The gears under my chest-plate began to rise from their low hum into the standard whine. The room lit up softly under the cycling glow of my headlights. My eyes landed onto the project lead, who flicked the lights of the room on as I continued to boot up.
"Are you ready to get started today, Fleck?" The project lead waved a manilla file folder in front of my eyes before he turned away from me and beckoned me forward. As instructed, I took my paces forward, and nodded, a chime whirring from my chest assuring that all connections were successful.
"Correct! I am ready to start the day. If I remember, today is the day our new intern starts?" The hue reflected up from the floor shifted between green and blue, my lights flickering as I requested new information and sought to confirm previous knowledge.
The project lead nodded as he began to lead me out of my office. "That''s right, Fleck! I have here your file about the intern joining us today, whose name is Logan. He only works a few hours today, so your objective today is just to give them a tour of the building overall. I know it''s nothing exciting, but it''s to get him comfortable in working here."
The file was extended in front of me, with a shake of the pages, and as requested I reached out, my digits locking around the paper. As we continued down the hallway and out of my wing of the building, I began to flip through the pages.
The new intern is a college student at a university 26 mile away and to the west. We have had quite a few senior members come from this college, which is always a good sign in a new hire. He is a second year software development student, it appears. Very good grades overall as well. He appears to be a good fit for the company criteria.
We reach the elevator, and I turn toward the project lead. "What floor are we meeting the intern and the onboarding team on? I assume the ground floor?" My headlights reflect off the the metal doors of the employee elevator, a pulsating shade of blue. The project lead nods, and I call the elevator.
The small, three-note chime indicating satisfactory performance whistles out from the small speaker located over my chest. Once the elevator doors grind open, the project lead steps in, and I follow suit. As I confirmed the coast was clear, I selected the button for floor one.
"As you already know, the printout of the floorplan is located in your folder. You are to give this to Logan for his future reference. Even as he stays with you for his first weeks here, he still needs to learn the layout himself." I nodded as the project lead spoke, my eyes fixed on the elevator doors as it shook while it slid down to the ground floor. The reflection of the blue confirmation light atop my head swirled around the metal walls.
Eventually the elevator finally chimed, and it squealed as it reached a halt. The doors whined as they opened, and I turned to the lead. "The noise of the elevator doors opening may evoke discomfort in some employees. It might be wise to ask the maintenance staff to try and fix that soon before it gets worse."
The project lead sighed, and appeared to pinch the bridge of his nose under his glasses. He appeared frustrated.
"Thank you, Fleck. I''ll be sure to let them know."
His tone indicated he would not be informing the maintenance staff.
I followed the project lead out of the elevator, still paging through the information on the intern. Most of it was details on who he was as an employee, his strengths and weaknesses, information that appeared to be from his interview. Most of it would not be of use to me whatsoever, but it is still good to have just in the off chance I do need it.
The project lead pulled his identification card up to the scanner, and the heavy glass door clicked and he pulled it open. I followed behind, and ensured that the door locked properly again.
"Oh! Hello Johnson, and hello to you too, Fleck." I wave towards the employee working the front desk. "I assume you''re here foorrr.." I watch the front desk employee scan along the filing folder beside her. "Logan, your new software intern?"
"That''s right, thank you Stacey. I assume you''ve gotten him situated so far? You''ve given him his badge reel?" The project lead asked, and the front desk employee nodded in confirmation. She picked up a blue paper folder, and I knew it was for me to take. I stepped forward, and grasped the folder in my left hand.
I flipped the folder open, the front pages detailing a warm welcome to the company. This was the basic new hire folder, explaining the dress code, various protocols, the expectations of the company, and other things of importance. I opened the manilla folder I had been given by the project lead, as he waited for the front desk employee to let the intern in from the waiting room.
I took the pages including the floor plan and slid them into the left pocket of the blue folder, leaving the few pages about the new intern in my folder. I closed the introductory folder, and slid it off of the counter. I continued to hold the blue folder in my left hand.
The front desk employee unlocked the door behind the desk, and led the new intern into the front office.
Rather quickly I noticed the files I was given neglected to appropriately describe his appearance. The intern appeared as if his limbs were not the appropriate size for his body. He was also about two inches shorter than I was.
