Chapter 10: A change of pace.
Thankfully, Frank's and Glorias return home was uneventfull, no other accidents happening as they walked home. Gloria did ask Frank several times if he is trully fine, and is it wise for them to walk home, instead of calling a cab or something. Frank denied the suggestion, using the excuse that he needed a bit of fresh air, as much as it was so in the city they lived, to air his head and get everything organized,assuring his mom that he would explain everything in detail once they were back home. Thankfully, Frank had cultivated a character that did not instill doubts in his mother, the latter agreeing to his request rather quickly. The rest of the way, once the previous worries and doubts were solved, was rather quiet, Gloria walking by Franks side, the latter having slowed down his pace for her to have no issues keeping up.
Once back home, Frank asked her to wait in the living room while he prepeares tea and once that was done, and both were seated, he started explaining the situation. Knowing his mothers character, he started with the few things he had learned of Rick's life, based on the rumors and the few snippets Rick himself had provided during their interraction. He explained how Rick had acted quite maturely and understandable to avoid the possibility of a much worse result. And even if Gloria complained a bit about the new manager of Franks now 'old' job, she too could understand the reasoning behind said youths actions, even if she herself considered it over the top.
Obviously, Frank withheld the part where he asked Rick to make a call for Franks blacklist, only adding that he recieved a rather sizable bonus from the mans own pockets as an appology of sorts. Frank aslo reassured Gloria that he would start hunting for a new job as soon as possible, most likely starting in the morning, leaving this day for his full recupoeration and rest. Something his mother agreed wholeheartedly, even asking if he should not rest for an additional day or two more. An offer Frank refused, well aware that the sooner he gets on the task, the sooner he could find himself withing the team of The Junkyard, solving countless problems he would have to figure a different solution otherwhise.
With his plans set in stone, he spent his remaining day in his own room, digging through the enourmous library of future tech discoveries, sorting out the things he could work on as soon as possible, while noting some of the more incredible ones as well.
'Just how many years, decades of even centuries is the stuff in my head, when compared to the tech we use today. There is countless things even I cannot comprehend, only the barebones description making any sense whatsoever. But that is fine, at least for the time being. I can just start with what I can understand and implement, then the rest will undoubtedly follow on its own.'
Frank mused as he waited for his mom to finish their dinner. He had offered help, but was categorically denied, going so far as being threatened with the wooden laddle, a threat he wisely heeded and returned to his room. The remaining evening flowed by in a simmilar manner, though Frank did start looking through the possible companies he could apply to, only to be rejected before sending his application to The Junkyard. He continiued the same even after dinner, having bid his mother good night. Finally, around midnight he too laid down to get some well earned sleep, ready to play his part in the following few days.
The following few days went on just as Frank had anticipated. With his spotless record, he rather easilygot past the machine algorithms of the companies he applied to, and just as expected, once the actual people read through his CV, Frank recieved one after another e-mail stating various reasons why they could not hire him. there was even a company he recieved an actual call from, his number included in the Cv's, where the representative of said company clearly stated the actual reason, adding that they were too small a company to risk the wrath of a behemoth like Fjord Diagnostics. Frank thanked the man, speaking of his understanding of their situation and expressing his gratitude for the dirrectness and openness of theirs, adding he would remember the goodwill he had recieved. His tone was controlled well enough that it should have, and indeed went over as intended, with no sarcasm or hatred underneath.
Once that particular call had ended he also finnaly applied for a spot at The Junkyard, noting that he would be willing to work whatever job they had, should a spot be open. Thankfully for Frank, there were a few rather high standing people in said company that were working rather diligently and actively to dig up as much information about him as possible. tapping into a civilian phone call was far too easy for such people.
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"So, what do we have on the kid?" Asked a voice, resounding fromn one of the monitors in the rather small conference room.
There were five peopel present, and an additional one was on the other side of the monitor, though this sixth perseon was not visible to the other five, his camera either not turned on, or simply absent from his setup. the other five were rather relaxed, a small file in front of each one of them. Old Jack, the gatekeeper and one of the executives, though not known to most of the regular workers, sat in one of the seats.
Next to him sat Peter, the same 'clerk' Frank had seen when he was lead over to search for teh parts he was interested in. Then there was an asian man, by the looks of it, around forthy years old, though his gaze eyes were as bright and energized as any young and hopefull man.
