Tobame's Struggle – Chapter Four
Tobame woke up bright and early the next day – but still forty-five minutes later than what he would have done as a Silph employee. It was another perk of the new job – better working hours. And the best thing was that if he had finished his assigned work for the day, he was free to go – no more sitting around in a dazed stupor with nothing to do. Any extra work done counted as overtime, with extra pay awarded accordingly. What an improvement – Tobame felt that his luck was really starting to turn. Deciding to forgo the gel today, Tobame wore his unwanted trademark outfit and left. He felt fantastic, even as he watched the Pelippers and Pidgeots speed past overhead. Usually, he would have felt an acute sense of jealousy as the Pokemon overtook his walking pace, but he was in a good mood – for the first time in years – today. In fact, he was in a spending mood.
Ignoring the hole in his pocket, Tobame fished out his wallet and checked that he had enough money to make a decent-sized purchase for his own amusement. It probably meant that he would have to skip either lunch or dinner for the rest of the week, but there was this strange sense of euphoria spreading through his body, one that impeded his logical thought. Taking a short detour to the commercial district, Tobame decided to go shopping. Not at the big shopping mall though – no matter how deluded he was, he was keenly aware that nothing inside was within his spending range. Wistfully gazing at the humongous Alakazam that was perched on top of one mall as part of the architecture, Tobame turned aside and entered the street market.
The street market was a more modest area of the commercial district, catered to those on a tighter budget. Prices were reasonable, due to the lack of branding – the main culprit behind the stupid prices in the official high-class shopping malls. The quality was of course inferior, but due to constant inspection and strict anti-con rules, the products were solid, and weren't just held together with spit and prayers. Tobame ventured here sometimes on Sundays, although the crowd usually turned him off – besides, on the days that he did come, he usually returned home empty-handed. Today, the market was less crowded, as most people were either going to work or still in bed, and thus Tobame was able to examine the just-opened stalls in relative peace. He checked a wall clock for the time – he was early, and he had no less than 15 minutes here to make a quick purchase and get to his first work day at his new company.
The stalls were simple affairs – much like a thieves' market actually, although of course the goods here were all legitimate, merely sold through official channels and passed down the grapevine. Reportedly, the goods unable to be sold at the high-class shopping malls were sold to the street vendors. This suited Tobame just fine. He was looking for something practical and required at the same time – no fancy ornaments that were just meant to be hung round a neck, or something that he already had, no matter how old and worn it was. Something like a pair of glasses, which he sort of needed due to a very slight myopia condition; or a proper belt to replace the piece of cloth that was serving to keep his pants from falling down, or a nice watch. Oh yes, a watch would serve his needs well – he was tired of looking at wall clocks all the time. It was reasonably stylish as well, giving him a better image for his new job.
Decision made, Tobame ventured to the stalls where watches were sold. The watches on sale were mostly small affairs with leather straps and metal frames – the new fashion now, as ridiculous as Tobame found it, was big and clunky gold watches that seemed to occupy half the wearer's wrist. The watches weren't even good for telling the time, but of course if you could afford such a watch, you probably had a nice new handphone in a pocket to tell the time with. Tobame wanted a handphone – in fact, it was probably his first-choice object that he wanted to possess – but good handphones were ridiculously expensive. With his new pay, though, it might be accessible in perhaps six months' time. Banishing thoughts of handphones, Tobame re-examined the watches on sale. The children's watches came with Pokemon all over the strap, but the more mature pieces had an unobtrusive design with only the latch discreetly shaped like a Pokemon. Tobame took this design into consideration when making his choice. His knowledge of Pokemon was next to nil, but he had always admired the awe-inspiring legendary dragons. He picked out a nice design – with a Rayquaza adorning the metal battery case – and was about to buy it, when another watch caught his eye.
On first glance, the watch was completely bare, but if one turned it this way and that so it caught the light, several hearts were found scattered all over the watch's material. However, what caught Tobame's eye was the fact that the watch was made completely out of metal – and to an untrained eye, the watch even appeared gold-plated. True, it was more of the slim, simple design that was popular five years ago, but still; it looked much classier than the leather models that were elsewhere. Tobame looked anxiously for the price – he feared that this model would be much more expensive than the others, but his fears proved unfounded, as the price was as affordable as ever. Surprised but relieved, Tobame put it on, checked one last time that the hearts were invisible to the casual observer, and made the purchase. Actually, the watch was more of a ladies' model, but it wasn't that obvious, and Tobame had no time to examine it more closely. A glance at the new watch showed that he had overshot his allocated time and now had barely five minutes to get to Apricot before he was officially late for his first day at work. Not a great way to make a first impression.
But there was to be no worry, as Tobame managed to reach his company on time. He had been told to go straight to Lanaya's office for initial briefings. He supposed that most new employees did not get an audience with the chairman, but he was not "most" new employees. The security guard was much more cordial when speaking to him, causing Tobame to find it hard to keep the glee and condescension out of his voice when replying the greeting. He promptly got a temporary access card to the top floor from the receptionist, who was aware of his arrival, and took the bubble lift up to the chairman's office. Facing the glass and the view outside the entire time, Tobame was surprised by the sound informing him that the lift had reached its destination floor – but he was even more surprised that Lanaya herself was waiting for him at the lift lobby. Head down, he almost didn't see her at first, which led to him almost colliding into a body, forcing him to reach out a hand to steady himself at the last moment. Lanaya appeared unconcerned by his total embarrassment, just standing there, one eyebrow raised, as she motioned towards her office.
