I’d had my outfit for my first day of work all planned out from the moment my uniforms were delivered and I’d made sure all of them fit. I was going to wear a short-sleeved military-styled shirt tucked into what looked like a combination of a knee-length pair of shorts and an equally long skirt. I thought it looked cool at first – in the catalogue, which was why I chose it – but as I looked at myself in the mirror before leaving, I contemplated changing. It probably didn’t help that I was wearing leggings because of the cold. Leggings!

I didn’t know much about fashion and style. I’d been wearing old, faded clothes since I was fifteen, rarely getting new ones. When I did get new ones, they were plain. I didn’t have the luxury of worrying about my personal style or aesthetic when I was just glad to have clothes that fit and had no holes.

Recently, as I ventured out more and more, I started to realize that people in Karys dressed differently than people back in my home country and it made me a bit self-conscious. It was hard not to be when I was surrounded by tall, good-looking people dressed in expensive-looking clothing.

“Get yourself together, Zed. This isn’t Earth. We aren’t in New Malta anymore. We’re in Baxat, Karys, and everyone here dresses like this. Besides, it’s a uniform. There’s nobody here to make fun of you wearing a skirt to work.”

I slapped my cheeks twice and took a deep breath. I had to go meet the others for breakfast. It was my first day of work and Milan’s first day back at work so we all agreed to have breakfast together in the café on the ground floor. Not wanting to be late, I grabbed my coat, and bag, and tied my bootlaces quickly as I left my room. On my way to the elevator, I made sure I had everything with me. Phone? Check. Special underwear I was instructed to take with me just in case? Check. Water bottle? Check. Wallet? Check. Were my work ID, bank and transit cards inside my wallet? Check, check, and check.

When I got to the café, everyone was already there and I felt the need to apologize just in case they had been waiting for me for a long time.

“Good morning. You look nice,” Aubyn greeted me, patting the space next to him and sliding a copy of the laminated menu over to me.

“Thank you,” I replied somewhat shyly. His compliment calmed some of my nerves.

“Excited that this is your first day of contributing to society for once?” Milan asked.

“It’s too early, Baby,” Sang reprimanded before I got a chance to reply. “Tardiness is a sign of rudeness and lack of respect, Zedikai. Please keep that in mind.”

“I wasn’t that late.” I shouldn’t have expected to be spared a lecture from Sang.

“You should show up no later than five minutes before the agreed-upon time. Five minutes late may work with us now and then, but not for meetings or appointments. Understood?”

“Yes, sir.” Sang could be such a father sometimes, but I knew he was only saying so for my own good. That didn’t stop me from getting annoyed sometimes though.

We got up to order at the counter and retook our seats to eat when we got our food. Since I was too nervous and excited to eat much, I ordered something simple and somewhat familiar-looking though I’d only seen it online. It was a slice of thick toast topped with cream cheese, thin slices of cucumber, smoked salmon, a drizzle of finishing oil, and nuts. Only, it wasn’t. The only things I was right about were the toast and the nuts. The rest were look-alikes.

“Do you want to know what you’re eating?” Sang asked. “I thought you didn’t like fish.”

I slowed my chewing and looked down at my breakfast. It smelled great and tasted even better than expected even if it was fish. “It tastes good. That’s all I need to know.” I still wasn’t used to food on Karys and even when it was explained to me, I didn’t know a fruit from a vegetable.

After breakfast, we left the café and got on the first bus together. Milan would get off a couple of stops earlier than we did, the clothing store he worked at being close to the office.

“You need to see Siele-sumeo first,” Aubyn said, tapping his ID card at the turnstiles. “I’ll take you to her office but then I have to get started on work right after. Are you going to be okay by yourself today?”

“I think so,” I said as I clumsily followed suit with my ID card.

“Stop babying him, Aubyn, he will be fine,” Sang said, pressing the button for the elevator on the left. “Zedikai, Siele-sumeo’s office is on the second floor. You’ve been there before. What do you do if you get lost?”

“Ask someone for directions?” I had a feeling that something unpleasant was about to happen.

"Exactly.”

“What if they don’t speak English?” I asked.

“Figure it out,” Sang said. Aubyn was about to say something else, but Sang draped an arm around his neck and pulled him off to the elevator opposite the one we had been standing in front of. “We have work to do, Au Yin.”

I chewed on my thumbnail as I watched them board their elevator that came seconds before mine did. I entered mine and pressed the button for the second floor. I couldn’t keep relying on them for such simple things. Finding Siele’s office couldn’t be that hard to do since I’d been there before and despite my lack of social skills, asking someone for directions to her office if I got confused or lost wouldn’t kill me.

Luckily, I didn’t have to ask for directions. The floor layout was simple enough and it helped that I could read the sign on the door with her name on it. I knocked and waited, hoping she was already in.