"Hello there! You must be Logan? I''m the project lead, Johnson, for the team you will eventually be joining. And this is FLECK, our top-of-the-line training robot. You will be spending most of your time with Fleck in these next few days."
I cycled my lights through the full color spectrum, and a welcoming chime echoed from my speaker. "Hello! I am FLECK. I will be your source of key information on how we operate! I will be accompanying you on your tour today."
The intern looked at me, and I scanned his expression. He seemed to shift from a repressed sense of awe to one of focus.
"Oh! Hi, I''m very excited to be here. Thank you for bringing me here. And, and yes it''s Logan." The intern gave a smile. It was not a genuine smile, of happiness, or of a similar emotion. The look in the intern''s eyes implied one of discomfort.
"For today, Fleck is going to be showing you around the building after you get your name badge. For your own reference, we have prepared a folder of floor plans, the expectations of the company, and protocols." On cue with the project lead''s speech, I extend the blue folder in my left hand toward the intern.
The intern appears to nearly startle, grasping the folder with a shaking hand. His nails were abnormally short, and appeared to be have been bitten off. It appeared there was an attempt at removing nail polish around his cuticles.
"Oh! Well, thank you, Johnson..! I, I appreciate that! I''ll spend some time going over these soon." The intern nodded, actively listening, and began to flip through the documents I had handed him.
The project lead nodded, and gave a warm smile. "Well good! You''ll settle into the rhythm of things here rather quickly. With that, I''ll let Fleck take the lead!" The project lead nodded to both of us, and the sound like that of a bell echoed from my chest as the lights upon my head fluttered green.
"Okay! Logan, we can go now. If you would, please follow me?" I told the intern, turning toward him, one light flickering blue for just a moment until he nodded. At which, I turned away, and took toward the door I had entered through.
"As you will notice, most of our offices are secured via a badging system. As you do not have an identification card yet, we will use mine." I lifted my left hand up to the scanner, and the door clunked awkwardly, and I pushed it open.
"I do not need an identification card. I have a simple chip installed into the back of my left hand that communicates with the internal system. Our first stop will be to get your identification card." I hold the door open for the intern, and then fall in line to his right.
"Oh, um.. okay! That''s.. what the little badge thing is for, right?" The intern pulls the blue clip out of his pocket, and I nod, the lights on my head a shifting blue and green.
"That is correct! We allow you to wear your badge anywhere on your person, as long as your card is clearly visible and does not interfere with anything." My lights shift to a vibrant green, and continues to gradually fade as I continue to lead the new intern into the printing office.
I take the intern to the first major hallway. "All of our halls and wings are labeled with metal plates on each corner. As an intern, you will encounter a lot of requests to pick up and drop off items to the printing office. You will play a key role in ensuring we operate as smoothly as possible!
I look to the intern, who is nodding strongly for the information given. He appears to be attempting to make a good first impression. It comes off more as if he is unsure of himself. I nod in return, and stop us in front of a door down the hallway. I hold my left hand up to the scanner, and the door clicks, and I twist the handle down and push the door open.
The intern follows in behind me, and steps around me as I start to shut the door. "Our interns start off with a badge that is all green on the front. We will need your photograph to to put onto your badge. Is this okay?" I tilt my head toward my right, the lights flickering into a soft blue.
The intern looks at me. As I scan his expression more, my lights bleed into a darker hue but a sudden yellow flicker cuts through them.
"Do you have religious exemption from photograph? If this is the case, we can skip this step, and no further confirmation is necessary until you complete your internsh-"
The intern interrupts my protocol.
"Oh, no sorry! I don''t have any weird religious things. It just caught me off guard, that''s all!" He fans his hand in front of his face, attempting and yet failing to appear dismissive and casual.
The gears under my chest whir softly as I consider the information, and attempt to process why he may feel apprehensive to have his photo taken. Eventually, I figure that the intern must be worried about his appearance.
"Not to worry. Once you complete your internship, you will be able to retake your identification card photo. Many employees are self-conscious when they first start. Your appearance is more than within our standard." I emphasize, before setting my folder down onto the small desk in the room. I turn away, and locate the stool for the photos in the corner of the room.
