"Thank you!" Lydia felt like her eyes must be as big as saucers, and perhaps her mouth was hanging open, but this promotion was so much more than she ever would have expected.
"I'm sure you will serve us well," Jim said with a slight smile, "But you had better go home early today."
"Um," she was taken aback once again, "Go home early? But why?"
"To pack," his response was curter than with what she was usually familiar, "You leave tomorrow morning."
"Tomorrow morning? But – but this is such short notice!" Lydia jumped up from her seat, "What if I had refused the project?"
"Would you have?"
"Well… no, but-"
"Listen, I understand that it is short notice," Jim frowned, "But I was certain that you would take the position. It of course entails a pay raise as well. But this research must be undertaken quickly. If we can't complete it before the snakes return underground we'll have to wait another seventeen years to do more."
"Even if they're underground, if we know they're there, can't we monitor their movements and behavior with radar or something?"
"They apparently come above ground to breed. We want to understand about that, as well as their behavior underground. I'm surprised you didn't consider that."
"Well I am in a bit of a shock. How long is this appointment for?"
"As long as it takes. We don't know much about the life cycle yet, or how long they stay above ground."
She sighed, digesting this, "You really want me to leave tomorrow?"
"It's absolutely necessary that you leave tomorrow. Your team is expecting you."
"But what about my cat? My friends and family? This barely gives me enough time to arrange for care for her and to inform all of the people I know about-"
"Arrangements have already been made."
That made her frown; "They have been?"
"Yes. You gave us emergency contact information when you signed on to work here, didn't you? Since I knew you would take on this project I happily contacted those people, told them about what was happening, and all arrangements have been made. You need simply to give us the key to your place before you leave and your friend contact will pick up your cat late tomorrow evening. Your family has been instructed to inform all of your other friends and relations where you are. There is nothing further that you need to do."
Now, that was presumptuous. Yes, she knew the nature of the university was a little more open and she had signed a form waiving certain privacy rights due to the fact that the university was government-established, but this seemed a bit much. Still, she didn't want to ruin her chances at taking on this project, and so didn't see fit to complain. And her apartment was leased through the university, effectively making Jim her landlord and perfectly within legal rights to request her key from her.
She had known that certain things might be awkward if she took this job, and she had accepted that due to the prestigious nature of the work she would be doing. Still, she had begun to think none of that was going to happen, because up until this point nobody had requested any private information from her. The warnings and the waiver had seemed like exaggerations... until now.
"Well, thank you I suppose," she said awkwardly. "That makes it... a little easier on my end, I guess."
"I thought so. We are happy to provide such conveniences to our best employees," Jim shot her a smile, flattering her and almost making her forget about how weird this all was until he said his next piece; "I am afraid you shall have to surrender your phone to us as well."
"What? My phone?"
"Oh, please don't worry. You will be provided with a business phone to replace it. All of your necessary contacts will be programmed into it. You see, this is a highly sensitive project. If our competitors from any of the other states get in on this first, well... we could lose all funding. You know how the king is. He only funds government agencies while they do not disappoint him. The Queen of Florida is already suspicious of our work in her state; her research team is a great threat to ours. And the King of Arizona is putting together a research team of his own as well. You will need to cut off all contact with unapproved individuals at least until we get a paper published. You understand this, don't you?"
She sighed and nodded; "I suppose so." The Invasive Cane Toads project had been conducted fairly under wraps as well, but nowhere near so much so as this one apparently had to be. Granted, this was a new species and a dramatic one as well. Given the circumstances, maybe everything wasn't quite so strange after all.
"Wonderful!" Jim's pleasure was evident in his eyes; "Then you leave tomorrow!"