The corridor on the third floor of the Global Automatics building resembled a greenhouse. In front of the wide windows, on the floor, window sills, and stands of various shapes and sizes, flower pots and tubs were arranged in a strange, chaotic sequence: branchy ficuses, spreading palms and sedges, elongated cacti. Some had bright flowers, others did not; some had patterned leaves, others had no leaves at all. It seemed that this corridor, and indeed the building itself, were intended not for people at all, but for plants.
At least, Anna had not yet met a single person here, except for the hologram of a girl at the reception desk, who solemnly but kindly informed her: "Alexey Vladimirovich will be waiting for you in office No. 303." Deciding not to wait for the slow glass elevator, Anna hurriedly climbed the wide staircase, walked down the corridor surrounded by greenery, tugged at the door handle with the coveted number 303, which turned out to be locked, and plopped down loudly on a ridiculous, but comfortable pear-shaped sofa made of some soft, fluffy synthetic material, and exhaled wearily.
Above the sofa, right above Anna's head, an old-fashioned quartz clock with hands was ticking. According to it, it was now 10:16. Anna checked her smartphone and made sure the time was correct.
The general silence and desolation, the abundance of taciturn plants, and the monotonous ticking of the annoying clock only increased the girl's anxiety. Her unconditional income and occasional freelance jobs allowed her to eat and dress decently, but a permanent job offered the opportunity to seriously improve her status. After all, she was striving for this, taking open tests and completing personal assignments.
At one point, Anna even thought that she had no appointment at G.A. and that it was all some kind of devilishly well-planned stupid prank. Or, even worse, that it was all a final test of punctuality, which she had successfully failed.
"Did I really screw up again like this?" the girl asked herself, but her sad thoughts were interrupted by the appearance in the corridor of a slightly stooped young man with a rectangular bag over his shoulder. He walked with a relaxed, shuffling gait to door No. 303, tugged at the handle, and looked silently at Anna.
"Is it closed?"
"Can't you see? Yes, damn it," the girl replied sharply, immediately going on the offensive. "Are you here for an interview too?" I have an appointment with Alexey Vladimirovich at ten.
"Oh, I see..." the guy drawled, starting to rummage through the pockets of his sweatshirt.
"What do you mean, 'I see'? You're coming with me!" Anna snapped, sensing competition.
"Don't get so worked up... It's early in the morning," the guy took a magnetic card out of his back jeans pocket, swiped it through the electronic lock, and the door opened. "I'm Alexey Vladimirovich. I'll just drop off my bag and we can start."
Alexey entered the office, casually threw his bag on the table, closed the door with effort, and casually addressed Anna:
"Well, let's go..."
Not knowing how best to react in such an awkward situation, the girl silently got up from her seat and followed Alexey.
They went down the stairs, left the building, and walked along a path that curved around several more glass buildings of the same type, forming a kind of campus, and led into a shady park behind them.
Alexey walked silently ahead, his hands tucked into the pockets of his stretched, crumpled sweatshirt, staring straight ahead and clearly in no hurry. Anna decided to break the silence first.
"Excuse me, please... I thought you were also a job applicant..."
"Come on, relax." You're already on a first-name basis with me. You can continue," Alexey smiled.
"What about the interview?"
"It's already started."
"Oh, okay..."
"Do you listen to Slayer?" Alexey asked, noticing the girl's T-shirt, in an attempt to lighten the tense atmosphere.
"Yes... No... It's just to impress guys. For communication, sort of," Anna replied honestly, surprising herself.
"Smart!" Alexey smiled in response. "You're a psychologist by training, right? How long have you been coding?"
"Well, about five years... Or six... First on Si..."
"Come on, it doesn't matter! It's all written in your resume anyway," Alexey waved his hand.
"So, what would You like to know? What would you like to know?"
"I don't know," the guy shrugged. "I'd just like to get to know you. To understand your inner motivation, your values, who we'll be working with. In short, the things that aren't visible in the code."
"Motivation?" Anna thought for a moment. "Well, money, of course. And in general..." Working at G.A. is pretty cool.
"I see," Alexey said, looking a little sad. "Of course, I'm not a psychologist... Quite the opposite — I'm a mathematician. And when I joined GlobalAutomatix five years ago, I thought we would make the world a better place. I was very enthusiastic, in short...
"And then?"
"And then I calmed down," the guy paused and looked intently at the girl. "So maybe it will be even easier for you."
"I'm ready for it to be difficult."
They walked out onto a wide park alley with a path paved with diamond-shaped tiles forming a two-color pattern of five-pointed stars and polygons resembling giant honeycombs.
"Penrose mosaic. Beautiful," Anna remarked casually and nonchalantly.
Alexey looked at the girl with slight surprise and grunted approvingly.
Suddenly, a guy on an electric scooter sped past them on the path.
"Hey, Lyokh!" he waved to Alexey as he rode by. "Cool chick! Cool shirt!"
"Chick"? Is that sexual harassment at work?" Anna laughed playfully, watching the guy on the scooter ride away.
"No," Alexey replied calmly. "That's just Mikhail, a robotics developer. He always talks like that."
"That's a shame..."
"Sorry, we don't have sex at work or with colleagues in general," Alexey continued, either jokingly or seriously. "It always reduces productivity and causes a lot of problems."
"But almost everyone works for G.A. now..."
"That's what I'm saying... Lots of problems."
"But for some reason there aren't many people here..." Anna remarked, looking around.
"Sometimes conferences are held here, sometimes equipment is tested. Most employees work from home, so few people come here every day. Although, in principle, you can come anytime you want. The territory is protected by an automatic security system. Almost a hundred hectares of forest park with bike paths, lighting, and full WiFi coverage. I come here to think, take a walk, and check everything at the same time. Mikhail likes to ride all kinds of electric things with wheels.
"It's cool here," the girl confirmed with an approving nod.
"By the way, a little further on," Alexey pointed slightly away from the main alley, "there is a very beautiful maple grove and covered gazebos with benches around a small lake. Be sure to check it out sometime..."
"I... I'll take a look... Does that mean I'm on the team?"
"Yes," Alexey replied. "Actually, the neural network made the decision to enroll you yesterday, and I have no reason not to trust its decision, but I think it was useful to talk to you informally like this.
"I'm sure it was.
"Then get settled in. I still have some things to do here, and you have plenty of time to look around today. If you need anything, it will be sent to your email. So don't forget to check it... like yesterday.
He smiled slightly, took Anna's hand for a few seconds, giving her a light and awkward handshake, then put his hands back in his pockets and walked toward the buildings.