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Chapter 182 : Applications commence
🕑 Added 2024-07-23 20:33:48 +0000 UTCJames mentally took a deep breath as he readied himself. Today would be the first day Shade Of Penumbra would conduct job interviews for possible new talents, and that meant today would be the perfect opportunity for any malevolent force to either attack or slip in a spy to either copy or sabotage their group's hard work. He had to be ready for every encounter to become a fight without warning. Luckily, the circumstances meant he wasn't alone for this.
Currently occupying the room that was his official office despite how little time he spent in it, he checked everything one last time before calling in their first candidate. He had arranged the decor to make the room feel used rather than its usual barebone look, and while it wasn't quite what he preferred, James figured it would fit with the image of Silhouette folks had. The room continued the rest of the compound's black theme but went even further. Whereas the other rooms had at the very least splashes of white, Silhouette's office was truly colorless.
The brand new mahogany desk, a gift from Blake Black? The plants? The shelves? The books? The paintings? All black. Everything had been infused to serve as an emergency weapon and keep track of anyone who tried to steal anything. If they thought the pitch-black unreadable books contained sensitive encrypted information worthy to be studied, they were in for a nasty surprise. The monochrome look of the room would even help to confuse and intimidate those who stepped in, which admittedly was a little mean when today's guests were supposed to be poor folks looking for a job, but would prove invaluable later down the line. Unsurprisingly, Blake had been very supportive of the idea.
As for those who could easily discern the inside of the room such as James himself, there were still a few things for them. The layout wasn't anything incredible but the strange plants placed here and there to look like tendrils to those with a mundane vision did look rather dashing outside of the monochrome contest. There weren't so many of them to make the room feel messy or like a jungle, but they didn't feel like the usual dystopian singular drop of green in a colorless office either - even outside of this peculiar specific color situation.
The paintings had been a welcome surprise. Apparently, some small-time artist had been working for years with this unique style, using a mix of paints that made each production look like a monochrome canvas to the mundane eye while displaying incredible landscapes and natural scenes to other senses, whether that be touch, echolocation, or in James' case whatever his strange omnidirectional way of seeing the world in a defined radius was called. All James had to do was buy a dozen of those from the black collection and place half of them in his office, spreading the rest throughout the rest of the office space of the compound.
His favorite had to be the one depicting salmon going up a waterfall in an idyllic forest. There was nothing otherwise special happening outside of the wildlife. James' love for it wasn't because it represented struggle leading to success or whatever other philosophical concept or metaphor could be at play. No. No, it was for a much simpler reason.
It reminded him of home.
Well, not his real home, but a nice memory from back on Earth. Walks through the forest with his grandparents back when he was a kid. His first time seeing the salmon migration and how it amazed him.
James halted this train of thought before it could go on any further. Now wasn't the time for nostalgia-filled flashbacks that would likely leave him in tears. He had to be focused. He could have a meltdown over childhood memories later.
Not to mention, he wasn't alone. James had no trouble admitting he wasn't the sharpest person around, and that was particularly relevant when it came to his business. It didn't help that he wasn't a native of this world, so a good enough conman could realistically manage to sell him something worthless. Even all of the self-defense tools Techlord had developed were hard to judge for James since he did not need them - not that he thought the teen would want to take advantage of him, it was the principle of the thing.
Here to aid him today were all of his relevant collaborators, each occupying a seat at his side.
Doctor Ivan Decanov was the most obvious, the scientist was a genius and had a notable reputation in the city, not to mention his attitude let him easily play the "bad cop" of the day. He wasn't too enthused to spend his day listening to other people's ideas rather than work on his own, but ultimately he accepted the task without too much grumbling. If anything, there was a glint in the robot's rectangular eyes, a spark of excitement at the prospect of developing new technologies for new ventures.
Techlord was another obvious choice, but this would actually be his first appearance in public. Outside of a few apparitions as a Vigilante until his encounter with Sunburn and then Silhouette, Techlord had never been at the forefront. He'd been present at big fights, but all of those had happened either in the slums or the Sunken City, areas outside of the proper city's notice. To avoid bickering the two technological experts had been placed at opposite ends of the room, though James had no doubt this wouldn't stop them when the urge to fight grew too strong. He just hoped they'd manage to keep up appearances while candidates were here.
The next in line was Blake Black. Well, a giant screen with human legs that had Blake's upper body on it. The local branch manager of the Black Bank didn't always have the time to drop by, but this proxy would be enough to do the job. It would record everything that would be said and somehow summarize that info for Blake when he had the time to intervene. Though James was somewhat unsure of the idea of letting him take such an important role in his business, his expertise and experience were too valuable to dismiss. He had originally asked for Nanyet, but Blake insisted on doing it himself.
Next was a welcome surprise, Mesker Duskenfer the Third. James had thought he could expect some kind of proxy or magical avatar like Blake's, but instead, the demonologist had decided to leave his abode in the Sunken City and come to the surface to help himself. Well, he didn't come for free, he was getting paid as a consultant, but James appreciated his direct presence nonetheless. He was also here to make contracts and reassure candidates that should they not be picked none of the interviewers would be able to steal their inventions. James had no issue signing contracts that went both ways, after all.