The last two were sitting just a bit closer to each other than the remaining people in the room. Both were dark skinned, with dark brown eyes, slightly blocky faces and braided hair. The man and the woman shared quite a few similarities, giving most people the idiea they were sibblings, which they were.
The dark skinned woman, Laura, spoke first. "Went over whatever cameras there were near the place this Frank got blasted, as well as chased down the two gangs responsible for said shootout. Pure misfortune on the kids part. Had he not been fired that day, and yes, documents, as well as the profile of the new manager is consistent, once you dig deep enough, he would not be anywhere near the place. And yes, that is the road he takes to and back from work almost every day. Checked that too."
"Whats with the reason of his innitial contact?"
"That too checks out." This time answered the asian man. "One named Bob Rogers patented a schematic of an unfinished project, making claims on several rather interesting concepts, though they all lead to a dead end for the time being. our techies said it just would not work, even if it seems all good on the theory part.."
"So, the probability that he is a plant is low?"
"Exceedingly low, to the point I would say its impossible." spoke Peter this time. "Dug up records and info on the kids family. Mother - Gloria, your average lady, though has the street smarts. But the old man of his, he he, the mad lad Rick Wraith himself."
"Oh?" the voice from the screen suddenly sounded much more interested.
"Yea, 'Ohh' indeed. And the kid seems to have not only inherited those brains of his, but the smarts of his mother as well, if the rest of the info we have on him is to be believed. He has coasted through life as an average, just barrely above to be precise, dude, blending in with the masses. Entirely opposite to what his old man had done. Though the death of Wraith senior should be a rather obvious reason for that. The nail that sticks too much out, gets hammered in and all that."
"So, can we expect more and more good stuff from teh kid, should he be taken under our wing?" the leader asked once again.
"I would say more likely a mutual cooperation is what we will settle in, if he is as much of a cracker as his mother used to be. Regardless, I see this possible cooperation as nothing but a victory. Who knows, the kid might even blow us out of the water with whatever he comes up next."
"So we are in agreement then?" the boss asked.
"Yes, though I would like to kee an eye on the kid." added jack, having not spoken once till now. "While I do not believe him to be a plant or anything, if he is as briliant as we expect him to be, we might need to cover the kids back on more than one occasion. I doubt other overlords will not figure out he is one of the cornerstones of whatever new stuff we can produce with his assistance."
"Hmm, I agree with your assesment. Once you deem it fit, find a way to get the family to ressetle within our walls, assuming he has more of the good stuff coming out of that head of his. Ideally, the mother would quit whatever job she is doing right now. Would solve much of the possible headaches if things go according to the predictions.Laura, Orro, I leave the security and said transfer in your capable hands."
"You got it boss!" both sibblings responded at the same time, creating a rather creepy moment of silence, that was soon followed by a stream of laughter from everyone present. They had a running gag that the sibblings were some sort of an android pair and such sincronized moments made the gag even more funnier. With their plan of action worked out, everyone left and returned to their own tasks, leaving only Jack and the person on the other side of the screen present.
"Will we tell the kid anything about his fathers involvement with our side?" Jack asked solemly.
"I dont see any reason to. Seems he does not like his old man as it is. Dont see any reason to make it more apparent that he was less of a priority to the man than he already believes."
"Understood sir."
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Frank recieved response from The Junkyard the next day, stating that his application had been looked through and they would like for him to come by for an interview in person. 'The papers dont tell the whole story' was the precise phrase used, though Frank had already expected that much. Though the fact that he recieved a response on a saturday was already quite the indication that whoever Jack, and the 'clerk', Peter, he was brought to were, they had quite the pull and influence in the company, if The Junkyard could be called that. Most did classify it as more of a resistance, the struggle of the common man against the corrupt and greedy.
The morning was rather calm, like any other weekend, and with him being the first to wake up, he did the sensible thing and prepeared breakfast for the family. Nothing fancy, obviously, but enough to provide ones body with the calories needed for a productive day. Though he did notice the first change in his own body, obviously theresult of CEWE's continius work during the nights. His body had started to demand more callories to ensure the changes it was going through could be sustained, as energy was the most pressing resource that said change needed to occur. And he would feel said need even more, what with him spending the weekend mostly home. Good thing Rick Fjord had given him some extra cash on the day of his employment termination, the legal bonuses not even mentioning, as the man had not tried to do the ussual sleazy things most such firings were proceeded with.
