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Chapter Two

Tommy Hou's new boss was Sankar Mittal. He hailed from IIT Mumbai with a PhD in software engineering. After career building stints at Oracle and then Facebook, Sankar was essentially the only thing resembling a professional manager within Thimk's AI think tank. Therefore, despite a braintrust of young prodigies that left him trailing and baffled from a technical perspective, he was the only real communicator and had the discipline to herd the random and sometimes bizarre personalities under his charge. He was also the buffer - the window into the eccentric team, and also the advocate and the promoter. He was great at it. And the dozen or so geniuses, loosely grouped according to particular efforts, almost invariably loved him. Which is to say that he didn't interfere with them, or put them on the spot or pressure them over deadlines. Sankar was nurturing and he was fun.

"Hi Sankar, I'm finally here," announced Tommy as he arrived at Sankar's expansive low-walled cubicle.

"Hey! Welcome. It is so good to have you here. It's a little strange around here, compared to normal. We were just getting back into the swing of being here and working together. Then, Boom! Another flare-up. Management wants us to figure out how we roll and still make progress, in a permanently remote working situation."

"Yah. It's crazy. It just seems like it will never go away. So, I think it's right to consider that scenario. Maybe this could be the new normal."

"Sad, but true." Both of them were face to face but may as well have been on the phone, given that the company-issued masks covered much of their facial expressions. "Tommy, The whole group will be in around at lunch today and we will grab food and spread out in the big conference room. Everyone wants to meet you. I will warn you in advance, some of them are already asking whether they can join your group. I leave that up to you to decide but just to maintain sanity, let me know first, so I can make sure we don't drop the ball on something important."

"Yes. Absolutely. Of course."

"So, for now, I need to go out for a short while. We have you in the cube over there in the corner. It's set up with a good workstation. It's the most private, which isn't saying much. But, maybe we won't actually be working here very often," Sankar paused, contemplating. "Maybe we won't be working here at all."

Tommy just nodded, acknowledging his meaning. "Great. Thanks."

Following a couple of hours with IT people on the phone, trying to get his online accounts in order, Tommy noted some activity in the offices around him. People were starting to filter in. Passers bye were glancing into his cubicle, obviously hoping to stop and make an introduction, but noting the receiver pinned between his ear and shoulder, they kept walking. A half hour later, having concluded his business with IT, Tommy walked over and saw several codies already hunched over their platters of assorted nosh. Sankar walked up behind him. "Tommy!" Tommy whirled. "Go out that door, across the patio. The canteen is in the next building." Sankar carried his overloaded tray into the expansive conference room and immediately started making small talk.

Tommy wandered into the canteen. He had been there before, during his interviews. He was immediately reminded of the incredible bounty. But this time it was different. Sparse, lacking the variety,
and the vibrant activity. No more manned stations and white chef's coats and the occasional toque blanche. The virus was not only a physical hazard. It also attacked the spirit and deprived the soul. He strode over to the Asian corner and found a reasonable assortment of edible-looking items and headed back toward the meeting.

Tommy could see Sankar through the full length glass wall panels of the conference room, waving his arms, his mouth moving in rapid fire. Sankar then saw Tommy coming and his expression was suddenly a look of shock. Sankar pointed and kept talking. Knowing that he was the subject of discussion, Tommy was suddenly uncomfortable. But he proceeded, lunch tray in hand toward the  open conference room door.