I bring the stool over to the bluish-white backdrop pinned to the wall. I center the stool over the X marked onto the tile floor with peeling masking tape. I back away and turn to the intern.
"You will sit here. You do not have to sit yet, but you may. I still need to get a card from the box and situate the printer." I motion toward the stool again, and then look back to the printer. I hear the intern indeed sit down on the stool.
As I step away and go towards a shelf on the far left side of the room, I decide to start explaining the process now.
"You do not need to smile, but it is not like a government identification card. Your simple resting face is appropriate. I am required to ask, due to your medicated glasses, do you ever wear contacts? If so, how frequently do you use contacts rather than your glasses?" I push my arm up to the top shelf, and pull forward a sturdy, yet small, cardboard box labeled ''GREEN''.This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.
"Oh, I uh, I only wear my glasses, I can''t use contacts!" The intern forces a small laugh, and again appears to wave his hand dismissively.
I lift the top of the box open and then selected the green card from the front of the box. I shut the box, and again return it to the shelf it was stored on. I return to the printer I was at before, and power it on. The screen lights up and the fans begin to whir.
"You are nervous, Logan. Are you worried about your performance?" I ask, still focused on the printer. I am aware people do not like being confronted on their feelings, especially when it relates to work. I begin tapping through the screens on the printer.
I hear the intern shift uncomfortably on the stool, before sighing audibly. "I mean.. I guess I am a little anxious about everything here? There''s.. a lot to learn and a lot of places to be." I nod, indicating that I am listening to the intern. My lights strobe a very gentle shade of blue.
"I understand. You reported this is a dream company of yours to work with, is that correct?" My head tilts to the side as I hold my left hand up to the printer''s screen, authorizing me to the identification card creation screen.
The fans of the printer settle down, and the silence of the room appears to agitate the intern. "I.. yeah? I.. I think I said that in one of the interviews, but.. how did-"
"The printer is ready to create your identification card. We utilize a technology that you should be familiar with; it''s a very common feature in modern cellphones! Are you familiar with NFC tags, or NFC chips as they are sometimes called?" I hold up the blank green card to the intern.
He hesitates, his eyes scanning the card, and then to the printer, which was blinking a green light, and then back to me. "Uh.. yeah, yeah I know about NFC."
I nod, and my lights flicker green once again. "Good! Our identification cards are equipped with an NFC tag inside of the heavy-duty plastic, to ensure that even if your card were to get damaged, you should still be able to get into the building."
I wait for the intern to nod, which he finally does after a few moments of silently looking at me. I insert the card into the front of the printer.
"What we do for our cards isn''t the most impressive. We simply engrave the name of the employee onto the front of the card under the image. The inside plastic of the card is white, to ensure the text is legible. Your department information, your supervisor, project lead, and other information will be stamped into the back."
I take a step away from the printer. To the right of the printer, I pull the camera attached to a stand on wheels. I pull it to the front of the table that the printer sat on, ensuring I was the appropriate distance away.
"The photo will only take a second, and will not flash. In the chance you blink, we will repeat your photo." I explained, lining up the camera. I adjust the height just enough, making sure the intern''s shoulders appeared to line up with the line of the brick wall behind him.
"Okay, and three.. two.. one.." I count the intern down, who attempts to settle his face into what might be a resting face. The camera beeps, before showing me the preview of the photo. It meets all requirements, and I confirm the photo.
The printer then begins to whir and groan, before a chugging sound begins to emit. "We print the photo similar to how a tattoo might work. The printer quickly erases the green in a rectangle on the front, before using a needle and permanent ink to print the photo. Once it finishes, the card will drop down into this slot that is visible, and it will brightly flash a nearly blue light. Do not look into the light when it goes off. It is not safe for human eyes. You will here two short beeps in a pattern of three before it activates."
I look to the intern, who nods quickly, confirming his understanding. I scan his expression, to which he looks into my eyes, and then glances away and to the floor. He appears still on edge.
"You are thinking about something. What is distressing you?" I ask, as the printer squeals as it prints the photo into the card. I again keep my eyes focused on the printer in order to reduce any anxiety.
