A teacher had given it to her when she’d left basic, on the day her birth group had sat in the speaking hall for the last time, before they were sent through processing and given their programming track when they’d learned what level they were being sent to.
It was an old favorite of his, he’d told her, the book given to him by his grandfather, and passed down through his family. Dev wasn’t sure why he’d given it to her, aside from him saying he thought she would enjoy it, but she was very happy she had it and she often took minutes like this to read a few pages of it.
It was a long story, full of fantastic creatures and places.
She spent a quarter hour immersed in the book, then she closed it and put it away, getting up and heading for the door. The lights dimmed as she left, trading the quiet dimness for the bright lit common space of the crèche and all of it’s inhabitants.
“Hello, Dev.” Gigi had appeared from her own crib, several down to the left of Dev’s. “How are you? I missed seeing you at daymeal yesterday.”
“Very well.” Dev matched strides with her. “I was down.” She said, briefly. “I made it up for late serving.”
“Oh, that’s right.” Gigi nodded. “Was it a good program set?”
“I think so. I haven’t worked with it yet.” Dev joined the line in the dining hall, walking along the line and accepting the tray that was handed to her. “Thank you.” She addressed the server, a tall, quiet man with black curly hair and pretty hazel eyes.
He was an Eren, she thought. Eren or a Erem, one of the more common sets with lots of members. They were nice, and they liked music, she recalled. They got programmed for a lot of different admin things but of course took their turn in the service line just as she did sometimes though Dev usually ended up back in the prep area rather than the front.
She pushed her tray down the line as Gigi picked up hers, and they both walked across the huge room and took a seat at one of the blue tables on the left hand side.
“What are these?” Gigi poked one of two round white objects on her tray.
“Eggs.” Dev answered knowledgeably. “You cut them open. They’re good. I guess they finished some experiment on them or something. I had them once. I like them.”
Gigi cut one in half and examined it. “Oh. It’s pretty.” She displayed the inside, which had a perfectly round yellow ball inside the white outer part.
Dev put a little jam from the tiny paper cup on the tray onto her wafer and bit into it, adding a slice of her own egg on top for the next chew.
“So, you’re going downside, right?” Gigi looked over at her. “I heard the director say that.”
Dev nodded. “I think so.” She said, taking a sip of tea to wash down her wafer. “I wonder what it will be like.”
One of the tall, lanky Befes slid down the bench towards her. He was also dressed in a tech jumpsuit and he gave her a small grin. “Hi.”
“Hi.” Dev smiled back.
“Befe 512.” The newcomer introduced himself. “I think we’re going to the same place.” He said. “My subset’s going to be mechanics at Interforce.” He offered a hand in greeting.
Dev took it and returned the clasp. “That’s good.” She said. “it’s good to know people if you're going to a different place. My name’s Dev.” She turned and indicated Gigi. “And this is Gigi. She’s admin for the director.”
“Hi.” Befe offered a hand. “Nice to meet you.” He turned back to Dev. “My set mate heard you were going to be a real tech for them Not just fixing things like we do. In ops.”
Dev blinked at him. “He did?”
“Wow.” Gigi looked at her. “That’s big. We don’t do that.”
Dev tried to recall everything the director had said to her. A special job, wasn’t that what he’d said? Something to help them with a problem? She was sure he hadn’t said anything about her being an ops tech. “Gigi’s right. We don’t do that.” She objected. “They won’t let us do that. It’s too hard to program. “ She added. “I don’t think it can be that. Maybe something with the admin systems.”
Befe shrugged. “That’s what he heard. In any case, I’m glad you’’re going with us. It’s good to know people.” He slid back down the bench to where some of his set-mates were sitting, along with three or four others in blue green jumpsuits.
Gigi made a face. “That sounded strange.” She said. “I don’t think people are supposed to be talking about this.”
Dev finished her egg and wafer, and drank her tea. “You know how things get around.” She said, putting the cup down. “Do you remember that story about Proctor Joan and the head chef?”
Gigi chuckled, covering her mouth hastily with her hand. “Bananas!” She whispered.
Dev laughed. “Exactly.” She got up and picked up her tray. “I’m off to the lab. See you at daymeal.” She put the tray in the disposal and walked quickly out of the dining hall, joining the flood of bodies moving along the walkway.
The sun speared through the station walls, and Dev walked through slices of filtered light, lifting her hand a little to intercept a bit of it and watching as it gilded her skin. It made her smile, and she kept smiling as she turned down the hallway and entered the big cross tunnel that led to the tech lab.
The walls slanted into the entrance, which had a bio reader and a screen. Dev stepped up to it, and waited for the soft glow to appear overhead. She felt that little tickle on her skin, then the screen lit up.
“Ident.” It said, briefly.
“NM-Dev-1” Dev answered.
The door slid open, and she continued inside, moving directly across the big entrance to the processing desk that squatted directly in the center. She went to the processing agent and unclipped her badge, handing it to him and waiting as he keyed it in.
He studied the screen, then handed her badge back. “Lab 26, first corridor, third door, eight hours. Reset when done.”
“Thank you.” Dev clipped her badge back on and then circled the desk and headed for the lab. She didn’t pass anyone on the way there, the halls were quieter than usual, and most of the labs were dark and empty, their doors gaping open into the hall.
Lab 26 illuminated as she entered, and the door closed behind her. Dev paused and looked around, seeing floor to ceiling gray consoles packed into every square inch of the room, leaving only a half octagon desk with a chair behind it.
It smelled just faintly of silicon. She circled the lab first, examining the consoles, but found nothing on them to indicate their purpose which was intimidating in and of itself. Usually tech rigs had plates and decals, but these were blank and somehow seemed a little scary to her.
Maybe it was the flat gray color.
With a sigh, Dev went to the console and sat down in the chair, feeling the surface of it warm to her body, and conform to her figure a little. She adjusted it to her height, then she put her hands down on the tablet surface and heard the almost soundless click and hum of electronics starting up.
A panel slid aside, revealing a headset. Dev took it out and put it on, smelling the newness of the plastic and steel as the contacts settled over her head and she felt the ear piece snuggle into her ear. For another moment here was silence, then the boards all lit up.
She jerked, a little, surprised at all the activity. The half octagon suddenly came alive with sensors and readout panels, the banks lining the walls showed a thousand or more systems and she waited, just letting her eyes roam, for the programming to kick in.
It took a little while, sometimes. The instruction sets were all in there, but it was sometimes like having a book and it being just out of focus. You knew the words were there, but you couldn’t quite see them until you brought them closer or a little further and your mind pulled them into clarity.
Until then, it was just a blast of lights and gauges. She looked ahead of her, feeling the slightly crawling sensation on the back of her neck just before the flickering kaleidoscope abruptly shifted and took on meaning as a blast of comprehension overcame her.