately sent a request for reimbursent, which was instantly denied for exactly the reason I had to buy the license. This set the tone for the following hour, since each of the standard programs used in the departnt required a different security key and a license to install it.
When the last of the recomnded programs were installed and running properly, and were cleaned as well, my entire first paycheck had been used up. Now I knew why Patricia had argued against working overti. The company was getting an entire week's worth of work out of for free. Nothing in my hiring contract covered extra fees for standard software or anything else.
I checked the ti and school was just letting out. I was scheduled for three hours of work after school as an intern, then I rembered I was only scheduled for 3 hours of work per school day and I had already been there for over an hour and a half.
A pretty little blonde woman, skinny as a rake, stumbled into my area with her arms full of file folders. She almost tripped and caught herself as she dropped the entire mass onto my desk. The stack was about 2 feet tall and she caught them before they toppled over onto the floor. I took the top half off and set them beside each other, making two stacks a foot high.
“Thanks, cutie.” The woman said and ran her fingers through her short blonde hair.
Her calling that made add a decade to the estimate of her age. She had small perky breasts that her combing brought attention to, even though the stylish suit.
“Your boss said he wants you to collate these before you leave.” She said and gave a sympathetic look.
“Please explain what that task entails.” I said in a flat voice.
She blushed, because she just realized I didn't know what she ant, and she opened the top folder. Inside was a smaller folder with a data chip inside. “You have to check each chip individually and then read through the paperwork, make sure they match and correct any errors, and anything that's missing from one has to be added to the other. Data to paper or paper to data.”
I pretended to look at my wrist at a watch that wasn't there, then I looked back at her face. “You do realize I'm only scheduled to work for 3 hours a day, maximum.”
She took a breath and let it out. “He said, and I quote, 'tell him he can't leave until he's done'.”
“He wants to do this entire stack before I can go ho?” I asked, just for clarification.
Her face went red again. “This... this is only the top drawer of my filing cabinet in the records departnt. There are three other drawers you have to do.”
I kept my face blank as I slowly stood. The woman's eyes widened at seeing my height and she stepped back. I nodded to her and walked around her.
“Where are you going?” Harry asked and he had a sympathetic look on his face.
“To Denise's office to get the rest of the files. There's no point in making her wait around to carry them every ti I finish a drawer to give another one.” I said and the woman gasped. I was down the hallway before she ca out of my cubicle and followed .
“How did you know my na?” Denise asked.
I glanced back at her when we reached the elevator. “Just between you and ...” I whispered as the elevator dinged and opened for us. “...I know everyone's na.”
She stood there and stared at in surprise and I gently took her arm and led her into the elevator. I ntally asked for her floor and the elevator moved without either of us using our security cards. She was too surprised by my revelation to notice, though.
The elevator stopped and I led her out onto the record floor and stopped in the central area. She stared at for another few seconds until I motioned around us. She startled slightly, then she nodded and led to her office. It was the sa size as my cubicle and the file cabinet was in the far corner.
I walked over to it and was thankful there was nothing on it, in front of it, or around it. I picked it up like it weighed nothing, since I was using tactile telekinesis to hold it, and carried it back over to her. Her shocked expression made her look her age, nearly 30, and the short blonde hair actually suited her when she had an honest expression on her face.
“Are you staying here to keep working or are you staying with to make sure I don't screw any of your hard work up?” I asked her.
She slowly closed her mouth as she lost the shocked look, then her eyes dropped down to look at my feet. She very slowly drifted her gaze all the way up my body, taking all of in, and eventually landed back on my face. She licked her lips and swallowed, because I hadn't put the heavy file cabinet down.
“Weeeeell, you are only an intern.” She said and she blushed a little. “I suppose I could help you by putting in a good word about you in your performance review at the end of the week.” Her blush faded as her nipples popped out. “If you earn it.”
I was pretty sure I knew what she ant and I didn't even have to read her mind. “Despite the pressure, I'm sure I can handle that to the best of my ability.”
