"Waste Management Specialist!?"

I couldn't believe what I was reading! I knew that test was a load of crap but this shows justhow much it really is. I looked over the message multiple times, hoping that maybe I read it wrong. I even asked Onion if it was possible that he got the wrong file, but he reminded me that the files were encoded with my name and personal information. I threw my Pip-Boar on the ground in anger. This can't be right. This has to be a joke, a cruel, sadistic joke. I am sure she is probably in her office laughing her tiny rat ass off. Why couldn't the Overseer have been a rabbit. Maybe one of my own kind would have gone easy on me. Those damn rodents are always looking down on us rabbits. I figured since the Overseer and my mother were friends that she would give me a little slack, but apparently they were not good enough friends.

I went into my dresser and pulled out a clean jumpsuit and put it on. I was going to go have a little talk with the Overseer. I am sure she purposely did this to me. She did say that she was going to manually process the results rather than use the Burrow-Tec grading system. I will force her to put it through the system. I don't care what it takes. Even if I get thrown into a security cell, that would be better than plunging toilets for the rest of my life. Anything would be better than that.

"Miss? You look agitated."

I look agitated. Gee, I wonder why?

"I am going to give the Overseer a little visit. I think there may have been a mistake."

"You are not going to do anything rash, are you? Remember the incident with the lemming?"

I chuckled to myself a little bit. That rodent had it coming. A few months back Chester, a lemming who worked down in the reactor, had come to me because his Pip-Boar's monitoring software was on the fritz. Apparently instead of monitoring the reactor for power fluctuations, he was busy playing a game called Angry Bats. When he got frustrated that he couldn't beat a level, he tried to hack into it to give him a better score. It seemed that rather than hacking the game, he accidentally hacked the power-grid, causing the loss of power to the living sector of the Burrow. He really wanted me to fix it.I said sure as long as he could let me take a look at the operating schematics for the reactor. I was trying to solve a power problem with Onion, and thought that be a good way to help me with that.

Unfortunately, after I fixed his problem, instead of going through with his end of the deal, he turned me in to security saying that I was the reason for the power outage. He was afraid that he would get caught playing games instead of doing his job. Since I had access to his Pip-Boar, I also had access to his Pip ID, a number unique to all Pip-Boars. It usually allowed a user to track any Pip-Boar user, but I knew how to use it to gain access to one remotely. After security let me go, I hacked into Chester's Pip-Boar and I have him the high score he wanted, but also broadcasted his 'victory cheering' throughout the Burrow's communication system. Suffice it to say, I had the las laugh, he was assigned an 'assistant' that followed him his entire shift to make sure he was doing his work.

"Don't worry Onion, I know exactly what I am doing. I'll be back shortly."

I attached my Pip-Boar to my wrist and left my quarters. One way or another I was going to get my way. I know it sounded selfish, but I can do better than working in sanitation.

I entered into the hallway that connected directly to the Overseer's office. Her office door was like many within the Burrow, it was a large door that a rabbit could enter with ease, but nested at the bottom was a smaller door specifically designed for rodents of various sizes. She always said that she had an 'open door' policy, yet I never have seen either of her doors open. She never seemed to be in her office when you need her and in lieu of that she had installed a message terminal to the left of her door, and a smaller one to the right of the rodent sized door. They were there to allow you to leave a note or message for her so she would not have to be bothered with trivial matters.

This was no trivial matter. I curled my paw and started to pound on the door. Of course she did not answer, so I kept on doing it until my hand was sore. My ears picked up a small beep from the connected terminal and it caused my eyes to drift to it. There was a message on it that caused me to stop pounding for a moment as I read it.

THANK YOU FOR VISITING THE OVERSEER'S OFFICE. IF YOU NEED TO CONTACT THE OVERSEER, PLEASE COMPOSE A SHORT MESSAGE BELOW WITH YOUR BURROW IDENTIFICATION AND THE OVERSEER WILL BE WITH YOU SHORTLY.

Contact me shorty? No. I will be talking to her now. I started to pound on the door again and started to scream. I think I used every swear word in my repertoire, which is not very much, my mother never liked it when I copied the others when they swore. Even though screaming for the Overseer to open the door, that I demanded to see her did not work, I knew she was in there. Why did she not want to talk to me? I am feeling calm, and collected, and…

Fuck this. I pried open the maintenance panel on the terminal and withdrew the Pip-Boar cable and connected it to the terminal. After a few seconds I was tapped into the messaging system. I could not directly access the Overseer's terminal from here, but I could access the communication system in the area, and that was connected to the one in her office. Once I had a successful connection I turned on my broadcaster.

