3G: the Glowing Green Goo

“Eww! Gross!” SG shouted, trying to spit the nastiness out.

After a quick tour of the place and an explanation of what she was seeing, it was time for them to unpack and clean his traditional machines up. The ones others would use to do his common jobs, that had been compacted and put in a shelf once he was officially certified to do said jobs, and that he only kept to retain said certifications. Using nanites was more convenient and cost-effective to him, but his employees needed more traditional skills if the professional experience was to be relevant to their future.

His employee had been confused. She was aware of how valuable any surface area was in the dot; she couldn’t fathom why he would let unused machines waste his shop’s. She had accepted the explanation more easily than his past employees though; she understood what nanites meant to him.

She still hadn’t expected the literal shower of dust falling on her face when they pulled the topmost off the pile. Some even got in her eyes and mouth!

“Ah, sorry, I forgot.”

Like all constructions in the dot, every room of the shop was airtight; dust couldn’t get in or out. His front room had been as spotless as he had left it weeks earlier, but the back rooms had some cumulation from the plants he kept in, and his shelves even more from disuse.

Zax planned to teach her one task at a time, starting with the more immediately relevant and within reach. The obvious starting point was manning the counter; managing inventory, scheduling new orders, customer service. The basics were easy and straightforward; they were quickly done with that. There was nothing more to teach without actual customers. He didn’t plan on letting her idle though.

< activating teaching mods >

[ Teaching mods: On ]

What was it again… Ah.

< Teaching basics of professional adjusting too >

[ Skillset(s): Shop Management | Clothing Adjustment ]

Current Skills: none (estimated, to be evaluated)

General proficiency: 0 (estimated, to be evaluated) ]

[ Teaching schedule: (Template 1) (Template 2) (New Template) ]

[ Evaluation(s): All required ]

For a more hands-on skillset, clothing adjustment seemed an appropriate choice. He knew how to train such skills, naturally, but nanites made tracking improvements so convenient, and he hadn’t used them much despite his recently completed integration of a better hardware.

As luck would have it, the notice had been effective. The next school cycle had started and there was a huge demand in schools and sports uniforms made from adjusted standard outfits. All the educations points were centralised, but they liked their distinctions.

It meant a large demand that would be handled bit by bit by all the available adjusters of the dot. Repetition being mother of learning, and with a wide array of complexity in the designs, it was a great training opportunity at any level; doing the same alterations over and over. She would even have a physical example of the final goal, quite rare in that job. Zax selected the right orders to ensure all the basics would be covered, and the plan was set.

That was how her morning was spent; training on clothing alterations. The machines took some getting used to, but their controls were intuitive enough. There had been tacit worries about SG’s lack of opposable thumbs, but she managed with a dextrous use of her talons and vocal commands through her bracelet. They only had to put the machine lower.

Zax had seen the hints, but she proved to be a remarkably quick learner. What she lacked in common sense or common knowledge was easily fixed, and she compensated with adaptability and curiosity. Adjuster skills had been an excellent choice, before the end of her shift she was already imagining her own designs.

She was fixing a tincture mistake when the first customer arrived. She greeted him with the classical “Welcome, how may I help you?” formula and a polite, albeit nervous smile. He already had a specific purchase in mind, so he politely declined and was quickly at the counter with his articles.

[ Warning! ]

The surprise pop-up from her nanites startled Zax. His scanning nanites were only supposed to record biological functions, but he had added a few twists to their programs to be useful in case of emergency. His first-aid instructors had hammered in the “too much is never enough” lesson pretty hard.

He mentally accessed the readings of SG’s nanites and didn’t understand what they were showing. He had kept to the side of the counter, ready to help if needed, but he didn’t expect that. She only had to scan the items and put them in a bag. They had checked, she could do it without issue.

[ Warning! ]

The customer had been polite and aloof, not even blinking at her appearance. The ideal client for a socially awkward clerk.

[ Warning! ]

She was uncertain and she kept glancing back at him for reassurance, but she knew what had to be done and she moved in that direction.

[ Warning! ]

Some nervosity, but no outside sign of distress.

[ Warning! ]

Why were her vitals all over the place!?

[ Warning! ]

[ Warning! ]

“Thank you for your purchase, please come back.”

Her readings kept worsening, so Zax intervened. He didn’t know what he had prevented, but it couldn’t be good. As soon as he spoke, the pop-ups slowed and stopped. What a relief.

When the door closed behind the customer, Zax turned to inquire only to find SG on the ground, panting and sweating, her superhuman legs unable to hold her weight.

“Oi! What’s wrong!? What just happened here!?” He rushed to support her.

