Job Hunters is a webisode series directed by Alexander JL Theoharis.
I am in no way part of the cast, crew, or writing and do not own the world or characters in it. To quote Cather from Fangirl: "I'm just borrowing them."
Watch the series so I'm not alone! DFTBA!

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Website: maewin
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Enjoy.

"Approaching transit station; please gather belongings and prepare to disembark."

When I was a little girl my great-grandparents were still alive. Mostly. They told me stories about their first job interviews. How all they had to do was write down their qualifications on a piece of digital 8bits and send it through the global connection of computers...or just known as the internet. They'd either have to wait anxiously, write a thank you letter, or send more to other jobs they qualified for… or sometimes didn't but claimed to be quick on their toes. And I'm not kidding you… I've seen them in their youth through videos… it was totally a claim.

My family and I waited anxiously every single day after graduation for our letters—mine and my siblings that is. No really, we waited. Dad would wake us up early and mom would brew us tea for the nerves. Bubblegum tea… after a while it started to become bitter and my sister Porsha would push the cup away. She knew being the eldest, she would be the first to go, but for some reason it was delayed. Perhaps it got lost in the mail? Who were we kidding? She didn't last five hours in the arena. Dillon was second to go and our family seemed to be getting smaller the more the letters came out.

I remember playing games more than with the other kids in the neighborhood—it didn't seem to make sense to me to make friends if someday I was signed up to die side by side with them. Maybe I'd end up slicing one of them for a Geek Squad invitation. Us Winston kids were known to be anti-social and brainy—except for my sister Danica. She was the closest to my age, but had laugh lines and at least a two-pack. I carried a six-pack soda case with me into our room and played video games. She was the brawn where I was the brains. We'd stay up late after our rounds of bitter tea and hug each other after a fight broke out. There was always a fight. Anxiety. Arthur was older than Dani and younger than Porsha but it never stopped him from being paranoid.

"I'm the eldest son. What if I'm first to go?"

"Don't be stupid, Artie, it goes by age not male priority."

"Great-gran said—"

"Great-gran is in a casket."

Or something like that.

"You have until tomorrow morning to prepare for your first round in the arena! Good luck! And remember you just may win."

"Is she always like that?"

Dani and I glanced between the corners of our eyelashes. He was a scrawny kid with a button-up short sleeve. He may have fit nicely in an office cubicle or some sort of business that dealt with a lot of paper. There was a blue stain at the corner of his shirt's pocket—a nice pen with a gold rim hooked on nicely confirmed this. He sniffed at the end of his sentences. One, nervous tick… two, awkward reflex, or three he had a cold. I wished that the music would get louder to drown him out. Chopin? I was never really good with remembering their names.

"All administrators are required to have a lively and warm personality. My name is Tori and I'd like to personally welcome everyone here. Would you like some hot chocolate?"

"Right…I'll pass." Sniff. "Allergic to chocolate." Sniff.

His palms weren't sweaty and his arms were so thin you could bet your best friend your pinky wrapped around it could snap it. One of the girls in the background gasped in dismay to his second comment before the third sniff.

"How do you live without chocolate? I'd love some Tori!"

"Okay, Ann. I'll get some started right now!"

That peppy voice… the sniffing… if I wasn't going to die in the arena I surly would die right now in the safe house. Anjelica Winston—affectionately known as "Ann"—died from too much exposure to peppy-ness. Dani leaned into my ear, "You'd think they were all robots."

"The admin's not a robot. Tori though, I heard a rumor there's one in every house. Different names, but they all act on the same program."

Danica wheeled around to a boy sitting at the piano. He wasn't as skinny as the sniffer, but he didn't look much. Maybe that's how he wanted it. He probably didn't want to give away his strength outside of the arena. That might make him a target—smart. Observant… and killer hearing senses. Or he can read mouths. Because I had to squint as Dani whispered through the chaos that was the safe house. If irony could kill…

"Are you saying she's a—"

"Synth. Yes. They've upgraded the program to avoid tampering since the rumor of a synth going rogue—" I rolled my eyes. Firewalls were easy to break through if you knew the dance. "—Trust me, I've tried since week two. There's no way I could live with a broken record of being asked if I'd like cocoa."

