Crowd: A Dystopian Social Network Thriller (Final Draft)

Your Majesty

"Senior Advisor Sasha Foxwell, meet your new rookie partner, Rain Cruzada."

The man moved up like a trained soldier. Nodded like a superior and accepted her hand. "Are you stalking me?"

Rain released a nervous smile, and the chief picked up on it. "You two know each other?"

Sasha grinned. "Saw her in the lobby, sweating like a sewage worker. Poor thing was about to flood the marble ground."

Before the captain could cock her eyebrows, Rain stepped in to save the situation. "A Red Block demonstration blocked my auto-cab."

"Saw it on my feed. Looks like the Riot Police is dealing with the protestors in their Diego Lunar style."

Judging by that statement, the section chief wasn't going to vote for the incumbent mayor. A good thing to know.

"Anyways," she motioned her to sit down. "I assume you can recollect your priorities as a rookie advisor. Sasha is going to introduce you to our section and our core members. We use the similar tech as the college so there shouldn't be any compatibility issues. Feel free to ask questions, but make sure to watch your tutorials as well. I'd rather want you to serve citizen needs than to hole your colleagues with time-wasting questions."

"Understood, Chief."

"By the way, I've scooped up your profile. Gotta say, impressive ranking. How in the world did you climb so high?"

Even Sasha perked his ears, though his face chilled with serenity. Rain chose her words with care. She didn't want to brag on her first day, especially not in front of her superiors. "Hard work, daily commitment, and a passion to serve our great city, Chief."

Sasha chimed in before the section chief could. "Are you saying that students with a lower ranking aren't as hardworking as you?"

The man was clearly poking at her, but Rain had prepared for every counter. "I believe everyone at the college worked to the best of their ability."

A big, fat smile greased the chief's leathered face. "Well, why don't you two turtledoves continue the conversation outside my office?" She pointed toward the holographic docs updating on her screens.

"Those reports don't write themselves."

"Yes, Chief," Rain said and stood up after Sasha.

They both left the office and rejoined in the hallway, leading to the hub of Section Seven. Sasha moaned and stretched his arms at the ceiling. "Hate those intro sessions. All fluff and no play makes Sasha a dull boy." His eyes rolled back to her. "Cruzada, ready to improve the lives of our fellow Crowdies?"

"That's what I'm here for, Senior Advisor Foxwell."

"Oh, please call me by my proper title."

"That would be?"

"Your Majesty."

Rain stopped midway through the tour. She eyed his facial gestures to recognize any sign of contraction, but the man managed to express a stone face. Not even her AR lenses' facial identifier could help her out.

"Your Majesty then," she said with lack of belief.

Sasha cracked up and nudged Rain with his broad fingers. Under normal circumstances, she'd twitch, but not on her first day. She needed adapt to her new environment and learn the rules of engagement.

Sasha said, "You're prey in the open now, Rain. Wolves are gonna hunt you down with relentless vigilance."

"Prey? I thought we're going to improve people's lives."

"Wait and see."

Sasha showed her a transparent dual cubicle unit and a dedicated state-of-the-art terminal. "You're going to share the space with me. When you're not doing research and psy-profiling on the fly, you can use this baby and marvel at its horse power. Just activate it first."

The interactive tutorials had taught Rain how. She pressed her thumb on the dedicated display and waited for three seconds. The device echoed with a confirmative beep. Its optical sensors scanned her face and rewarded her with the second beep. Sasha looked like a mildly amused mentor. "Good, the terminal is now registered to you."

He rested his hand on her shoulder and applied pressure. Rain's intestines contracted. She looked up at him while he doubled the pressure. What in the world was he doing?

"Your probation period has started," Sasha said. "Everything you will do from now on will be evaluated. Every word, every action, every client file, every sweat pearl on your forehead will be dissected and analyzed."

Sounded a bit excessive, but maybe he tried to scare her.

"If you fail to meet our criteria, you'll get sent back to the recruiter. Want to know the failure rate of newly arrivals?"

No. Because the last thing she needed was more pressure.

"Seventy-eight percent."

Ouch.

And yet, she embraced the challenge. "I will do my best, Senior Advisor Foxwell."

"Your Majesty."

"I'm sorry?"

"I told you to address me with Your Majesty."

Rain focused on his eyes. She tried to read the contradiction between his stone face and his words, but she failed. Either Sasha Foxwell excelled at hiding his emotions, or he was serious.

Rain swallowed. "I'm sorry...Your Majesty."

"Much better," Sasha said and lifted his hand from her shoulder.

One thing was for sure—it was going to be a strange first working day.