He truly hated feeling so out of his depth.

It turned out SG was excellent at hiding her true feelings, and actually talking face-to-face with a stranger was more of an obstruction than it had any right to be. It was viable through text or a game avatar, but in person… she felt like a rabbit in a wolf den. A sharp rabbit who had been trained to lash out at everything. Even if she knew it was wrong, she was safe, her experiences kept pointing in a certain, violent direction.

She had fought it off this time, but her stress level had risen fast enough to be concerning.

Zax gave her time to compose herself afterwards. He understood where her reaction came from, but it would have to stop.

Technically, it was possible to have a fulfilled life without human contact in the dot, through screens and remote orders. Some did, shying away from people for a variety of reasons, although it was only allowed if they were proven mentally sound. The winged girl had already proven to not have such ambitions.

In addition, in was only possible in the dot. Zax would be very surprised if SG wasn’t invited to the Circle once she had developed more mundane skills and stabilized her life. He didn’t know the exact requirements, but with her advanced mutations it shouldn’t be a lot. It would open the door to more suiting accommodations and avian peers she could more easily relate with.

They would have to discuss social training with Aran. Zax had a few propositions, but for now, he would handle that aspect of the job.

Midday announced the end of SG’s first shift and it was time for a review:

“So! What do you think of the job so far?” he asked as they sat with a warm drink.

“Err, that was… interesting. Lots of new experiences. Not what I imagined.” She shuffled her wrists together awkwardly, but she knew she could be candid with him. “Stressful. A bit… long I guess?”

“To be fair, orders like that are a rarity, and unpopular for a reason. I took it for your training, but you seem to have understood the basics already. You’d be surprised how many people don’t see the common sense of it all.” She timidly beamed at the praise, hiding her smile behind her cup. It was reassuring, she had been gloomy since her reaction to the customer. “Let’s talk about the future now.”

“Hm?”

“It’s my standard protocol for new employees.” He nodded reassuringly before taking a sip. “Most people don’t need or want a skillset as broad as mine, so I usually don’t teach more than what they came to practice for. Once they are good with that, I let them handle that part of the shop. It frees me to work on the rest.”

“Like what you were doing today?”

“Exactly.” He nodded. “Customizing a game controller for mutated fingers doesn’t use the same skills or tools as clothes, so there was no point in mentioning it. Same with the rest. In your case, you didn’t come with specific skills in mind, so I started with one with a low entry bar. Careful though, those are also the hardest to fully master. Now, we have more options. Did you like to work on clothes?”

“Yes.” Immediate answer.

“Enough to make it your job? To spend most of your time doing it, every day for years after years?”

“Er…” non-immediate answer, as expected.

“Yes, too early to tell.” He nodded again. “But would you like to learn more about that discipline, or another similar one, or to try something totally unrelated?”

“Er, like what?”

“Here’s a list of the skillsets I can teach and what careers they can be used for. I already sent the link to your bracelet.” Zax projected it from his own. “It’ll lead you to tabs with the pros and cons of each, including salaries, current and estimated future needs, and possible developments.”

“Uh?”

“What career paths the skills offer besides ‘do it more and better’, parallel skills they could help you pick up, and skills that would help you pick them up.” Zax elaborated. “I advise you to use ‘clothing adjuster’ as a reference, it’ll let you see what I planned and it’ll help you understand how the list handles the other fields.”

“That’s… a lot.”

“It is.” The handyman chuckled. He had worked hard. “I’m showing you the whole list so you can plan far ahead. Take your time, it’ll be a while before we get there. You can also try different things and change your mind later. For now, let’s just plan for the near future, alright?” After her relieved nod: “First off, do you want to keep working here?”

“Yes?”

“You’re asking me?”

“No, but… why are you asking that?”

“Covering all the bases, and making sure you understand I’m not your only option, even if you don’t want to consider others.” He shrugged. “Just in case. So working for me is fine. Do you want to stay focused on clothes, or would you be interested in trying other things? Games, maybe?”

After a rapid series of straightforward questions and less-and-less hesitant answers, they determined to have SG focus on everything he could do with to clothing. He would work on other tasks, and if something caught her fancy, she would watch him and he would explain if he could. Additionally, she would accompany him for his field orders. At least some of them, and at least at first, if only to see what the higher levels of his job entailed.

His field orders were the high-paying ones, requiring a higher level of expertise; he couldn’t justify a paid novice coming along. She would have to come for free as an observer. It wouldn’t be that formative, but she would see enough to make her mind, and she wouldn’t have to talk to anyone.