"I-I uh.. I was just wondering.. what are your policies for reissuing an employee ID card?" With his question, the lights on my head cycled quickly through the color wheel, before turning to a bright flickering green.
"That is a very good question to ask, Logan! You already know you get a new card when you become a paid employee at our company. If you were to move up a position, say in a few years you become a project lead for your department, you are issued a project lead card. These are the cards that are a silver or blue color. This grants you higher permissions, as well."
I turn back to the intern, my lights still flickering on and off with the same green hue. The printer clunks, and the card falls into the slot. I point to the printer, before the aforementioned beep begins to sound. As told, I watch the intern turn his head away and shut his eyes.
"I.. thank you, Flick? For that information, I guess, but.. is advancement in the company the only way to get a new card? Other than a card getting damaged? Like.. is a name change a reason you can get a new card?"
My lights fade to a soft yellow, pulsing for a few seconds before shifting to one green, and one blue.
"A legal name change is a valid reason to petition for a new card. Since this is not as common, you do need to submit a specific form when you update your legal employee information. Your supervisor will review the form and provided evidence of your name change. If you submit this at the same time as when you submit the evidence of your name change, typically proof you have contacted the Social Security Administration and have received confirmation of your name change in their system, this will be updated within a working week."
The intern nods, and takes a small golf pencil out of the pocket on his buttoned-up shirt, and appears to note the information down in his folder on the back of a page. He nods, glancing at me again as he puts his pencil back where it was. He appears satisfied with that answer.
I turn to the printer again. "It always asks for manual input for the name on the front of the badge. We input this based on your employee file we receive when you join the company." I slide away from the printer, and lift up the paper file to show him.
"I keep a digital file that is identical to the same information located in here. At the current moment, we can only input the legal name of every employee for record-keeping purposes. If you prefer to go by a nickname to your peers, you are permitted to do so." I continue typing the intern''s name into the system.
I look toward him again as I confirmed the name input. He appeared still slightly anxious, but it was nothing I would need to inquire about. He matched the standard new employee jitters I have been trained to recognize as usual.
The printer pulled the card into place as it begin to whine again. "After it prints your name into the badge, it will flip the card over and will ask me to input your employee login information. You have access to this information as well, and is written into the second page of your folder. You can use these credentials to access your online training refreshers as well as further access to your employee benefits portal."
I entered the intern''s credentials into the printer, and the card clunked as it was flipped. The printer began punching the information into the back of the card, a sound like that of a typewriter echoing through the room.
"This card will then be programmed using the same credentials. All it does is send your username and password to the terminal, rather than making you enter it in manually. In the chance that somehow, your card becomes damaged and cannot communicate to a terminal, you can scan the barcode it will print onto the back of your card for entry as well. It is for this reason we do warn you to keep your card away from any strong magnetic sources, as this can potentially corrupt or rewrite the data."
I look to the intern again, who was looking at the pages I had specified moments ago as the printer clicked through its information. It would take a minute or two for it to get through the multiple strings of information requested.
"I hope you are processing everything well. I encourage you to keep taking notes if needed." I tell the intern, before stepping back from the printer for a moment. I take my path back to the storage shelf, and locate the blank printer paper. I carefully draw three pages from the packet, before approaching the intern again. "This might be better to put your thoughts on, instead of the back of the protocol pages. Just so you don''t end up losing any information." I hold the blank pages out to the intern.
His eyes land on the empty pages, and I do not understand what he is looking at exactly. His eyes look to my face again, his eyes looking into my cameras. It appears he seems to relax a bit.
"Oh, well, thank you, Flick." He smiles at me. It is the first time his smile is genuine beyond a reasonable doubt. His shoulders fall from his tensed-up posture. In his eyes, there is an expression that I cannot fully recognize. It is quite similar to appreciation, so that is what I will take it as.
"My nickname is Fleck." I clarify, before turning back to the printer as the card finally drops into the metal tray with a loud clang as it made contact. I carefully pick the card up by the sides, and hold it up to the intern.
Without me noticing, the intern has stood up from the stool, and when I turn to show him his identification card, he is in my personal space, his eyes looking right into my cameras.
