* April 23, 2071. A taxicab heads from the San Francisco airport to the TriOp Corporation's corporate HQ in Radminton, CA ... and it carries a Graduate Student Bright of Lightning within the back seat.
* Tina tries to adjust herself in the back, and all her various clothing of Interview War on her. For some reason, all of a sudden, she doesn't feel comfortable in a skirt, and *damn* that pantyhose...
* The Taxidriver doesn't ogle much, given he's keeping his eyes on the road. Though then again, this -is- California, and you really think that in 9 decades they would've solved the road problem?
* Tina tries to ignore ogling, muttering and trying to keep all her stock of Interview BS in her head. And sort of in bemused horror at the road situation.
* Somehow, through what could only be considered Zen Driving Skills, the taxicab makes its way to a corporate 'park' on the outskirts of Radminton, a city that's come into being within the past century as the second Technology boom took hold on the west coast.
* Tina gets ready to pay what feels like a pound of flesh for fare!
* The Taxi comes to a stop in a circle that arcs around in front of a reasonably-tall office building, the TriOp logo (a series of nested, inverted, triangles)mounted on a sign outside. "That'll be 17.50, miss..."
{Tina} Right! {hands over her credcard}
* The cabby accepts, swipes the card, and deducts the funds. "There 'y go!" He hands the card back.
{Tina} Thank you. {smile} Have a good day.
* The Cabby waves, smiling. "You too!" He closes the door, and drives off, leaving Tina there.
* Tina hums a segment of dirge as she stands there, the Tri Op building LOOMING OVER HER like only a building that one has to interview in can loom.
{Tina} . o O (They get bigger....all the time...)
* The building looms, made of glass and steel and marble. However, it doesn't make any pithy commentary to Tina aside from that.
* Tina heads on in, still humming ironic dirges.
* The lobby is very nice and clean, the floor vaccumed, the table polished, the chairs comfy. On the far end of the lobby is a high, circular desk made of polished, brushed steel, and a secretary sits behind it, surrounded by computers and monitors.
## INServ2 rolled 3d6 = 9 (2 5 2).
* Tina heads on over to the secretary, as per MO in these situations.
* The secretary looks up, and smiles. "Hello there, and welcome to TriOp Corporation! How may I help you?"
* Tina smiles, inclining her head. "Hi...Tina Manoa-Perez. I have an interview about twenty minute from now, I think?"
* The secretary checks a screen, and then ohs and smiles, looking up. "Oh, of coruse, with Ms. Taggert! She'll be down here by then, feel free to have a seat!"
{Tina} Thank you. {smile}
* Tina finds a seat, as indicated.
* The seats are Cooomfy Chairs!
* Tina is glad for Coooomfy Chairs, and looks through her notes as she waits.
* Time tick tick ticks away as Tina reads.
* Tina keeps reading!
* Eventually, though, there's a clearing of throat from behind Tina.
## INServ2 rolled 3d6 = 10 (6 1 3).
* Tina looks up, not startling overmuch. "Good morning?"
* Behind Tina stands a medium-height woman, clad in blouse and knee-length skirth, holding a laptop under one arm, brown eyes clear and regarding Tina warmly. Her brown wavy hair is tied back. "Good morning, Ms. Manoa-Perez. Elizabeth Taggert, TriOp Computer Interaction Development Lead." She offers her free hand.
* Tina smiles and takes it, shaking. "Tina Manoa-Perez. I understand you wanted to see me?"
{Taggert} Yes, indeed I did. *she smiles, her handshake warm and firm.* Care to come up to my office? We'll get down to the interview.
{Tina} I'll be good with that. {smile}
* Taggert nods, letting go of Tina's hand and leading the way towards the insides of the building, and an elevator suite. "So, what made you decide to apply with TriOp, Tina?" she asks casually.