"Overseer Tara Marsh. I know you are in your office and I need to speak to you. Now. I will not be using the messaging terminal, because I don't want to have to wait a week just to hear back from you on a particularly urgent matter. If you do not open the door in ten seconds…"

The larger of the doors swung open as a squeaky voice shouted from the other side. "Olivia Springs! Turn that off and come in here this instant!"

She was pissed. Good.

I disconnected the system and restored the terminal to how it was. I walked inside as the door closed behind me. Despite the fact that half the Burrow just heard my demands to see the Overseer, what I was about to say I did not want then to hear. Last thing I need is security apprehending me thinking I am about to kill the Overseer. Although if that's what it takes to get out of my career… No. Even that is too beneath me; I am not a savage.

The inside of her office was pretty bare. She was always very clean and she did not care for physical possessions as much as other just had the bare minimum to perform her duties. She was sitting at her desk, one that was attached to the top of a larger desk. While I have never heard of a rabbit being Overseer, Burrow-Tec at least had the thought to build features that would suit a rabbit's size. She asked me to sit but I just stood there, I wanted to be standing for this.

"Sorry, but I think I would rather stand."

"Suit yourself Springs. Now would you be so kind as to tell me why you could not simply use the terminal like every other resident?"

"What I have to say I needed to say in front of you, not through a machine," I hesitated for a second trying to calm myself down. I thought of exactly what I wanted to say earlier, I just need to say it without snapping. There is plenty of time for snapping later. "I believe there was a miscommunication with the results of my C.A.T. and I would like to address this personally.

"Yes, that." The Overseer seemed like she was expecting this. Her angry tone calmed down a bit as she took a second before speaking. "You see my dear, the test was in fact accurate. Like I told you prior to the test, I was going to be manually evaluate your test through Burrow-Tec guidelines. When I saw the results, I was quite shocked to be honest. I did want better for you, so I decided to run it through the computer system, but unfortunately the results were the same. I was quite sure there was an error on my part, but alas not. Burrow-Tec's C.A.T. may seem like it is random, but I assure you that has always placed the best animals with the best careers in the past. Some may not like what they are assigned to do, but it has never produced a poor candidate."

Her response was so precise, so practiced. She must have known I was going to come here and complain about it. I still did not believe her. I did not want to believe her. Yes, I could repair almost anything, especially broken sewage systems, but I can do so much more too. I waited there for a few seconds pondering and it looked like the Overseer was loosening up. Maybe she thought I was going to just give up and accept it. She was wrong.

"Overseer," I started to say calmly and slowly, "I still believe that this test is wrong, but if what you say is true, then it would not hurt to let me see it run through the system?"

The Overseer paused for a second before she opened a drawer. She took out the test papers and handed them to me. She asked me to confirm that they were indeed mine, and that nothing was altered. I looked over them carefully but did not see any changes that I could have noticed. The questions were often vague, misleading, or just plain gibberish, but my answers were still my answers. I nodded and handed the papers back. She then proceeded to put them through what looked like a scanner. It only accepted one page at a time, but there were only three pages. She then turned to the computer and started to type in some commands. I watched the monitor closely to make sure she was not doing anything that would tamper with the input but everything was pretty much automatic that she only had to press a few options.

It took about twenty minutes(way too long to evaluate a ten question test), before a message popped up on the screen. It had the same result screen that was on my Pip-Boar, including the part that said 'Waste Management Specialist'. My face suddenly dropped. It was not an error. This fucking machine, thinks that I belong in sanitation. Fuck the test, fuck Burrow-Tec, fuck everyone.

I felt something on my hand as I noticed my claws digging into the desk. It was the Overseer's hand. I looked at her with what was probably fire in my eyes, yet she looked genuinely sorry. Despite all my hate, all my rage, that face made me calm down a little. I pulled my paws off of the table and placed them slowly at my side. After the rage started to subside, I felt like I just wanted to burst out in tears. I wouldn't let her see me like this. I did not want to let anyone see me like this.

"I am sorry, I truly am. I know how good you are at fixing things, and I certainly know how well you handle yourself around computers, but I cannot change the Burrow-Tec rules. If I let one slide, then another would want a rule to slide, and then another, and soon the peaceful Burrow you know would descend into chaos. All you can do is keep your head high and work through it. It won't be forever, and you can still do odd jobs for the residents between shifts, but the decision has been made. You will report to the Sanitation department at 0600. Heather Trope will be your supervisor. Shewill give you further instructions. Now if you don't mind, I have an appointment with the head of security."