As it happened, he only had one field order. One night wasn’t enough to fill this queue. The timing was surprising though; it had been posted shortly after the beginning of his impromptu pause. It should have been directed to someone else, especially after so long. Even he hadn’t known when he would re-open, so the not-in-a hurry option didn’t apply.

There was no detail about what they wanted either, only the name of the customer: Pen. Typical dotter name. It happened at times, people who wanted to explain everything personally for some reason or another. Sometimes relevant reasons, even, but it still meant he couldn’t prepare anything in advance, which he didn’t appreciate. He could already tell how aggravating the situation will be to deal with.

Not the best aspect to entice a newcomer, but she would have to see it eventually.

Zax showed SG the closing routine, also testing what she had assimilated already; supply and merchandise inventory, next day scheduling, cleaning. A step on the light road – still starry-eyed for someone – and they were close to their destination.

It was an ordinary housing unit in the residential area. Similar to their own home, it was in the area lining the border of the dot, but the difference was unmistakable and confused the newcomer.

“It’s so… plain.”

“We live in a familial area, with home units for families with children. We are the exception. The walls are brightly coloured on purpose, and inhabitants are encouraged to let children express their creativity.”

“That’s why the finger drawings on the walls?” SG’s eyes widened.

“Exactly.” Zax nodded. “Pretty sure ours has more than most though. Our neighbour’s child is something else. Anyway, the idea is to be more homely and to help awakening young minds. Something like that. This here is a single unit area.” He motioned around them. “For adults living on their own. The main computer won’t bother having the walls coloured, but nothing prevents anyone from customising their personal areas. Most simply keep it inside. Some add something to their doors, but that’s it. That’s usually it., but it seems we have a winner.”

Indeed, the door they stopped at was artistically decorated, with a pattern covering every square centimetre, continuing on the frame and the surrounding wall. A striking sight, sadly invisible from the road.

“What… is it?” SG backed off a few steps and queried.

“Just graffiti. Wall paint. It can last incredibly long with the right maintenance, but it’s harmless.”

“No, I mean, what is the drawing of?”

“Hm? Uh. Interesting. I don’t know.”

From up close, it was a blueprint for a complex circuit board, with resistances, capacitors, LED, generators, and so on, placed along wavy lines for reason apparently more artistic than scientific. Stepping back a step, the components were too small to be distinguished and the whole reminded him of a game’s map, with mounts and rivers. Back another step and the general shape was familiar, but Zax couldn’t put his finger on it. Maybe roots, or a haphazardly mutated octopus seen from above?

< Query: memory/likeness/visual pattern (current focus) >

[ Results: (3)

Display? ]

< Yes. Sort by matching rate >

“It’s… mushrooms? Some kind of fungal or bacterial growth, spreading somewhere.” The handyman elaborated at her curious expression: “My nanites see 85% match in appearance.”

“Er… why’s that on the door?”

“An electronic engineer who studies mycology as a hobby and paints for fun? Or any mix of the three.” He shrugged. “You can ask them if you want.” He pressed on the doorbell. The painting didn’t hide the button at all; it harmoniously blended around it.

After such a display, Zax forgot all his expectations. It might even be a pleasant encounter, he pondered as the door slid open.

“Hey guys. What are you doing here?” The familiar voice of a certain foxy tailed gamer girl greeted them through a crooked smile. She hadn’t expected them either. “Enjoying your new freedom?”

Blinking his surprise away, the visitor introduced himself:

“Hello. I’m Zax, the handyman. I have an appointment at this address with a mister or missus Pen, to discuss a potential job.” Zax professionally intoned the rehearsed formulae. He nodded towards SG, to the side behind him. “I also brought my apprentice with me. She’s only starting, so she’ll just observe to have an idea of what to expect from that job.”

Quick on the uptake, Aran went with the flow. She glanced somewhere inside and nodded back at them:

“Come in, and call her Miss Pen.”

Pen. Miss Pen. The Miss Pen his roommate talked so much about, where her job sent her more and more often lately. Zax felt foolish. Somehow, the name hadn’t clued him in.

Stepping directly in the living room, he had his first glance at Miss Pen, seated in front of a paused video game and watching him back.

Aran had described her as overly active for an old woman, and she often wondered why she bothered with a home helper. She certainly looked the part of the elder. Her long and fluffy fur was bleached by time, but shining with health and energy. From what Aran had said about the amount of fallen hair she had to clean at every visit, she should have been bald, but her coat was as thick and sturdy as could be. It was also impeccable. Zax didn’t want to think about how long grooming took her.

Her eyes belied a sharp mind, along with a playful gleam rarely seen among adults.

“Finally. I was waiting for you.”