Career Day
Cast:
Girinma, Kamaki Rintarou – age 26
Hamura Kaneda – age 26
June, 2007
Girinma is seated on the quiet upper level of a fast food restaurant. For the past several minutes, he has been staring at his burger and fries without moving a muscle. This might continue indefinitely, but a man wearing the employee uniform slides into the seat across the table from him.
"You look like shit, cousin. Surely you don't hate the food here that much?"
"The food is acceptable," he answers, though he obviously hasn't so much as touched it. "I came to tell you... you were right."
"Dude, that could mean anything! What was I right about this time?"
"Nightmare has no further use for me."
"That place is a shithole, and you know it."
"Kawarino, my boss... my former boss, he never called me by my name because I wasn't ever on payroll. They let me go without severance... not even pay for the days I've worked this month. If I list them as a former employer, they'll deny it, and even if I sue... there's no proof anywhere."
Kaneda lets out a low whistle. "Wow, that blows."
Girinma raises his head to glower at Kaneda, who raises his hands in a surrender gesture.
"Look, I get that you're in a low place right now! I'm just saying, it's not all bad!"
"Not all bad?! I've got nothing at all to show for the last three years! Everything I did for them has now become a gaping hole in my resume!"
"You're free, and they can't hurt you any more than they already have. There are plenty of places you could work that won't be troubled by a spotty employment history."
"Name one."
"Why not work here? No matter what people say about Mag jobs, they won't abuse your time and effort like Nightmare, they'll never cheat you out of your references, and if you stick with it, you could work your way up from the inside! I happen to know that this branch has an opening."
"Here? As a junior employee to you?" Girinma sneers, "I think not."
Kaneda makes a gagging noise. "As if! I know better than that. See, the position that's opening up... it's mine."