Toby Tsur
Dakota, Earth
June 22nd, 2151
Today’s the day…
The gleaming tower of steel and glass in front of me doesn’t exactly stand out from the countless others around it. I’m downtown in a megacity after all, it’s skyscrapers as far as the eye can see. This tower in particular though could have been made from dirt and I’d still be in awe.
I’m staring up at the entrance sign to Flow Headquarters! And I’m about to walk inside! As an intern!
I can only hope today goes well. So many first impressions to make… I only just got my new visor a couple weeks ago, I haven’t had time to port over all my utility programs. Hopefully I’ll be ok with the bare minimum. It’s worth it for the sleek new look. This one even has a proper one-way volumetric display so I’m not stuck with the cheap looking transparent screen that leaves my real eyes visible!
I know I have a tendency to get lost in my own head, so hopefully the parts of my HUD I did manage to get working already prevent me from missing anythi-
”Pick up the pace bud,” I turn to see Dylan smiling at me and gesturing at the front door. He’s the reason I have this opportunity in the first place. His fully organic face still throws me off, actual stubble and hair, plus teeth made from bone instead of metal. Not to mention the exposed eyeballs. He doesn’t even use a visor like everyone else, just a pair of low-spec AR glasses. I might not ever get used to seeing un-augmented people above the age of ten, but I guess some people just like being squishy. He has bionic hands at least, though he always seems just a little extra grumpy about them when they need a tune-up. “You don’t want to be late for your first day because you were too busy gawking at the gates.”
I continue walking and reply, “Sorry! It’s just hard to believe I’m finally here. I feel like I’ve been waiting for this my whole life."
"Your whole life, huh? That’s quite a while.” He replies with a chuckle as we ascend the final few steps. I know he’s joking of course, he’s been working here since before I was born.
Before I can respond, the door opens for us and I’m frozen while trying to take in the hustle and bustle of the lobby. People in suits are moving with purpose in every direction at once, many of them speaking into devices, earpieces, or even just thin air. I notice a fully mechanical person touch their temple and begin speaking as if there’s someone next to them, clearly using some sort of AR interface to converse while they stride.
Everyone seems like they know exactly where they’re going and won’t let anything stop them, yet no one bumps into each other or even slows down. It’s like watching a typical warehouse’s drone swarm interweave. Very fitting for a logistics company like Flow to bring that to mind, I suppose.
A woman in a sharp outfit appears out of the controlled chaos and approaches us. I feel my visor’s display freeze, my eyes wide as she reaches down to shake my hand. Her short black hair combined with her silver bionic jaw and purple bionic irises cutting a striking and instantly recognizable image, “Dr. Tsur, nice to finally meet you. I’ve been excited for your arrival.”
I stare for just long enough to make it awkward before returning the handshake and stammering out, “Oh, uh, ni-nice to meet you! You’re… Annette Reede… I’m Toby. You said that already. Wait you have?!”
She smiles warmly, but I can hear Dylan snickering to my side. She projects a small holographic display out of a port in her palm, “It’s not every day we take on a youngster with your accomplishments. I had to double check our system was showing me the correct info.” I take a look and see she has my application profile loaded up.
Name: Toby Tsur (He/Him)
Age: 15 Years
Education: Mandatory schooling with high honors, Elective with high honors (Mechatronics Engineering), Elective with high honors (Advanced Alloy Studies), Elective with high honors (Cybersecurity), Verified home schooling (Astrophysics)
Application type: Admission into the Flow Youngster Program at the request of Dr. Tsur, Melody, Dr. Tsur, Rodney, and Dr. Tsur, Toby
She then addresses Dylan, “Bring Toby to my office once you’ve shown him around.” I have to consciously resist my mouth opening in shock at the request. I get to visit the top level on day one?!
”Yes ma’am,” Dylan replies with a smile.
She starts to say ‘see you soon’ to me but is interrupted by a call on her earpiece. She gives an apologetic smile and a wave, then is in the middle of another conversation before she’s even three steps away. Busy lady I guess.
Dylan starts walking and motions for me to follow. I try not to lose him in the crowd, “Greeted at the door by the boss, huh? Not even I got that level of a welcome. Granted, I was an adult already. You probably feel like a fish out of water just in the lobby.”
I look down at my buttoned up shirt and dress pants in comparison to the perfectly tailored business suits, skirts, and kilts on the people around me. Nearly everyone here is more mechanical than I am too thanks to my only having a visor and some basic cranial implants. Beyond even that, I’m barely two thirds of the average employee’s height. I can only say, “Um. A little. I’ve never been somewhere so… corporate.”
Dylan actually laughs at that, “Well don’t worry, you’re going down most of the time, not up.”
We finally reach the elevators on the opposite side of the massive lobby and enter one with a few other people, each wearing lab coats and tool belts. Dylan starts poking at the on-board control panel, but I can’t stop analyzing the gadgets on the technician’s belts.
”You new here?” One of them asks me with a smirk. She takes the item I was looking at off her belt and shows it to me, “This is a multivoltmeter.”
I lean in, “Right, a Haver model 5, I have a model 4! I’ve been wanting to upgrade for months now but I have to wait for my birthday to save up enough. I already wrote the program to be able to autoconnect it to my visor so I can get the readout on my HUD. Have you tried the built-in autocalculator yet? I heard there was a bug when you try to measure three sources if two of them are zero so it’d be nice to know ‘cause then I’ll just transfer over my custom Acalc instead.”
The elevator goes quiet for a moment and I worry I’ve said something wrong. The tech looks back at her colleagues and they all start laughing. Now I’ve done it, they all think I’m a dweeb.
Another tech speaks up, “Damn.” He turns to Dylan and asks, “Who is this kid?”
Dylan puts his hand on my shoulder and smiles at them cockily, “This, my friends, is Toby Tsur. He’s going to be working here starting today.”
The group doesn’t seem to believe him at first. They look between Dylan and I with confused expressions until I pull out the ID card he gave me earlier and hand it to the voltmeter lady.
Her eyebrows shoot up, “Dr. Tsur? As in, Phd?”
A man asks from behind her, “Toby, how old are you?"
"Fifteen,” I reply. They keep staring at me so I assume they want more info, “Um. I skipped highschool and went right into mechactronics, and I did some materials stuff and cybersecurity on the side.” I continue when I notice they’re all still looking at me, “Uh… I also really like astrophysics but I haven’t gone to school for it. I got certified anyway because my mom runs the observatory and lab a little ways north… and uh…"
"That’s enough, bud.” Dylan says, barely containing his laughter, “You don’t need to rub it in too hard.” I sheepishly grin at the techs and wish I could sink into the floor of the elevator. Thankfully the doors open before they can tell me to shut up.
The woman hands me back my ID and chuckles reassuringly, “If that’s all true then welcome aboard, it’s never a bad idea to have more nerds around.”
I give a little wave and watch the group go while we all step out of the elevator. Did she just imply she’s glad I’m here? The rest of them seem to be mostly in agreement too. I make a quick save of the past couple minutes to review later.
I take in my surroundings and am immediately more at home. Pristine white paneled hallways with clear signage and utility carts pushed by busy engineers. This is the kind of environment I’ve been trained for.