A smile appeared on her face and she turned around and walked out of her office. I followed her and carried the file cabinet, which gained a whole lot of attention. Most of it good with a few envious looks. She stopped at a supply closet and grabbed a bunch of things a normal desk would need. Paper, pens, pencils, erasers, a stapler, staples, and several sticky note pads.
We went to the elevator and rode it back up to my floor and we walked over to my cubicle. Again, we gained attention, only this ti the Jenkins supporters looked nervous and the Abernathy supporters looked eager.
“Jesus.” Harry whispered when he saw us.
I walked by him and into my cubicle. I set the file cabinet down in the far corner and it barely fit, so I moved my chair out of the way and gave it to Denise to sit on.
“Thank you.” She said and sat, opened the top drawer of my desk, and filled it with what she carried. “What are you going to sit on?”
I glanced down at her lap, where her skirt had ridden up as she sat. She blushed a little and didn't say no, so I was sure my original thought that she wanted a good ride later was the right one.
“Later.” I whispered and opened the top drawer of the file cabinet. I put the files on my desk back inside and in the right order, then I took out the first one. “I'm going to be moving too quickly to sit for this part.”
Denise watched, transfixed, as I plugged the datachip into my neck, after I checked it for spyware, and then I flipped the papers over, one a second, until they were read. I flipped them all back over and compared them to the digital version on the chip, edited them both to match with only a few spelling errors, using the pen she gave on the papers, and unplugged the chip and put it and the papers back in the folder and put the finished folder back into the file cabinet.
“M-m-marry .” Denise whispered.
I gave her a wink and checked the next file. There were no errors, so I put it back untouched. This went on and on, file folder after file folder, and Denise's face was full of need when I closed the top drawer after only an hour of work. There were 150 files and on average had about 25 pages per file. So had more and so had less, depending on the subject of the file and their contents.
There were three more drawers to go through, so that ant I needed at least three more hours or more to finish the task. I only had half an hour of scheduled ti left officially, so I was going to go into overti pay and I was also going to miss my scheduled reservation for Delamain's taxi service.
“We need coffee!” Denise shouted and ran off.
Harry let out a chuckle and leaned around the small wall between our cubicles. “In case you didn't get the hint after hearing all her little squeaks and moans, she wants you.”
I gave him a smug look and he laughed and went back to work. I called Delamain to apologize, explained why I wasn't going to need a ride, and promised I would see him in the morning. He thanked for not making him show up and leaving him waiting there for no reason.
After hearing that, I knew a few people must have done it to him at so point. I apologized on their behalf and he laughed, told to get back to work, and hung up. I shook my head at that reaction and went back to work.
Denise ca back in ten minutes later, her hair slightly dishevelled, and her skirt wrinkled. It didn't take a genius to realize what she actually did before she actually grabbed a couple of cups of coffee. She had a relaxed smile on her face as she handed one, then she sat on the lone chair and sipped on hers.
I put the cup to my mouth and checked it with Panacea's power. I knew it was going to taste bad, since it was office coffee and it always tasted bad, so I changed it and fixed the chemical composition. I sipped it, made a happy sound, and continued to work.
Why didn't I complain about it? Because it gave two things. One, access to files that might not be complete on the company servers. Two, I gained extra pay for working overti, because I was working on a project assigned by my boss. That first paycheck was going to have so eddies in it after all.
I glanced over at Denise and she looked content and also eager. She was rembering my promise earlier and she didn't mind having to stay after normal business hours to 'help ', since she would be getting paid for it as well. The sex she was going to get was just a very nice bonus and she hoped it was worth it.
I held in my laugh at finally getting what that old saying really ant. I'll scratch your back if you scratch mine. You help in whatever way I want you to, then I'll help you in what you need to do. Most tis, especially in the corpo world, that included sex.
It was still considered part of a transaction like I've been ntally complaining about; but, the difference was that she actually wanted to have sex and hopefully have fun enjoying it, and not because it was an obligated condition of the deal that she had to be forced to go through with. That definitely changed the connotation, especially since she was the one that proposed the deal in the first place.
The sex was the primary goal for her and I was surprisingly okay with that.
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