Rokus stared up at the Institute, a knot of nerves cradled in his stomach. He was excited to join such a progressive organisation, and had dismissed his former colleagues’ warnings and ill omens as pure jealousy. Terence, Kirline et al were leaders in their field, masters of their craft, and had taken a chance on him – an orphan from the poorest part of town with barely the qualifications to sweep the car park.
Eric stared at the scrap yard, a silver trail of mucus on his sleeve. He was hungover and reticent for his first day on the job. He had dismissed his parent’s positive outlook and wide smiles as pure desperation – any excuse to get him out of the house. Dennis – the owner and his father’s friend from the darts team – had been persuaded to take the teen under his wing and show him the way of the breaker’s yard.
Taking a deep breath, Rokus pushed open the shiny doors. The foyer was filled with boxes and equipment yet to be unpacked. A few staff members were checking things off clipboards and pushing their glasses up their shiny noses. “Excuse me,” he addressed the nearest tabula rasa. “I’m here for my first day, under Dr Terence?”. The lab coated automaton gestured impatiently to the elevator, and barked a number. Rokus entered the elevator, punched the required floor and waited.
Spitting onto the bare earth, Eric trudged towards the office – a temporary structure which appeared to have been in place for decades. A fine drizzle anointed the dead cars piled to either side of the shack. He knocked on the cold metal door. “Come in,” said a wheezy voice from inside.
He emerged into a room, around 20 feet square. The walls were bare and white. It took him by surprise – whatever he was expecting, this wasn’t it. It was so bright, and so spare, that his eyes and brain took a few moments to acclimatise. It suddenly occurred to him that someone was sitting in an armchair in the middle of the otherwise empty room. “Hello?” he said, “I’m new here. Am I in the right place?”
“Yes,” said the man in the armchair, “you both are.”