* Tina smiles a bit. "Among other factors, TriOp's very forward-looking in the computer sciences, and has made a great deal of advancements in the field. That's also why I pursued graduate study at UIUC, for one. I also heard that they'd made a huge amount of advances with the new station in the orbit of Saturn...and I'd like to pursue an education off-planet for a bit." {pauses and colors a bit, smiling at something}
* Taggert chuckles, slightly, pressing a button for the elevator, which arrives quickly. She holds the door open for them. "What a coincidence, I had Gradwork at UIUC, too." She smiles. "And yes, we've been doing a lot on Citidas... I should warn you now, though, that competition for postings there are -hot-."
* Tina goes through. "So I'm given to understand. I'll play things as the cards fall. {slight grin} And another alum?"
* Taggert nods. "Oh yes, graduated back in the '50's." She grins, slightly. "Did they ever improve the comps in the DCL? They were using practically retrotech when I was there..."
{Tina} Oh, leaps and bounds, I'd say. They're working on some avant-garde things these days.
* Taggert nods, slightly. "So I gathered from your resume'." The elevator ascends quite a bit, happy muzak playing over a speaker.
* Tina smiles, trying not to twitch at the Muzak. "Yes, that's true. I like to think I have the skills you'd need for the position, though this is dependent on a few factors." {grin}
{Taggert} Oh, of course. *she looks wryly up at the speaker, even as the elevator dings* And ah, we're here.
{Tina} Yes. Like, for instance, if I *do* in fact have the skills you need for the position. And right.
{Taggert} Which is what this interview is for, of course. *she smiles, leading the way through office spaces lined with cubicles, the hum of computers heavy in the air-conditioned air.*
* Tina shamelessly rubbernecks, checking out the types and currency of the various computers she can glimpse.
* Taggert chuckles a bit as Tina rubbernecks, but doesn't decry her doing so. And indeed, the computers are wide and varied, but mostly on the workstation end of the scale, pretty recent and high-powered. There's dedicated code slingers of all ages and boths genders working at them. She leads the way to an office along one of the walls.
* Tina goes with, after getting a good eyefull of the surroundings.
* Taggert walks into her office. It's... cluttered. Reams of printouts, several datapads, several large workstations set up along one wall, phone setup with voicemail and message light blinking, photos of family members on the desk, a few little toys put together by children or bought at a TrU... clearly, despite her professional clothing, Elizabeth Taggert is a hacker at heart.
* Tina appreciates this sensibility! And feels much more comfortable.
* Taggert smiles, and sits herself down behind her desk. "Take a load off your feet, Tina... and hm, here we go..." She fishes out Tina's resume'.
* Tina smiles and sits, looking at Elizabeth's disaster area^H^H^H Office. "Right."
* Taggert considers the resume', nodding slightly. "I see from here you've done work on systems archetectures before, Tina... and that you're currently working as a lab technician along with your graduate degree... how did you get along with your teammates? And for that matter, how are you getting along now, balancing classwork with lab aiding?"
{Tina} Hmm. Quite well, I believe...I could give you my team members as references if you would like. And I would think quite well. As you can see from last semester's transcript I've received high marks in my classwork, particularly in semester projects. So I'd say I balance things well enough. {wry grin} Not that having a social life isn't needed at times...
* Taggert chuckles a bit. "Oh, that sounds familiar... what sorts of things do you do outside of class?" She nods, considering, and hrming thoughtfully. "And yes, I noticed that. -Very- good, by my lights."
* Tina smiles, looking flattered. "And basically, on the recreation front, exercise, occasionally go dancing, contemplate tea and cats, and shockingly, computer games. I also read and surf the Web, depending on my tastes. I do like to think I get out sufficiently."
{Taggert} Sounds like it, for this wired day-and-age. And that's a good sign. I've got plenty of folks out there who try to go 25/8, and burn out way too damn early.
* Tina shakes her head. "No, you can't do that, I've found out. I preserve my freshness and enjoyment of my intended field by doing other things as well. It's not quantity as much as quality. {looks wry} I somewhat found that out the hard way too."