The rest of the weekend he spent rather leisurly, though he had to make an extra trip to the local shop, his need for calories growing even more. He would barely notice any improvement for at least a week, but he was perfectly aware of what would be the end result. At least in theory that is. Gloria also noticed his growing apetite, though she did not think much of it, believing Frank to have started to work out a bit more in his own room. He had a bar to pull up and a few dumbells in his room, set up to maintain a modicum of shape. She did joke about it a bit though, even praising him for prepearing himself for the eventual dates she would be finding for him, making her job much more easy. Frank's akward laugh did not detter the smile spreading on her face, as she mentioned, it one bit. Frank also spent quite a bit of his time continiuing sorting through the vast library of foreign and super advanced knowledge he had in his head, still having way too much of it that he had not yet found the begginings off, or the prerequisitive knowledge for it. Still, he was making progress, with more and more plans and schematics he could provide to The Junkyard to secure their continiued support, should he need it once his Ai eventually gets programmed and launched.
The monday morning arrived with gusto, Frank's mind deeply immersed and occupied with the sorting did not notice the passage of time, though the bouts of hunger and well planned alerst did allow him to go to sleep on time, as well as wake up in the morning, once again prepearing breakfast for himself and him mother. Once he was done with his own, rather large portion, he got dressed and left the building, his next destination being The Junkyard. It seemed that he was not the only one who was rather interested to get it over with as soon as possible.
The morning air was slightly chilly after a night of a rather heavy rain. The departure of summer and advent of autumn, clear in the air. Frank shuddered a bit, raising the collar of his coat, hoping for either a proper freeze, or anything else besides the damp air and bone chilling wind that sometimes breezed through the area. He was also rather relaxed as he moved towards the station where he could board the bus taking him to his destination, the police had gone and performed quite a few crackdowns on the gangs currently operating within their neighbourhood. The stunt they had pulled where Frank got his brains rattled a bit, had touched the bottom line of the law enforcement of the district, resulting in said purges. There had been quite a few reports on the news regarding the selfless and courageous act of said police department.
As he neared his destination, he went over the possible ways to aproach the impending interview. Both, the possibility that he was just considered as a poor lad, down on his luck and with a petty new manager that had to take out his old grievances on Frank, due to a rather unlucky coincidence, and the possibility that he was called upon because Jack had just that much of an influence and pull in the establishement. Whichever was the case, he would have to quickly figure it out and then act accordingly. What he needed right now was a stable and secure place where he could work his magic, away from prying eyes and greedy fingers. So long as he would provide them with some good stuff, by their standarts, he was rather sure he could secure said needed place and security. He needed the time to set up and grow after all. Plus the added security that being an employee of The Junkyard would bring to his mother was another extremely important factor to consider.
Eventually, he found himself in front of a rather large door, a plaque with 'Human recourses' hanging above it. He had somehow teached the place while in deep though, a small amount of sweat forming on his palms, a clear indication of the nervousness that had creeped upon him. He was about to possibly secure a rather stable foundation on which to build his future plans. As he entered, a rather pleasant, but low sound resounded, warning whomever was inside of the aproaching guest.
While the door seemed rather large, the room he soon found himself in was quite the opposite. A small hallway lead him to a rather well decorated room, one filled with different kinds of room plants, giving it a rather unique air. A single, middle aged lady with her hair tied into a bun and average looks glanced in his way, but moments later returned to whatever she was looking at previously. There was not much of a reaction from the woman, just a quick glance that was nothing more than acknowledgement of his entry in said location.
It was only once Frank walked over and stood before the counter that the middle aged lady returned her attention to Frank. He also noticed the fasion magazine she had been reading while sitting in her place. With a somewhat tired sigh, something Frank considered rather odd, seeing that it was only the first day of the new week.
"How may I help you?" she asked, adding "Or do you perhaps have an appointment?"
"The latter, yes. Frank Wraith is my name. I was inormed that my CV had been looked at, they liked what they saw and wanted to conduct a live interview to get a proper measure of me."
The secretary glanced through some files on her desk, frowning for just a moment when reaching a certain one, then returning her attention to Frank as she lightly smiled and replied.
"Yes, I found your name." she then handed Frank a small booklet of sorts. "Please follow the map on this and move towards the building marked as A-5. Inside there are a couple of conference halls. Your target is the once marked as Meeting room 1." She smiled just slightly more "Good look with our interview."