First Day At Work

Part 7

 Rob stops outside the cafeteria and looks down the other hallway leading to the Meatspace Observatory, "That door down there seems pretty interesting. Want to check it out?" He points. You look at him with concern, but you must admit you are curious, "I guess we don't have to go to HR right away. Okay, we'll just have a look around. It does seem weird." You both walk hastily down the perpendicular hallway to the meatspace door. The sign reads in big letters on the door, "MeatSpace Observatory" And you both enter the door that slides open with a button press.

It makes a swoosh sound and you both enter. Inside is something you couldn't have predicted. It's a large circular room with a domed ceiling and in the center is a circle made of separate screens with standing desks attached to them, "There must be a hundred of these." You say.

There is a man who greets you as you enter the room to your right, he is behind a front counter, "Welcome in. Please take a time card." on the desk is a little box of cards and you each grab one. You thought to ask the man what this room was about, but you didn't want to raise a suspicion that you were new here.

Rob asks him for you, "What is this room? What do we do here?" You look at your card and it says 15 minutes and has a password of random letters and numbers printed on it.

He looks at Rob, "Take a card. Find an empty computer. Enter an address or a city or any landmark really. Then you'll be able to observe. We also have a catalog of current events and news saved in the menu." He returns to looking at something on his computer.

"Well, that's interesting." Rob says and they both find an empty station next to each other and turn on the screens.

You enter your password and press login with the mouse, "Okay, I'm in. It kind of looks like google earth." You look over and see him struggling to enter his password, "Just type in your password."

He looks frustrated, "I have dyslexia, can you help?" You just tell him to come over to your station and Rob joins you.

"What should I type in? The guy said I could look up anything." You hover the mouse over the search bar and in the corner of the screen is a 15 minute countdown.

Rob thinks, "Um, go to my house, 477 Clover street." And you type in the address. The screen begins to zoom in from the sky and before you know it you are looking at the house Rob had mentioned, "It is like google earth." You notice this isn't quite like google earth because you see clouds moving and a car drives by.

"I think this is live," You say to Rob.

"Really? No way! I can just spy on my house?" He says enthusiastically. With the mouse hovered over the house a prompt appears.

It says, "Enter house." And you click it. Before your eyes the camera shifts into the living room of the house and you see someone on their phone.

Rob gets excited, "That's my mom! What is going on here? There's cameras in my house?" He seems to be getting angry, "Try another house. Zoom out." You are able to zoom out and drag the camera over to the neighbor. You see a boy playing with his dog in the backyard.

"See, in the corner," You say, "Today's date, and it says 'live' next to the red little button." You zoom the camera out some more and onto a busy street. Rob just looks in amazement and shock, "I guess we really can look at anything in real time." You say.

"Go back to my house. Let me see my bedroom. I have to know I'm not sleeping in bed and this is all a dream." You re enter his address and find his bedroom. There is an empty bed and the room has been trashed, "Who was in my room!" He gasps, "Dammit. I'm getting a lock on my door now. I've had it."

You question how all of this is possible, "Isn't this all a bit weird? How can I just drag the camera though the wall? It can't be live." You suggest.

"Well, my room wasn't messy last time I was there." Rob says. You type in your home address and drag the camera all around your house. Nothing seems to be out of the ordinary and you wonder if anyone has been there. You move out to the street and downtown to where you used to go for walks, "Nothing has changed I guess." And you zoom back out. Suddenly the clock timer buzzes and you are logged out of the computer, "That was fast."