* Taggert raises an eyebrow. "Howso, if I'm not intruding?"
{Tina} Basically what you said...focusing on it to the exclusion of all else, and losing the joy in it that's necessary for any real innovation. If you know what I mean?
{Tina} {slight grin} It's that wacky 'perspective' thing I've heard about.
* Taggert chuckles, nodding. "Indeed." She looks fondly at the pictures on her desk. "All too well."
* Tina smiles a bit. "Your family?"
* Taggert blushes slightly. "Yup. Married soon after getting out of graduate school." She looks sheepish a bit. "And I'm getting distracted."
* Tina smiles a bit, coloring herself. "Not a problem. My fault for digressing, but I rather understand that. Anything else you would like to ask, Ms. Taggert?"
* Taggert chuckles a bit. "Quite all right. Actually, there is one thing I want to get out of the way before we continue further..." She shifts through the desk, and pulls out another sheet of paper, laying it in front of Tina on the table next to her. "Here, you can see a section of code, Tina. (duh)" *grin* "Look through it, and if there's any errors in it, try to correct them. You have 15 minutes." She pulls out a small digital egg timer, and sets it down in front of Tina. "I'll be back by then."
* Tina nods, grinning a bit. "Right." . o O (Ooo, TOYS! {pause} God, I'm starting to sound like Muon...)
* Tina takes out a Weapon O' Doom, aka a pen. She sets to with vigor.
* Taggert nods, and gets up, heading out of the room and closing the door behind her.
* Tina starts sifting through the code with the kind of fevor and vigor only a servitor of Lightning or a computer-obsessed Lilim can manage.
* The routine is in a language Tina's familiar with, and although there's errors in there, both subtle and gross, to Tina's analytical Bright of Lightning mind they stick out like neon green sore thumbs.
* Tina sees dem neon green, oooooh yes, and cackles all the way as she smites them.
## Taggert rolled 3d6 = 6 (2 2 2).
* The minutes pass by... and soon, the errors are pointed out and cleared up, leaving Tina 5 minutes in an empty office to wait.
## Tina rolled 3d6 = 11 (1 5 5).
* And as Tina glances around, waiting in the empty office fulla -stuff-, there happens to be plenty of printouts that could be perused while not actually moving them.
* Tina idly reads, not having much else to do until she gets back!
* Code code code code code..... waaaiiiiiiiitasecond.
* Tina pauses, reading more carefully.
* You know.... that code looks familiar. It -could- be a coincedence... but it seems -really- familiar to code the ACT was working on oh those many months ago....
* Tina narrows her eyes. . o O (Hmmmm....)
* Admittedly, she won't be able to get a better look without rearranging the printouts, which look to be several weeks to a month or two old, having accumulated by accretion. But some are highlighted, or penmarked, or commented to 'send back to testing lab' or to various names.
* Tina looks at those names.
* None of them are familiar to Tina, but can easily be noted.
* Tina does, darn it!
* There's the sound of a door opening.
* Tina settles back, looking unconcerned, and happy. Hey, she's gotten good at dissembling in Shal-Mari and Tartarus, what can I say?
* Taggert enters, just as the timer beeps. "All done, Tina?"
* Tina smiles and hands it over. "I'd say that's a safe bet." {grin} "How does it look?"
* Taggert accepts it, and sits down behind her desk, and reads it. And reads it again. And reads it once more, and whistles. "-Well-. I am truly amazed, Ms. Manoa-Perez..."
{Tina} Hmm? {small blush}
{Taggert} In all my years here... I've never seen -anybody- manage to get -all- of the errors in this. Even I miss one or two at times, and I -wrote- it. *she grins*
{Tina} ....Whoa. {small grin}
* Taggert chuckles, putting the sheet with Tina's resume'. "I'd have to say this'll signifigantly improve your chances, Tina... if I'm not careful, I'll find you bucking for -my- job."
