"So you are telling me there are no mandatory working hours?!"

"Yes. In a career in the arts, the focus is more on your artwork and sales, so there's no need for a one-size-fits-all-schedule. And as for the explorers guild, its more of organizing expeditions and projects that are at a suitable time for all your team. Meetings and discussions can happen through the smartblocks, the square devices you must have noticed.

The mandatory hours at necessity production are 5 hours, any 3 days of a week, for 3 months. You have to choose your slots, time and months, and your preference for the type of work, if you have one. Just go to the Nes-work app on the smartblocks. The tech and researcher teams are coming up with something that would help reduce our work time, though even now it isn't actually much work, its more of overseeing and making sure nothing goes wrong than actually working, you know?"

The young guy talking to them was Chad, a representative Allbackup sent to introduce them to the systems of work in Aimless Town. A brown, lanky lad of medium height, he seemed like a younger, more upbeat version of Jack to Jill. And certainly more talkative as well.

"That's all fine, what about switching jobs? You know I was assigned, right? I'm not even much of an adventurer really." Jack said, scrolling through his smartblock.

"Says the one who likes to drive through storms." Jill thought, though she didn't say it out loud. "It wasn't his fault completely, I didn't stop him either" she reminded herself.

"Of course, you can switch jobs easily." Chad replied, showing his own smartblock screen to both of them. "Just go to the job app, apply to wherever you wanna join, and that's it, you are done. Some jobs require special expertise, of course, like programming and scientific fields, so if you require training you have to indicate that by pressing this box. The mentor assigned will help you learn fast so that you can get to the fun part of actually working at it, though if you don't understand you can keep going over it and there's no rush, just that you won't get paid."

"So, that's a sort of free education?" Jack said, slightly incredulous of the bizarre way this town worked.

"Yes, sort of. If the field is really popular, you might have to do with group classes, which take more time to learn in than if you have an individual mentor. Though most people say it don't make a difference, that they are really interested and would learn it alone if they have to." said Chad.

"Oh and by the way, here's your AT wallet." Chad opened another app on the block. "Everyone starts off with a free 1000. There's a limit of 1 million, after which the government takes your money."

"What?" Jill asked, shocked at such a notion.

"Yeah, you can buy anything with a million. The costliest item is the statue of glory, on which your name will be added. After which, there really is nothing that you can't buy, so the town committee takes your funds and invests them in the least income-generating sectors. Or you can invest them yourself, that's how the adventurer's guild was born. Though now it gets both private and government funds, to support the old veterans' lifestyle."

After such and such long discussions about the practical aspects of life, such as getting supplies, transportation, medical care etc. Chad finally took their leave, telling them that they they could message him anytime if they needed help. Almost everything was done solely through the smartblocks, such as ordering groceries or booking a cab, which made them even more precious than the smartphones in Jack and Jill's world. Surprisingly, transportation within the town was free, as it was considered a necessity, while electricity was still metered.

"So, going out to work?" Jack asked Jill, who was searching around the room for a handbag.

"Yes, might as well..." Jill said, who took out the standard black purse and put her smartblock and a notepad into it.

"I wish I could do art too." Jack reminisced. Jill nodded in agreement.

"You could try now, you know?" Jill reminded him. Jack shook his head.

"You saw my drawings, they are an atrocity." Jill smiled knowingly, and gave him a goodbye hug.

"Anyways, I gotta go now." Jill walked towards the door.

"Bye, have a good day!" Jack called out, going back to doze on the couch for a while.