The Specifications

Monday

07h50

I pocketed my hands as he ran off. My fingertips were feeling chilly. P's absence meant I'd spent the five-minute walk to the lab with my own thoughts. Most of them involved a bed, and possibly a heater. Some thoughts were work-related. A new project was something to both anticipate and fear. I prayed it wasn't another circuit board. Soldering stinks, and using tweezers to place components was terrible. I crossed my fingers for a software project, one where I could immerse myself in a world of headphones and code.

"Hey, V!"

Hmm? A series of approaching footsteps made me look over my shoulder. "Oh, T. Morning."

"Hey." I stopped to let the curly-haired woman catch up. "Slept well?"

We are really obsessed with how each other is sleeping. I smiled. "I guess you could say that. And you?"

"Eh, if you can call it that. I spent half the night twisting around."

"Oh?" She fell in step as I continued my pace to the labs. I had a good idea of where the conversation was likely to go, but I might as well earn some karma points for asking. "What's up?"

"My damn project. I can't get my app to work."

And there it is. I suppressed a sigh. Not that I was averse to helping her. T's simulation skills have prevented two deductions in the past, but hearing that your help is required before the week has started isn't a good indicator for the rest of it. "What's the app supposed to do?"

"Pattern recognition. I need to identify elements on a video feed and fire a series of functions depending on what they are."

"Uh-huh." I nodded slowly. "I think I have something that might help. Should we take a look after work?"

"Please!"

"Sure. Want to meet in the archives?"

"Oh, there's no need for that." Her curls bobbed as she shook her head. "I have everything set up in my cubicle. It would be the easiest there."

I nodded. "When is the deadline?"

"Friday. I'm not too worried, but the bug is preventing me from testing."

"I see. See you after work, then."

"You're a lifesaver, V!"

No, a monetary one. I replied with a smile. But I guess that's how it goes here.

"You okay?"

"Hm?"

"You seem a bit distant."

"Oh," I exaggerated a yawn. "Struggling to wake up. Last week was a busy one."

"Deadline?" I nodded. "Did you make it?"

"Barely."

"Better than not. Hopefully the new project isn't a killer."

"Hopefully, but I'd prefer the bed."

T chuckled. "That makes two of us. Bed, coffee, and a \emph{good} movie."

I laughed at the image. "It's been ages since I watched a movie. I'll probably fall asleep in five minutes."

"Nine hours from now and you're free to do so!"

"Nah. Management's movie collection sucks. Besides, it'll be a bit more if I'm helping you." We stopped when two massive doors separated us from the labs.

"Right... ehh.. ten hours from now?"

"It's the ten that's the problem." I pressed my Sleeve against the scanner. I let T walk in first as a last token of resistance against work. The lights lit up as she did so, so we were probably the first ones there. "I knew it was too early."

"Cheep up, V! Early bird gets the worm!"

"Second mouse gets the cheese."

"Pessimist."

"Realist." I waved her off. "See you around lunch."

"Be sure to tell me all about your new project." She made her way to the fourth cubicle on the left, entering once she pressed her Sleeve against the scanner.

The labs were the second largest room in the facility, beaten only by the arboretum. Unlike the carpet in the corridors, silver-tinted tiles covered the floor, with the walls painted a color somewhere between light blue and light silver. Most of the room's productivity took place in the ten stained-glass cubicles along the walls. The main difference was a cubicle three times larger against the furthest wall. It was used when projects required cooperation between different researchers. Which mostly meant M and N.

Taking a second to despair at the start of the new week, I headed for my own cubicle. The scanner beeped happily when I pressed my Sleeve against it, and the door unlocked with a click.

Only for me to freeze in my tracks.

No.

Despite the cutting-edge work we did, the inside of the glass cubicles would be similar to those found in real life. Desks lined the furthest wall, with additional ones against the glass dividers that separated me from M to my left and H to my right. A computer significantly more powerful than the Sleeve sat in the right corner, with the desks to my left filled with various electronic equipment. Two whiteboards decorated the walls on either side of the door.

But infinitely more horrific was the shining, silver-gray object standing in the middle of the cubicle. One with a rotating base from which three rods pointed out like a pistol. Three rods that came so, so close to killing me six months ago.

"No. No, no, no." I took a step backwards. "Hades! Get in here, now!"

"How may I assist you, researcher V? Your biometrics indicate you to be in a state of shock."

"Shock?!" My eyes didn't leave the device. "I guess you can say that, considering what Management left inside my cubicle!"

"I see. Perhaps an introduction of some kind would have been in order."

"You think?!" I felt the familiar phantom pain spread through the back of my head.

"I will adjust my parameters for any future projects. In any case, Management has deemed you the best candidate for implementing several new enhancements to the gamma-wave laser you designed six months ago."

"Enhancements? Is this some kind of joke?"

"I don't have any records of Management joking."

I finally managed to step inside the cubicle and close the door behind me. I didn't want anybody to think I was weird by yelling at an inanimate object. Still, I gave the laser a wide berth. "Hades, that thing nearly killed me the last time I worked on it. Does Management really think I'm the best candidate? It's not a reverse therapy thing of trying to get me to overcome my fears or something?"

"Since you are the creator of the gamma-wave laser, you'd logically be the most knowledgeable person to implement any enhancements."

"Best? Why not ask F? He's the mechanical genius. Or R. He can probably make this thing twice as strong as I did."

"Both researchers F and R are currently engaged in projects of their own and don't have the capacity to take on this task."

"But..." I sighed, knowing I wasn't going to win this fight. Once Management decides on a course of action, that's how it'll be. "What... kind of enhancements?"

"All information has been passed to your account."

"That's a safe way to tell me to do my work." I kept at least a meter between myself and the device as I walked around it to sit at my desk. \emph{Why the laser? Why me?} I pushed the computer's power button with my shoe, more a habit than anything else. Hades's ring appeared in the top-right corner of the display once it was powered. "Okay, Hades. Management wins. Where are the specs?"

"I'm glad you are eager to start your new project."

"Just... show me the scope." I let my hand massage the back of my head.

"Accessing archives now... new project located. Loading details."

"Take your time. Please, take your time."

"Project loaded."

Damn.

"Title: Gamma-Wave Laser, Hexa-Beam enhancement. Estimated time till completion: five working days."

"Five days?!" The blood drained from my face as I turned around. The laser hadn't moved a millimeter, but if asked, I'd have sworn it was laughing at me.