“Meru.”

Assuming that meant I could enter, I turned the knob and peeked my head inside. “Good m- I mean, mondai sun, Siele-sumeo.”

The woman was sitting at her cluttered desk, pursing her lips at her computer screen. At the sound of my voice, her face lit up and she broke into a warm smile. “Ah! Come in, come in. Mondai sun! You’re here early. I thought you would be in a little later, but I guess with who your guardians are, you’d come in as early as they do.” Siele gestured to the seat in front of her desk. “Ready for work?”

“As ready as I’ll ever be,” I answered, entering her office and closing the door behind me. I sat in the chair she gestured to, shifting my bag onto my lap.

“Then don’t mind if I put you to work. Just… give me one moment.” She finished what she was doing on her computer and then turned her attention back to me. “You’re acting mostly as my assistant but your tasks won’t be the same all the time. However, if you do really well on something, I might just make that a routine task. I’m not always going to be here this early either and you definitely don’t have to be. As long as you come in on the days you say you’re going to come in and work the hours you’re expected to per week, then I will have no issue.”

“How do I clock in for work?” I asked.

“Uh… you have a phone, right?”

I took the device out of my pocket. I hadn’t gotten the hang of the interface yet, but I could do the basics. “Yes, I do.”

“Text me the hours you’ve worked at the end of the day. To be honest, we mostly go off tasks completed and progress made with cases than the actual hours employees have worked.”

How casual. That was not what I expected. “But how will you know if I’m actually at work?”

“I am putting my trust in you as I do with everyone else. They have a set amount of hours to complete weekly or monthly and unless they’ve told me a different number, I am going to assume that they have done what they were supposed to do and pay them accordingly. You’re all adults and I’m neither a slave driver nor do I have time to micromanage you all. I expect you to do what you’re supposed to. Unless you’re implying that I cannot trust you to do the work you have been brought here to do, Mr Haida.”

I shook my head immediately. “N-No, Siele-sumeo. And please, call me Zedikai.”

“Alright then, Zedikai. Today is usually a slow day, so I’m hoping that will work in your favour since it is your first day on the job. How are you with reading Alunai?”

“I can read and write it. I’ve got the alphabet memorized. It’s just… I don’t really know what any of what I’m reading means.”

“That’s fine. For now, you should be able to put files in alphabetical order, locate analogue files, and check on the status of open cases by talking to our agents. Yes?”

“A-About that last one. Does everyone here speak English?”

“No. So, we all speak more than one language, but as for the languages of Earth, most of us speak one or more Chinese languages and dialects, Russian, and German. There is an area for English speakers but it is the least common of Earth languages spoken at this office. That is why learning Alunai is very important. I will be pushing you to learn and use what you’ve learnt which is why you are going to be keeping track of all the open cases we have whether they are in the hands of German speakers or English speakers.”

I took a deep breath and swallowed my nervousness. This job would not be a piece of cake. If I had wanted to be comfortable though, I would have stayed on Earth and found some rich old guy to take care of me as long as I gave him my ass.

“I’ll do my best.”

“Pretty words, but I want to see it. It’s early. Most of the agents will start flooding in later on so I’ll be having you do some organizational work until then. Do you mind sharing this office with me for your first few days?”

“Not at all.”

“I’ll see if I can get you your own desk when you’re more comfortable. I want to make sure I’m nearby if you have any questions for now. Bring that chair around here so you can have some space to work.”

I stood and pulled the chair I was sitting on around her desk to the opposite end of where she had her computer set up.

Siele gestured to the stack of folders at the furthest corner of her L-shaped desk. “I want you to tackle that pile of closed cases. Sort them in alphabetical order and then help me enter them into the system. I am a bit behind on making notes of closed cases from Earth that we took part in. I shouldn’t have to remind you that the information you may be exposed to while dealing with cases needs to be kept quiet.”

“Yes, ma’am.” It was written in my job contract so many times in so many ways that it was hard to not know that I was dealing with sensitive information that should not be repeated unless need be. It was even mentioned in the job training.

“You are free to take breaks whenever you want. Your total working hours each day are up to you, just make sure you don’t go over your hours every four work days.”

“I read that I can work anywhere between twenty and thirty hours per week. Is it three to four days for the week I should work?”

“That is also up to you, but I’d rather you not surpass ten hours per day. Unless it’s an emergency, nobody should be working that many hours a day. It would be nice to know ahead of time which days you’re going to be working though, so I can have tasks ready for you. I will also ask you to come in on specific days which makes it your responsibility to shift around your hours and days. If you need more hours, let me know. If I need you to do more hours or shift some time around, I’ll ask. Any more questions?”

“Not at the moment.”

“Great. Start working.”

“Yes, ma’am.”