She pushed the button to open the doors. She just sat there not saying anything. I couldn't even think of a comeback. She said she was sorry, but was she really? The only three residents that knew the outcome was Onion, the Overseer, and myself. So what if she bent the rules just this once? No one would know. I tried to say something but she just pointed towards the door and then turned back to her terminal. The tears were starting to build, but I would not let them fall. I turned and started to walk out of her door. Before I was far enough for her to close them I decided to have the last word.

"If my mother was still alive, I am sure things would have been different."

I turned around and left before I could see the Overseer's reaction. She and my mother really were close. I think she was the only one who took the death as hard as I did. I hated using my mother like that, but it was true. Things were different when she was alive. I went straight towards my quarters, not talking to anyone I saw. I just had to make it to my room before the damns in my eyes broke.

When I got into my quarters, Onion asked how things went. I did not respond. I did not even take off my jumpsuit or Pip-Boar, I just threw myself onto my bed. That's when the damns finally broke. I think I was crying for hours before the whole world finally caved in upon itself.

The next morning was better, but not by much. I was no longer in tears, but I think that it was only because I was dry. I also had a splitting headache. I figured that this day cannot possibly get any worse. After I got out of the shower, which cut off before I was done, again, I saw a small package sitting on my bed.

"Onion, what is that?"

"Feeling refreshed Miss? That was delivered while you were in the lavatory."

Straight and to the point like always. Guess I should open it. Maybe it was from the Overseer, a gift with a letter that says, 'Sorry Olivia, you were right, I was wrong. Here is your correct assignment.' Or maybe this had all been some sadistic nightmare, and that I actually managed to get out of the test again, or got my dream carer. I tore open the box, actually feeling a bit better. I know I shouldn't get my hopes up, but it really couldn't get worse, right? Inside was a single item. A Burrow jumpsuit. I already had four of them, why did I need another?

I held up the jumpsuit and inspected it. It looked exactly like mine, a solid navy blue with yellow lines breaking it up at the zipper, waist, and collars. It had my named imprinted on the front left breast. That was new. None of my other ones had my name on it. I turned it around and saw the typical large yellow numbers: 76. Then my jaw dropped. My headache flared up and I threw the jumpsuit to the ground. I could feel my eyes wanting to water again. Below the seventy six was a single word. Sanitation.

"Miss Springs, are you alright?"

"No, I am NOT alright Onion," I picked up the jumpsuit and held it for him to see, "look at what it says!"

"Sanitation. That is your new job. What did you expect it to say?"

I knew I shouldn't get upset at Onion. I programed him like this and he can only do so much beyond his programing, but I did not care when I started to scream at him. I had to let it out. "I did not expect it to say anything! Do you see the cooks to say 'Chef', or the educators say 'teacher'? No. You don't! With the exception of Security, no one else's jumpsuit proclaims that, 'Hey Burrow 76 residents, I deal with your crap, literally!'"

"Miss, please calm down. Maybe this is just new policy?"

"NEW POLICY? There hasn't been a new fucking policy here since the Burrow opened! What did the Overseer just so happen to get a communique from Burrow-Tech saying, 'Sorry for keeping you waiting, but instead of opening your Burrow a hundred and seventy years late, we just want you to change your rules so that everyone is reminded how crappy their lives are.'" I forced myself to calm down a little, 'don't kill the messenger', I thought to myself. "No Onion, I don't think this is a new policy. I think the Overseer just wants to make a fool of me after what I did yesterday. But you know what? I am not going to give her the satisfaction of allowing her to see that she got to me. I won't let anyone see that she got to me. Fetch me something for my head while I get dressed."

I reluctantly put on my new jumpsuit. After getting dressed I put my Pip-Boar on just as Onion brought out a cup held in his gripping attachment. He also gave me two small pills. I popped the pills into my mouth and swallowed it with what was in the cup. I immediately spat it out. It was hot. Very hot. And bitter. This day just keeps getting better.

My mouth was scalding and I could barely feel my tongue as I spoke, "Onion, you know I hate coffee!"

"My apologizes Miss, but the caffeine in the coffee will help dull the pain as the medicine works. It's a scientific fact."

"Just give another dose and some water this time. Some COLD water."

After I took the pills, and felt the relief of the cold water as it soothed my taste buds, I checked my Pip-Boar. One new message. I opened the message and it was from the Overseer. Of course it was.