{Tina} Um....no! I don't poach jobs! {blush} Plus you have more experience. {little grin}
* Taggert snrks. "Good point. And hrm, one more question before I open the floor to you... how do you feel about having to move for this internship? Would you be willing to do so?"
* Tina coughs, and flushes a bit more. "Yes, more than willing. Er...personal reasons, mostly."
* Taggert quirks an eyebrow. "And what reasons would -those- be, if i"m not prying?"
* Tina looks at the floor, blushing a bit more. {obviously trying not to mumble} "My boyfriend's stationed out on Citidas too..."
* Taggert quirks the -other- eyebrow, and chuckles. "I see." She smiles. "Well, that explains part of your interest in Citidas..."
{Tina} Doesn't it though. {flush} {wry grin}
* Taggert nods. "Well, we'll just see how it goes, Tina. And hm... any questions for me, while we're at it?"
{Tina} Hmmm....could you explain some of the specifics of what my job duties on Citidas would be?
* Taggert raises an eyebrow. "Well, -if- you happened to get stationed there, it'd be helping the station's systems administrators keeping the various systems running. A good majority of it is automated, thanks to SHODAN, but there still needs to be the human element, and of course there's the various scientist teams working there, who might need their own help with coding drivers for their own tests." She looks somewhat wry, and shifts some of the printouts on her desk, thoughtful.
{Tina} Hmm? {small wry grin} And understood on the check and balance element.
{Taggert} Hm? *She looks up* Oh, nothing. Just wondering about some of the slackers and their coding styles these days. *she looks wry* Not that I'm one to talk...
{Tina} Right...And yeah, there's still people who seem to be into slop and cruft, sadly. You'd think they'd have realized bloatware doesn't work.
* Tina resonates...
* Taggert nods, looking wry, meeting Tina's eyes as she talks. "I mean, -really-. I try hammering into some of the newbies to -comment- their damn code, and you get stuff that tries to stuff 15 actions into one line..."
## Tina rolled 3d6 = 13 (3 5 5).
* Tina can see behind Elizabeth Taggert's eyes the Needs to get a yummy turkey sandwich soon, to have her husband rub her feet, to fill her openings for the internship slots, to get her coders to code things on time and -cleanly-, and to figure out how some of these coders managed to crank out some of the advanced stuff that got integrated into SHODAN.
* Tina hmms, and figures that she'll do her darndest to fulfil Need Five, because gosh darn it if it doesn't dovetail with a few Needs of her own...
{Tina} . o O (Now I'm hungry too, darn it...)
* Taggert gets things straightened up a little more, and looks wryly at her phone with the blinking message light, and at her watch. "And, unfortuantely... I've got to get back to work, Ms. Manoa-Perez... but the least I could do is escort you back out and hail a cab for you."
{Tina} Right. {wry grin} I understand how it is. And thanks...any idea when you might have a decision?
{Taggert} Well, I've got about 30-40 other people to interview and place, and nowhere near that many slots, so before the end of next month, certainly. More likely 2 weeks.
{Tina} Gotcha. Thanks. {smile}
{Taggert} Of course, Tina. *she smiles back* This way, please?
{Tina} Right. {smiles and follows}
* The way back is similar to the way they came, of course. Soon, they reach the lobby, and the midday sun shines through the lobby lights.
* Tina follows.
* Taggert smiles. "And here we part ways, Ms. Manoa-Perez. At least for now. It was a pleasure meeting you." She offers her hand.
* Tina shakes back, grinning a bit. "And right. Hope to see you again, Ms. Taggert. And great talking with you too."
* Taggert nods. "It's mutual." She smiles, letting go. "See you later, work willing."
{Tina} You too. {grins and leaves}
* Taggert smiles, waves, and heads back to the secratary's desk to call for a cab. Within about 10 minutes, one pulls up to the front drive of the building.
* Tina gets om!
{Cabby} Whereto, lady?
{Tina} Airport, please.
* The Cabby nods, and peels out of the front drive, treating Tina to another harrowing ride through California Traffic as we Fade.