Lacy packed up her lunch containers and put it in her satchel. She pulled the business card that contained the letter to look at the address. She typed in the address in the GPS on her phone. She selected the satellite option for streetside view to see what the building looked like.
It was in the Industrial part of town, which isn't unusual because building space was cheap and allowed tech companies to maintain a lower profile with the urban camflouge. Mostly manufacturing, factories, and logistics are over there.
Lacy pulled out her sonic broom out of her bag. It looked like a hand broom until she extended the handle out into a regular sized broom. She mounts the broom, then focuses her mind on levitating. She feels her feet lift from the ground and then steers the broom in the direction of the Industrial part of town. She was flying in the fly lane of traffic and some cars veering into the lane. She pushes the button at the top of the handle to emit a horn sound so the car moves back into their lane. Lacy glances over to the car lane and sees the car's driver flipped her off. She does not allow it to get to her.
She turns off on the highway, still staying the fly lane. She was flying on the highway for about 20 minutes until she turned off to the exit for the Industrial area of town. After turning right off the exit, she is flying down the street and then finds what looks like the building. Lacy lowers down her broom to dismount. Lacy dismounts then pulls her phone out of her satchel and pulls up the image of the building. It's just like the photo. Gray building, with circuit board lights on the sign and a big window. On the sign, it said "Tech Wielders Society Co-op".
Lacy walks on the sidewalk that leads up to the big sliding automatic door. When Lacy enters, she sees a clerk at the desk, and she approaches the desk.
The clerk looks up at her, "May I help you?"
"Yes, I had courier deliver me this letter and wanted to follow up for a potential position here." Lacy explains.
The clerk pushes the button on her earpiece, "Mr. Saul, this is Galen, I have someone at the front desk inquiring about the recruitment letter. " Galen looked up at Lacy "What's your name, ma'am?"
"Lacy Korten" She replied
"Lacy Korten is her name. Okay, yessir. I will send her to you" Galen responded. "Ms. Korten, please stand in the circle, please."
The circle that was 10 feet away from the desk that was illuminated green. Lacy was sure that ring was not there when she entered the building. Lacy steps over to the circle and enters.
WHOOM
She felt herself suddenly whipped in and started speeding through what felt like a vortex. The sudden pull made Lacy feel sick and her eyes shut tight. Then, it stopped. Lacy slowly opened her eyes. She was a little disoriented after the sudden transport and needed a moment to adjust her eyes. She checked herself for any injuries but didn't see any scratches, bruises, or feel any pain.
She looked in front of her and saw a dark wooden desk with a man sitting in the chair behind the desk. She assumed the man was Mr. Saul. He was wearing a black suit with a gray tie and hair slicked back. His golden eyes stared up at her and summoned her over.
"Please take a seat in front of the desk." He gestured toward the leather chair in front of the desk. Lacy walked over to the chair and sat down. "So I'm Carey Saul, and you must be Lacy Korten. I have heard and read so much about you. I looked at your history and record at the Tech Wielder Center. I also read reviews from the clients on your freelance work. You have been a Tech Wielder for how long?"
"For 7 years, sir." Lacy responded.
"I feel we could use your skills in our co-op" Mr. Saul stated. "You worked in tech support in the past. Now you do more consulting with diagnostics and malware hunting. Is that accurate?"
"Yes sir. I have done vulnerabilities and worked with clients to fix any weaknesses in their systems. I am wanting to get into cloud repair." Lacy explained.
"We can help you with that. I know I am the only person in this room, that's because the rest of the staff is out doing work orders so I don't have the rest of them here. As stated in the letter, we offer stable pay, flexible hours, exciting work orders in various locations, not just all over the United States but also in other dimensions. Would that interest you?" He asked.
"I heard about the existence of other dimensions, but I have not visited one, in person. What are the risks?" She asked.
"These are different dimensions, and there is still much the Science Mages have yet to explore, but we haven't gone into dangerous zones. Now, any injury you acquire on the job, you will be compensated with hazard pay." He explained. "Do you have any other questions?"
"Next, I would like to now, you mention 'flexible hours', could you elaborate on what that means?" Lacy asked.
"So in terms of reporting, we'll have weekly meetings if there are any huge projects or we need to go over statistics. We use these meetings for everyone at the co-op to air out grievances, set goals for certifications for everyone, and professional development. Now, in terms of reporting here, you don't have to stop by everyday but we do need a means of reaching out to you. If you follow the app, we have work orders, and when you accept the work order, you just meet up at the site. When you're done with the task, you have the clients sign off and will contribute to your stats. " He explained.
Lacy was taking all this in. It sounds like a great deal so far, but what was Mr. Saul not telling her? What are the drawbacks to this?
"So what are the drawbacks? What are the work orders like?" Lacy inquired.
"Well, some of these can take days to complete. You may have to take a weapon with you, and that knife may not be enough. You will also need to consider bringing a meal, especially a stable, non-perishable type of meal. Now, when you're done with the work order, you can take time to recover, but we require communication, so we know you're okay." He expanded.
"Okay I think it covers most of my questions." Lacy said. Lacy felt like job flow was not too far off from what she was doing as a freelancer, but more consistent flow of work orders and stable income.
"So will you work with us?" Mr. Saul asked