Summary:Peter shows up for his first day at the new job. Log Info:Storyteller: None |
Related LogsTheme SongNone |
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Summer is sizzling, but the teenager is looking only slightly sweaty as he steps up out of the subway and jogs across the crosswalk and towards the double doors and into the foyer of Kane Industries. He has just come from his OTHER major job of the summer.
…so he hopes she won't notice the dog hair. He should have gotten the lint roller.
"Mr. Parker," Katherine Kane will call out as Peter is entering. She is reading a report, standing not too far from the entrance to the building. "I'm glad you could make it. Did you find your way here alright?" The redhead looks up form her papers now and offers Peter a quiet smile. A brow arches when she gets a good look at the young man but she doesn't comment.
"Your orientation is mostly going to be handled by our head Researcher, Phyllis. I'm just going to show you through the building. Have you eaten? Cafeteria's on the second floor. You'll be working on the fourth… Here's your keycard." The lanyard is offered over by Kate alongside a plastic bag of papers to be read. She shrugs briefly. "You can reach the lab floor, cafeteria, the common area on floor four, and HR or my office. The rest are off-limits. I know you can probably bypass that but I'm going to ask you not to for now. Shall we?"
Kate gestures toward the elevators.
Peter looks startled as he takes the lanyard. "Uhm…yes, ma'am." He hangs it around his neck, then said, "Uhm, I signed the forms, and I…well, i was a little nervous. I'm not really hungry. Maybe after a few hours, though…"
He looks around, then said, "I…should probably not violate security and put my college education on hold…if not ruin it completely…"
He steps into the elevator, looking around. If she was joking, he couldn't risk it…
"You're right, that's probably for the best." Kate is still smiling, so if she's upset she hides it very well. Stepford Boss syndrome? Either way, she'll gladly step into the large elevator with its rows of shiny buttons- below ground and above levels delineated by a line and lettering. She punches the button for floor four first.
"Since it's my tour, you've read the NDA and all of the paperwork, and we're just getting a good look around I am going to start with everyone's favourite part of the building. We expect professionalism on the work floors, but there's usually some down time." Kate jabs the four button. The elevator is quick but also a very smooth ride, and the doors open practically the moment after they close. "This- is the common area."
There's a refrigerator at one corner of the room, some cupboards, a sink. A couple televisions set up with video game systems, computers along a far wall. A door reads 'Community Library - Return Your Books Before Taking New Ones!" on the left side of the room. "Phyllis?" Kate will call. A plump woman with auburn hair holding playstation controller looks up. She's probably in her mid thirties.
"Come meet Parker. You need to show him around the lab in a moment anyway."
Phyllis replies, "Yes, Ms. Kane. Mr. Parker, grab a controller and play me a couple rounds while we chat?"
Kate clears her throat. Phyllis pauses. "Or… I can come show you around and we can come back to this on your lunch break. Have you seen the lab yet?"
Peter just looks around, rubbernecking around the break room. The austere appearance of the building reveals a somewhat…playful atmosphere. But Peter takes a gulp of breath and says, "Uhm, no, ma'am. We stopped here first. I'm kinda ready to get to work, find out what I can contribute…" He stands a little straighter. "I have a lot riding on this. I gotta take it seriously."
"That's a really good attitude to have, Parker. I'm glad you're here." Phyllis offers Peter a bright smile then, and reaches up to adjust her glasses. Then she sets down the controller and, with a soft sigh, walks away from the television to join Kate and Peter beside the door.
"We'll get you set up in the lab, then. Locker, then a review of the facilities, and I was thinking I could get you introduced to the project I am working on this past week. I think you'll like it here. I might be goofing off now, but we do take our work very seriously." Kate nods, apparently satisfied. She then returns to the elevator to hit the button to allow them all inside.
Next stop: floor four. This particular button is glowing red when it's pressed. Kate will look at Peter, and tilt her head toward the keycard scanner.
Phyllis enters the elevator. The two women will wait as long as is needed.
Peter looks at the scanner, then ohs and grabs his card, holding it up to press it against the black box with the little LED in the upper corner. He's expecting it to go green, of course. If this was a prank by now, it was one worthy pf the Joker.
The light does indeed turn green. Then the elevator doors shut and it begins to move. A voice chimes as the elevator opens, "Biometrics recognized. You are now entering a restricted area. Welcome, Mr. Parker."
The first half of the laboratory is computers and researchers wandering back and forth passing information on tablets, and chatting seriously. It's all productive energy and precision. About fifteen meters from the door is an airlock of sorts. Peter might recognize that area as being a clean room for working with precision electronics. There are also doors to the left and right, presumably leading into other sections of the labs.
After stepping off of the elevator, Phyllis moves to collect someone's work from them and read it while they wait patiently. Kate, on the other hand, is simply observing for now. To Peter she'll murmur, "You might want to be careful about tracking dog hair to work in the future. It's fine, though."
Peter looked down. Yep. Mrs. Davis and her annoying little Pekinese who "doesn't need to be brushed, she looks BEAUTIFUL." Dangit. "I'll, uhm…fix that, I promise."
He might even have to design a fur brush or lint roller that will fit in the suit, or the backpack.
"What…kind of projects are being worked on, right now?" he asks Kate.
"That's where I come in. Thank you, Ms. Kane. I'll take Peter through the rest of the way." Phyllis looks up from what she is doing and offers a cheerful smile. She takes a second to adjust those thick glasses and then steps toward them both. Kate nods once. "You'll do great, Parker. Phyllis is your direct supervisor. If you need anything ask her. If you have serious concerns - my door is open. Okay? You have keycard access, which means you're allowed up there." With that laid out, Kate is going to give Pete a second to reply and then depart.
Phyllis tilts her head to the left and then starts to walk, though her pace is slower than Kate's and allows ample opportunity to match it. "So, we've been working on robotics recently. Cybernetic prostheses, work arms capable of fine manipulation… There are a few military projects as well. I can't give you access to them on the first day, but some of the work we're doing is like—- we're going to make Master Chief jealous. …Do you play HALO?"
And off they go! Through the door into… A hallway. A long hallway.
Peter looks at Miss Kane earnestly. "Thank you, Miss Kane. You won't regret this, I swear."
He waves to her, then looks back to Phyllis. "I've heard of Halo. I try to keep my hand in, but I don't do a lot of online games. I tend to spend a lot of time in my own labs. Although I have set up my own V/R rig for my science fair project. Would you like me to bring it in sometime?"
"I'd… Absolutely love that, actually," Phyllis replies earnestly. "I want to see what you've got, Parker. Maybe we can work up a project in our spare time. So. While we're walking down the interminably long hallway of random lab projects. Give me the first idea you have you want to put out to the world. Do you want to invent a drone people can program to pick up their pizzas for them? Gundams? Motorized strollers? …Maybe not that one, but you get the idea."
Phyllis gestures broadly as she walks along, content to take her time. "Tell me about you. There's plenty of work but your ideas are the secret to success. Doesn't matter if they make sense the first time. Just ge them out there. Best advice I can give you."
Peter looked thoughtful. "Well…I guess I knew where I was going to go is when I fixed my Uncle's clock so it would stop losing time, and it just…kept snowballing. When I was 10, it was a chemistry set. By the next year, I was converting the basement into a lab. Recently, I was thinking of medical prosthetics. My Aunt May needs a hip replacement soon, but it was only three years since she got it. Maybe one that will last longer but isn't too expensive…"