Memory download: New quarters
I unlock the door with a hand scan. They put all my stuff in here while I was working today. Lights come on as I enter, but subtle ones. Just enough that I can see where I am. I'm standing in a small entry hall with a main lighting control next to the door opposite me. A sliding door off on the left is open halfway, revealing a few of my lab coats and dress cloaks. On the right is a mirror so I can make sure I look acceptable before I leave for the day. I pause to turn on most of the lights before entering the next room.
It's the central room, the all-purpose space. There's a table and chairs in the left-hand corner nearest me, next to a chiller box that has a programmable re-order pad on the door. I don't even have to buy my snacks now. They come with the job.
On my right is a storage area. In the far left-hand corner, on the opposite side of a door, is the cleaning and changing area, where all my clothes are stored. There's a screen that pulls out to hide the area, with mirrors on the inside of it. I find that a slightly twisted touch; usually only sexualized defectives want to hide when they change clothing. Then again, I get stared at enough with my clothes on. Extra privacy would be nice if anyone's ever here. Whoever designed this was thoughtful. (No! Quit thinking about him, idiot! He's an engine tech; it couldn't have been him anyway!)
The main computer center is in the back right corner of the room. I notice that the screen for the changing area is rather long, so I try tugging it across the room. Its magnets click onto the frame of the door on the right side of the room, effectively dividing it in half. I can hide my computer work if I need to. I shove the screen back into its slot in the wall and decide to open the door on the left of the room, since I'm right next to it.
This is the relaxation room. I've finally got my own private room for doing nothing in. My own big fluffy couch, my own warm oil bath, my own snack dispenser (I'm so important I don't even have to go to the next room to get my snacks!), my own entertainment screen and, best of all, a set of well-placed speakers. I can plug my audio drive in and dance for hours if I feel like it. Or I can just lie there, looking up through the glass ceiling and watching the ships among the stars all night long. Anything. No one can bother me here unless I let them. And I don't plan on letting anyone in here. It's all mine.
I'm reluctant to leave the relaxation room for my personal lab, which I know is what lies beyond the other door off the central room. When I get over there, though, I'm glad I did. It's got all the equipment I need, and several things I'd only played with before and wanted desperately. All my projects are in their proper cabinets, exactly according to the lab storage layout I submitted. My encoded drives (the ones with my journal, BioPak data, secret projects like HLD, and so on) are set up in their rack and connected to the computer system. Everything is just the way I want it.
I love my new job.
"And I'm trying to make you feel that this is for real . . . I'm just trying to make you sing." - David Crowder Band
Entry: I still need to put Syre in her place. She's been a real bitch today:
Memory download: I hate this female
I'm working. Entering data on my latest "session" with the Hilph accused of supplying critical engine parts and guidance programming to the traitor Tak. She's been at large for nearly ten years since her last crime, but we think we're close to pinning down her location.
Syre comes in and asks me what I'm doing.
"Making notes on torturing the Hilph," I tell her.
"Oh, like the part where you took off your jacket so he could see you have a tail?" she says. I can't tell how to take that comment.
"The effectiveness of physical versus purely psychological approaches," I say.
"So making him touch your fur versus just threatening to?"
That's enough of that.
"If you can't handle having a mutant for a supervisor, ask to be transferred," I say, turning to look at her.
"I never said I couldn't handle it," she says haughtily. And then she walks out.
Such a bitch!
"Come here boy, I'll show you funny." - Joy Electric
Entry: It's been a few days since I updated the journal. I've been busy on the self-reversing mutagen I mentioned to the Tallest. The most recent test is promising, though I'm not sure if the reversal coding works yet.
Memory download: SRM test
In watching Syre over the past few days, I've noticed she has some annoying habits. She tends to suck on one of her claws when she's thinking, and she also taps her claws almost constantly. I've taken to turning up the volume on my audio drive to drown out the sound whenever she's in the room. The claw-sucking thing I can tolerate, though. In fact, it's proving rather useful.
When I came in this morning, I coated the inside of her topmost pair of disposable gloves with a preparation of the SRM virus. It won't absorb easily through skin, but once the stuff gets in her mouth, it should only be a matter of time. I've been watching her all afternoon (she used the gloves this morning to mix a solution we're going to try on the Hilph), and she is starting to look a bit odd. Her eyes and skin are definitely turning brownish.
I have to go now and see what else the Hilph might be able to tell us. Syre will be off-shift by the time I'm done, so I'll have to wait for tomorrow to see what I've managed to do to her.
Memory download: SRM test, day 2
Syre calls me up (voice only; no video) and says she's not coming in. I tell her she's wrong; she is coming. She won't obey, so I force a video link with her computer.
It's all I can do to stop myself bursting out in laughter. It worked perfectly. Instead of the standard red-eyed, green-skinned Irken, I see a green-eyed pink Irken!
"You think this is funny?" she asks.
"Quite a bit funnier than you making comments about my mutations," I reply.
"You did this to me somehow, didn't you?"
"No. It must have had something to do with those chemicals you mixed yesterday."
"It's some kind of virus, isn't it? I'm taking antiviral drugs now, so it won't progress any further."
"Fine, but you're still coming to work."
"Whatever."
Better than I could have hoped, at least in terms of revenge. By killing off the virus, she trapped herself that way. Unfortunately, it leaves out some key data I was hoping to get. Oh well, I can always test on one of the Irken prisoners here.
"It's got nothing to do with me. I feel it so violently, it's got nothing to do with me." - AP2