The announcements continued:

"As you go about your day, you may see new potted plants being placed in the hallways and offices. Those with allergies and sensitivities need not be worried, as these are hyper-realistic artificial plants. We hope the addition of this greenery will add ambiance to your workday."

I gave a mental nod of approval. It was best practice to be cognizant of employees' health conditions.

"As you may have heard in the news, a new law has been passed enabling citizens' pronouns on IDs to be shared publicly between personal communicators."

This was a complete surprise to me. I needed to pay more attention to the news.

"At noon, communicators worldwide will update and the default setting will be 'opt-in.' If you do not wish for your pronouns to be visible to strangers, please be mindful to change your settings to opt out immediately upon the update."

It was fascinating that this world's government got so involved in social politics. At face value, it seemed like this change would benefit the people.

"As for CenUMR, as a government organization, we have decided to make pronoun sharing mandatory between work communicators. Please be assured that the pronoun field will remain free-response and may be filled however you are comfortable while facilitating efficient and respectful communication between yourself and fellow CenUMR employees. For those that still find difficulty with the change, please be aware that you can submit personal petition forms, located on the intranet, via email to HR.

That concludes the morning announcements. Have a productive day at CenUMR, Providing the Ultimate Reality Check."

I nodded to myself, thinking I'd be truly enacting our cheesy slogan moving forward as an RRR employee. At least it wasn't the old slogan. According to Darcy, the same creative genius who saw no issue with CUMR also overlooked the iffiness of "Shaping Reality for the Greater Good." It was fortunate other politicians who let CUMR slip by were quick to spot the issue with this slogan, and a different one was chosen before it ever reached the public.

A few moments after the announcements ended, the staff member from earlier came back to the counter carrying a small black tray with something slim and silver in the middle along with a smartwatch.

I approached the counter and pointed above our heads. "That speaker is unnecessary."

They laughed. "It's quite loud, innit? They made sure not to put one right where Holton broadcasts but didn't consider that you can hear him from right here."

"You should request it be removed."

Though their smile remained, the shifting of their eyes showed discomfort or confusion.

"At the least, they can rewire it so sound doesn't come out."

"You know, I've never thought of that. You think the Tech Department could do it?"

"If it's clear that everyone finds it unbearable, I'm sure the request would be approved. Cutting the connection is a simple task. There's a tech named Darcy who could do it in a snap."

"Well, I'll be darned. No wonder you're joining the RRR Vesties." They placed the tray on the counter and then pointed to the tiny, flat piece of metal. "This here is your new comm, all ready to go. Please sign out your account and turn in your old one."

Staring down, I raised an eyebrow. "This little 7mm sliver of metal is a communicator?"

"Yep, special type just for RRR field workers. Full hologram display, though you can also use this e-watch's face instead. There's a manual included. Go on and take the watch. It's already synced and you'll want to view your task list first."

I followed their steps to turn in my old comm, then put the watch on as they reached under the counter and pulled out another tray, this one displaying various metal chains in individual baggies.

"Pick a neck chain to wear your comm on." They spoke as they pointed one-by-one, "Ball chain. Twist chain. Rope chain. Snake chain. Small box chain. Medium box chain."

"Medium box chain," I replied.

They picked up a baggy, dumped out the chain, then commenced to screwing one end into an invisible hole on the comm's short side.

"The watch can come off, but not the comm. Not even in the shower. Field workers are on-call even when they're off work, y'know."

"Mhm."

"Though that won't apply during your training period, best get used to wearing it 24/7 now."

They gestured a "come" movement with their hand and I smartly stepped forward and leaned over the desk. They tossed the chain around my neck.

"How long do you prefer it?"

I pointed a couple inches below my collarbone. They unscrewed some links then screwed the loose end into the other side of the comm, shackling me to my new position.

"Your new address is in your task list. First set of tasks is for HR, but your department supervisor will send task updates moving forward."

I opened the task list on my e-watch.

• Report to employee residence by 11:59 p.m., Tuesday (Room 802, Building RS, Greater Good Community, 4 Reality Circle)

• Complete medical evaluation with Dr. S. Parker at City Regional Hospital between 7 a.m. and 1 p.m., by Wednesday.

• Report to RRR Department for introductions, guided tour, and to collect uniform; time discretion of work partner, R. Grey.; by 5 p.m. Friday.

"I've got some other info for you," the HR staff interrupted, reaching under the desk and placing brochures atop it, one by one. The first brochure was labeled Upper Division Employee Guide.

"As an Upper Division employee, you get access to the restaurants on the dining floor as well as the salon, but you've got to pay full price. You also get discounted fares for public transport which is a few cents cheaper than you've paid with the standard government employee discount."

The second brochure was titled RRR Field Worker Employee Benefits and the staff continued, "As an RRR Field Worker, you get free ride passes via all city public transportation and taxis but only for work-related trips. This overlaps with the discounted fare pass you get as an Upper Division employee for any rides. You also get free entrance to all escape room businesses in the city, though you have to reserve in advance a time that's at the discretion of the business."

"Can I bring a friend?" I interrupted. Darcy loved escape rooms, though they were only good at the parts that involved overcoming a physical mechanism or required aiming at a target.

The staff raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, but they'd have to pay."

I nodded. That made sense.

The third brochure was for Greater Good Community. The staff opened it to the page titled RS Building and then explained, "RS Building is specifically for CenUMR employees without children. There's a small gym on-site, but you also have access to the community's larger gym and pool." They flipped to the back and pointed to the Community Center located on the map. "There's also a bar and country club with a golf course, but access is exclusive to government employees of a certain grade." The staff eyed me with a twisted mouth. "You could try, considering who your teammate is, but don't get embarrassed if they reject you, aye?"

I was going to say I wasn't interested but they continued before I could get a word out.

"Outsiders not employed with CenUMR's Upper Division are absolutely not allowed in the RS building and bringing one to your home is grounds for termination. So get a hotel if you wanna have a steamy night, youngin', okay?"

I felt my cheeks tighten at their brazen remark. It was embarrassing to even deny I had no intentions of doing either. Also to be called youngin' was shameful when this person didn't even look out of their forties. I averted my gaze and covered the lower half of my face with a hand, trying to massage my face into relaxation underneath.

"What's this?! How dare you act embarrassed when you can just stand there and look like a model on a runway, huh! Who do you take us for?"

I cleared my throat and gazed at them with a wooden expression because I still hadn't been able to shake my embarrassment. "Is that all?"

They sucked in their chin, continuing to side-eye me. "That's all!"

I gathered the brochures. "Thank you."

Their face relaxed. "Good luck, eh? Feel free to come to us if you have any problems."

I nodded once then left the office, glancing at the time on my new e-watch. It was still early and the movers didn't need me to be at my old apartment, so I might as well try to complete one of my tasks while I was at CenUMR.

I decided against messaging and headed up to the floor above to speak with Secretary Grey directly.

When the elevator door reopened on the eighth floor, my line of sight met Singer's. She was sitting upright and professional, face emotionless yet relaxed. As soon as I stepped out, intending to head towards her so she could log my presence, Garcia noisily shot up from his chair.

I halted as our eyes met. His were wide along with an open mouth. The longer he continued to stare this way without fixing himself or explaining, the sharper my gaze became. I hadn't looked at the group chat since yesterday and they must not have tagged me at any point seeing as that was the only notification I had allowed. I wondered if I had missed something that explained his behavior. Just when I considered checking, he covered his hand with his mouth and plopped back down in his chair, using the momentum to spin away.

"Don't look at me like that, Investigator Loren," he said then paused. "You'll make my heart stop."