He had also invited his landlord from the slums to come as another consultant, but she had declined. Truthfully, James didn't mind too much. Her perspective would have been interesting considering her apparent preference for runes, but it wasn't anything vital. Not to mention, their relationship was solely one based on business, there was no particular care between them.
Instead, James had his most veteran rune scribe attend. He didn't care much for the woman, he had simply recruited her along with the rest of the remains of Runar's empire during his takeover. She was good at her job, she hadn't tried to betray him, and she respected the rules. That was all he could ask of her. Her knowledge of runes would help shape some decisions and he would listen to any insight she might share, but her opinion wasn't the most important. Though it did remind him that yes, as that journalist had remarked, his higher-ranking employees and closest allies were all men. Hopefully, they'd fix that problem today.
Last was his representative from the marketing and sales side of things. He had hesitated between the two which one to pick but ultimately figured having Larry's friendly face and attitude would do wonders to help candidates. The rest of the judges for this event were far from being a cheerful lot aside from Blake, and that man had an entire dynasty behind him to to remind folks not to underestimate him. No, he was better off leaving a grumpy Barry down in the shop, even if it meant rubbing a few customers the wrong way. Not to mention, Larry was far more comfortable being around noteworthy people than his brother.
"Is everyone ready? No last-minute modification or rescheduling to mention?"
James was answered by a chorus of yeses and nods.
"Wonderful. Let us begin."
Tendrils of darkness hidden by the overwhelming black of the room opened the doors, surprising the people already waiting for their turn in the hallway, most still practicing their speech and making late checks on their inventions.
"First applicant, please come in."
A few folks seemed tempted to try and claim the spot, but the presence of the armed Infused guards tasked with distributing the order tickets killed their plans. A nervous young man with goose heads for hair stood up, adjusting his thick rounded glasses before approaching, cradling a mass nestled in cloth in his arms. As soon as he was inside James closed the doors, something that made the youngster jump and his fowl hair heads honk before he calmed down. Though it was obvious the monochrome decor kept him on edge, reflexively taking one hand of his bundle and placing it before him to check he wouldn't bump into anything.
"Please, take a seat. Introduce yourself."
He nodded as he hurried to take his place, almost tripping on his foot on the way.
"A-Ah, right. My name is Chase Avini, and I'm here to present my creation."
He almost undid the blanket cocoon before James interrupted him and pointed out the contract on the table that Chase quickly read through before signing and continuing, undoing his bundle and revealing the bizarre toaster within. James lacked eyebrows to raise, thankfully Decanov could do the job for two.
"This is my Tinker Tech Toaster. It has much better specs than the industry standard, is carefully calibrated to perfectly heat all sides including the crust, and even includes some minor spatial manipulation to toast already buttered items. O-oh, and when I say buttered I mean anything you'd spread on bread, even cheese!"
James wasn't sure what to answer or what to ask. Luckily, it was what reinforcements were for. Larry was unexpectedly the first to speak.
"Say, when you say anything, do you really mean anything? Like, could I put my cheese, lettuce, and sliced tomatoes and it'd stick to the bread?"
"Yes! I even added ways to program whether you want the non-bread elements cooked as well or not."
Mesker followed, once again with an unpredictable remark for a wizard.
"But isn't buttering already toasted bread easier?"
"Usually yes, but that's assuming you want regular butter on toasted bread. With my Tinker Tech Toaster, you can cook the butter, jam, cheese, or anything along with the bread! Have you already had cooked jam, sir?"
The demonologist shrugged.
"I can't I have, but I also can't say I'd be interested to."
Decanov nodded.
"If the technology you speak of is real, it is acceptable craftsmanship. Its purpose, however, is nonsensical."
Techlord butted in.
"Yeah, the whole toast thing ain't that impressive, but the execution? Give him extra time to cook and we might have a multi-purpose cooking machine."
The rune scribe agreed though she lacked the confidence of the others.
"Saved space is nice in small kitchens."
It was at this point that Blake got to speak, the screen of his proxy turning from a still picture of him to a live feed of the man sitting in his office.
"There's potential, I won't deny. But be careful that the investment is worth the payoff, we won't hire or commission all applicants so we must prioritize those who have projects that are already ready for sale or close to, as well as applicants who show remarkable talent. The space trick of the toaster is clever enough, but nothing revolutionary."
James was tempted to nod at the reminder but doing so might risk being seen as a form of subservience. Ugh, power plays were exhausting. For his part, Chase recoiled at the Black's critique, likely something he had already heard before if James had to take a guess. The fact this remark came from what might have been one of the biggest businessmen in Zalcien likely didn't help his self-esteem.
"Is there anything else you wish to say, mister Avini?"
The young man worried's eyes jumped from person to person, afraid to settle his gaze on the same individual for too long. The geese on his head began to slowly puff out, to the point James could almost hear a snarl.
"I... I... Did I mention it could heat things much quicker than the industry standard?"
"No, you did not. We thank you for your time, mister Avini. We will call you back."
The youngster deflated at James' words, enveloping his toaster in his blanket once again before getting up and leaving, giving a final bow to his judges before leaving the room.
James had a feeling this would be another long day.
Comments
Snak
love this, excited to see how the rest of the interviews go! I'm betting that at least someone will try presenting a bomb or something equally dangerous, people are just crazy like that