"So you're a programmer." I found myself asking. Not a very good one, if he was still trying, but he was a programmer and that was a start. Anyone who knew me could hear the sarcasm in my voice. I liked to hide it in a way that made me sound interested to find out but not intrigued to care. The latter part was the one that gave away my secret and Dani nudged me when she heard it. She gave me a play nice glare. I could see Dani's tombstone now—Danica Winston, died of being too nice to people in the arena. Even with the martial arts background Dani was still too personable. She needed to be broken down—I wish all it took was a manner of maneuvering over some firewalls instead of stubbornness. Once you got her angry though… I'd feel sorry for her roommate if she had an annoying tick. Hopefully the roommate doesn't snore. We hadn't checked our room assignments yet.

"That's nice." I attempted to humor her. The piano guy snorted, indicating my guise wasn't going as smoothly as I'd like. He pulled a digital book from the stand and approached us—I had to crane my nose up as he came closer. His hand was out, and after I didn't take it, Dani jumped in with a sweet smile. Dani was always smiling around people. It was kind of weird, actually. She was the only Winston kid that ever attempted to go outside with the neighborhood children.

"I'm Danica, and this is my sister Anjelica—"

"Ann," I corrected her.

"Ann." He repeated. "Basil, or just Baze."

"You play?" Dani was actually interested and it was oozing through her kicks. Anyone that played an instrument was the top of her list. Then sports… then miscellany… et cetera.

"Sometimes, to drown out the welcoming committee."

Her eyes perked up, "Oh so that wasn't a recording? Amazing, I mean your playing that is." She added a giggle at the end. Nervous tick.

"I'm flattered." His eyes were still on me. "You're a programmer?"

"How can you tell?"

"You rolled your eyes when I mentioned Tori's upgrade."

"I did?"

"You did."

In the blur of my eye I could see Dani's red chucks slowly backing off, "Well, I'll be checking where my room is. Ann, are you coming?"

"It'd be best if you go. No point in getting to know me, I might not see you pretty ladies tomorrow."

"Likewise…"

I could hear Dani snort, but she covered it to be a cough or a sneeze. I couldn't tell. Basil had a smooth walk and hints of muscles behind his V-neck. I glared at her when he was gone and she began to burst into laughter.

I provided the sighting while Danica provided the killing. By the end of the day she had about ten killings and I survived another well-earned nap in the dorms. Basil was waiting by the train departure, wiping off blood and bark from his throwing knives. He greeted us with a nod, or was just nodding to a song stuck in his head. No sign of blue-stained boy. I kept my fingers crossed.

Dani sat down next to him and shot a look towards me. I gave an inaudible scoff and faced the train tracks ignoring her pointless teasing. She was doing it to piss me off and I wouldn't let it work. There was no need—we were enemies as far as the employers cared.

"How are your scores?" Dani was the first to talk. She was always the first to do something. Dani volunteered for an animal shelter. Dani kissed a boy today. Dani signed up for karate. Dani went to prom with a girl. Dani got a tattoo… first. Before I could determine whether or not it seemed right or wrong for me, but because I was close to age I was to follow. Except, when I went with a girl, it was for a political statement and accidentally broke her heart and when I went to go get a tattoo I ended up with multiple holes in my right ear because I saw it on broken-hearted girl. As a memento of not to be an idiot in future cases.

"Not too bad. Yourself?" Basil never really said much, now that I thought of it. He kept mostly to himself, staying true to his first words as we met at the house.

"She's vegan, so she's opposed to killing. I made up for it though… after you get past the blood and the feelings…"

"It's a rush." He agreed. "How do you expect to live, kid? You've gotten lucky, sure, but—"

"I think we should hack Tori."