So much for being stylish. I would do better to avoid banging into people instead of buying some watch with money that could have been better spent repairing my main door. Who am I trying to impress, anyway? She doesn't seem very concerned, though – which is to be expected, I'm just a piece of business to her. If I go around banging into the stocks of goods at work I can expect to be fired within two weeks, insider information or not.
The familiar office greeted Tobame's eyes as Lanaya held open the door for him – shouldn't it be the other way round? Before he had time to contemplate this notion further, he was through the door, and the door was shut behind him. Here we go – time to find out what this company is all about.
"Mr. Tobame, welcome to Apricot Incorporated. You will be starting work today, and your headquarters is at the west wing, eighth floor. Your on-site work will take place one floor above your office – sorry for the inconvenience, but the company is planning an extra wing and some reshuffling is going on. You will be provided with ample amounts of paper, stationary, as well as a company clipboard. Those are the only things essential to your stock-taking job. At your desk, you will be provided with an Apricot computer, in addition to communal photocopying and fax machines." Fair enough – this is all expected, nothing different from Silph. Perhaps conditions are slightly better.
"Also, all company employees must own one of this." Lanaya reached below her desk, and then slid a slim leather pouch over. As Tobame opened the pouch and slid the Apricot mobile phone out, Lanaya was already talking. "Since you are a low-end employee, you will only receive a low-end mobile phone, but it should be sufficient for your daily needs. The phone is hotwired to the company so you can reach whoever you need to reach without any trouble. You are expected to have the phone on and be contactable at all times. If you lose the phone… well, you can either pay us back the money or… basically, don't lose the phone."
Tobame examined the smooth metallic slider. The Apricot logo was etched on the top of the mobile, and the phone felt perfectly weighted in his hands. There was no camera, even though Apricot's leadership in the mobile phone market was mainly due to the superb quality of their camera phones as well as the ability to attach Pokemon frames and clipart to the photographs taken. However, the mobile was perfectly weighted in his hands, and was made of very sturdy chromium. Even to his untrained and inexperienced eye, he could tell that the mobile was built to last, and would no doubt serve him until a promotion occurred. Tobame wasn't sure whether that was a good thing or a bad thing.
"Now, I know you think you are special. And I'm not denying that you are special – your pay is significantly higher than other people in your position. But I do not want you to throw your weight around at work and pretend you are superior – you have been given this chance because of certain information I cannot risk you divulging to outsiders. If you are unhappy that I am speaking to you like this, I think I'll risk you blabbing – you clearly will not be satisfied, and if Apricot is going to go down I'd rather it go down with a proper and honest fight with Silph rather than paying off some rat trying to stick his fingers into both pies. I do apologise if I sound harsh, but I'd thought I'd get that straight from the beginning. If you want to leave, the door is that way. Or, if you want to negotiate, get it over with now." With that said, Lanaya stared at Tobame, waiting for his reply.
Tobame had been happy with the terms set for him prior to this little speech, and the gift of a new mobile phone – a luxury he had never expected to own – had improved his mood further, but now the temptation of better terms was severely affecting his judgment. For an instant, he wanted to ask for improvements in salary, better hours, even a better mobile, everything – but then he reconsidered. If he wanted to improve his status, he could do so slowly via information to Lanaya. He would no doubt be required to frequently make trips to the top floor to explain the situation and protocol at Silph. And if he did a good job in this department, then added in a possible well-done "regular" job, he could really improve his terms in a legitimate way. He was sore and jealous, but he wanted to prove his worth by himself without jumping through that many hoops.
"I'm fine."
With those two words, Tobame had basically made a major career choice. He would be a normal Apricot employee, albeit one that frequently made trips to the chairman's office. Lanaya nodded at his decision, seemed pleased, then continued.
"Now, because you are earning a higher pay than your peers – in fact, the pay is comparable to your direct superiors – I need to justify this price. The official reason is because Apricot is trying to break into the Pokemon market, and so a former Silph employee can provide a lot of technical experience. This reason is also partly true. When you are free, you have to help the company think of ways to break into the Pokemon goods market. Silph Corporation, as you no doubt already know, has completely eaten the market. There isn't a Potion or Poke Ball for sale in any PokeMart without Silph's logo attached to it. What we need to do is diversify this market so people can see that Apricot provides a viable alternative to Silph's products. This of course isn't as pressing as the takeover – if Apricot folds it doesn't matter how many promising projects we have in the pipeline."
Lanaya paused, and Tobame noticed that her eyes had turned to his new watch for the first time. He was pleased for a while – this was why he had bought the watch, after all – but then the silence stretched for longer than normal, and Tobame felt a little confused. Was the watch some complete social faux pas that he had had unwittingly committed? But Lanaya was talking again, although her voice was now lacking the timbre of a confident chairman and even seemed a little shaky – Tobame was by now rather confused, not to mention worried. What had he done that had provoked such a reaction?
"Apologies. So, do maintain an innovative façade at work, I wouldn't want mass protests from your co-workers. Off you go – I will certainly call you back up here by the end of the week."
Tobame made the necessary goodbyes and exited unattended. He took a lift down to the link bridge and walked to the west wing, but on the way he took out his watch, curious. The watch clearly had a history, but why it was bothering Apricot's chairman he could not even begin to fathom. Tobame let it hang, and then dismissed the thought. It wasn't his place to try and understand previous heartbreaks of other people – maybe he would prefer to get a girlfriend before he even tried to understand any of this complicated nonsense. He had a mobile phone that was in his opinion, more interesting. Besides, he had a job to do, and by golly, he was going to do it right.