"What is your concern?" I ask, bringing some space between us again.
"Your.. is it okay to call them your eyes? I know they''re not like, actual eyes or anything, but still?" The intern asked, with what appeared to be fascination and confusion littered in his expression.
"They do function as my eyes, and that is the term I have been trained to call them, correct." I could see the lights of the room rotating between shades of yellow and blue, ambient light from the bulbs on my head.
"Your eyes are two distinct units, right? Well, I guess two each, so four? The cameras and the little.. your gear cogs? Panels? What do you call your little wheel of expressions?" He asked, pointing to my eyes rather closely. I put my right hand between his finger and my face, and softly push it away.
"My expression wheel, or the rotary expression file. It is like a rolodex, if you know what that is?" I pause, awaiting for confirmation before the intern nods. "It is meant to bring more comfort to those who interact. The manual changes of my expression appear to be more genuine and human in our trials, compared to an all-LED based panel. The lights were incorporated to communicate the intensity of my emulated emotion."
I watched the intern nod attentively, respecting my personal space as he continued to look into my cameras, looking over the fine details of my cheerful emotion displayed on my face panel. He remained silent, and did not appear to have any curiosity that I had not addressed.
"Now that we have your card, we can finally get you started on your tour of the premises! Since today is Sunday, most employees are not in the building, so getting around will be no issue. We schedule building tours on days which we permit working-from-home for any entry-level employees and unassigned higher-ranking employees. You, as an intern, do not yet have the authority to work from home."
The intern nodded to me again as I handed him his identification card, which he looped onto the hook of his badge reel. He then clipped his badge to the collar of his buttoned-down shirt, and then pushed his shaggy hair out of his eyes as he looked up to me again.
"Okay! I.. I think I feel ready to get that started, then!" He then offered me a half-smile, indicating he was not entirely confident in his actions to come. I understood he was not at risk of refusal, so I started toward the door again.
I begin to bring my left hand to the terminal by the door. I ensure that the printer had entered into its idle mode before it could shut itself down, and made sure both I and the intern had our folders. I glance back to the intern, his gaze strong enough to bring my attention to him.
"Wait, Fleck, before.. before we go? You said nicknames are okay among peers, right?" He asks, his free hand touching the back of his neck as he looked at me. He appeared to be rather anxious.
"Well, yes, they are. So long as they are appropriate for the workplace, nicknames are permitted among peers. It is suggested you refer to your supervisors and entry-level employees by their names until they are familiarized to you."
The intern sighed, pushing his hair out of his eyes again, which should be deemed redundant as it had not fallen into his line of sight yet. "I.. okay. Thank you. I don''t have any other questions."
He read as if he was contradicting himself. "Are you sure? If you would prefer I address you by something else, you can request that. It will remain with me and I will continue to refer to you by your name to others. Once you settle into the company, you can introduce yourself using your nickname, and once others know you by that nickname, I will refer to you by that nickname."
He looked at me again, his eyes dancing between me, the ground, and other parts of the room. He appeared to be thinking something over.
"Um.. okay, thank you, Fleck, for that." He exhaled rather sharply before he scribbled something onto one of his blank pages in his folder. He was not finished with what he wanted to say. I am not programmed to continue pushing for information in this scenario. I nod once he looks back to me and has shut his folder.
"Okay! I am glad to be of assistance. Now that you''re in the system, I''ll start showing you the way around!" I raise my left hand to the terminal on the door again, and it clicks over to unlocked. I pull the door open, and once again hold the door open for the intern.
"Are we starting with the rest of this floor?" The intern asked, once I ensured the door locked itself again. I turn my head toward him, and nodded in confirmation.
"We will start here on the ground floor. For today, you will be shown this floor, as well as the second floor. You have been given the floor plan with the room names for this and the next floor in your folder."
He nodded, and then flipped his folder open. He pulled the current floor''s plan out, and I looked to it with him.
"Right now, you are here," I point to a room labeled ''PRINT'' in bold font. "You came from the front office, which is here," I bring my digit to the large, divided room labeled ''FRONT OFF.'' on the page.
"If you are ready, we can begin down the other end of the hallway." I look to the intern, to which he nods, and closes his folder.