Recipient: Springs, Olivia

Subject: Welcome To Your First Day

Congratulations on starting your first day! As a newly sanctioned Burrow-Tec worker, you will begin your new career as a Waste Management Specialist. You will be contributing to the future of your Burrow along with your fellow residents. As a new Waste Management Specialist, you will be assigned under the experienced Heather Trope. Please take the time to go over the attached files that will familiarize yourself with the required tasks that will be responsible to you under your new career title. If you have not already received a Burrow Jumpsuit, please contact your Overseer as this is the required uniform while performing your duties. If you have any other comments or concerns regarding your newly chosen career, please direct them to your superior or Overseer where necessary. We hope that you enjoy your new roles within the Burrow and we at Burrow-Tec wish you the best of luck.

Your first career assignment begins at 0600. Please report to the Sanitation Department promptly.

How friendly. I hate it. I took a look at my Pip-Boar's clock and saw that it was 0545. Was I really up this early? I did not want to go, but with how my luck has been, the Overseer will send security to personally escort me. I wasn't having that. I will go to work on time, do what I am told, and maybe, just maybe, find a way to make this work. The Overseer did say that I could still help other residents with their repairs and continue working on my projects during my free time. Perhaps it won't be so bad. I will make this work.

I can't do this. I fucking can't!

It's only been a few hours since I reported to that bitch. At first I found her sweet and charming, that maybe if I get on her good side, she can give me a little slack. I did everything I could, I followed order to the letter, I even showed respect to her. I was actually getting to like her, and I think she was getting to like me, she even bought me breakfast shortly after arriving when she showed me the kitchen's waste processor. Then I made a simple suggestion, and everything changed.

We were down in the sub-sector with her showing me how to perform the daily maintenance on the waste recyclers. I noticed that they were were not operating at peak performance. I suggested a rather simple solution that would increase performance by nearly thirty percent. You'd think that I just insulted her child or something. She snapped at me, saying that it was only my first day and that I did not know what I was talking about. She went on telling me that she has had the whole system running at peak for years, and that they were at their best. I was not liking her tone. It was just a simple suggestion.

Things got worse from there on out. In the matter of an hour she had me reduced to toilet plunging every single clogged toilet in the Burrow. In the Rabbit Sector, where most of my kind reside, it was not too bad. Since the current rabbit population was down to about twenty percent of the overall population, it only took me half an hour to take care of their needs. I even went behind Miss Trope's back and improved a few of the systems that looked to have been neglected for years. Now I am in the rodent rec-room and it is a mess. Rabbit sized toilet and piping systems are fairly easy to repair, rodent systems however are way to small for me to properly attend. I asked Miss Trope what to do and she just snapped at me saying, 'do your job and fix it'. So I did what I do best, I got inventive. I was able to modify some of my equipment to be able to handle smaller parts while giving me the full range of a larger tool.

Now there are two problems with the rodent plumbing. Firstly, their toilets and piping are very small. I nearly separated one toilet from the floor trying to get the flushing unit to work. Using the tools was nay impossible as well with my large hands. Can't they have placed a rodent on this? I know there is at least one in Sanitation. Secondly, these rodents produce a lot of waste. How can such a small body produce so much waste? I think I spent just as long trying to plunge a single toilet as I did in the entire rabbit sector. This last one was being a total bitch. Thankfully my shift is over in less than an hour.

"Come on you fucker!" I shouted as I was trying to loosen a rather small bolt connected to a transfer pipe. It has not even been one whole day and this job already has me swearing more than I have my entire life.

I felt the bolt loosen and was finally starting to get relived when I put a little too much strength behind it and tore the whole pipe out of the connecting. Whatever was blocking the flow got knocked loose as everything in the transfer tank sprayed on me, and I mean everything. Despite the pipes being small, the tank was not. It took me about thirty seconds to stop the flow and get the new pip fitted but it was not fast enough. I was covered head to tail in filth. I still had time left in my shift but I did not care. I gathered my stuff and went straight to my quarters. I needed to get cleaned up.

I had stripped everything off and was standing in the shower feeling the cooling waters as I scrubbed my fur so much that I could feel my skin beneath getting raw. I still could smell it. It was everywhere. From in the inside of my ears to under the base of my tail. Even a jumpsuit did not stop the filth from getting into every crevice. I was soaped up for the second time when the water turned off.

"No, no, NO! I am NOT done!"

I tried to get the water to turn back on but managed to get soap in my eyes instead. Blinded by the stinging chemicals I tried to find my way out of the shower and get my towel to wipe off. Unfortunately, all I managed to do was trip over the edge of the shower stall and land flat on my face. Fuck that hurt. Onion came in to see if I was ok but I told him that unless he could turn the water back on, he needed to leave me alone. I was not in the mood. It did not help that I could still smell shit on me.

When I got the soap out of my eyes I grabbed my Pip-Boar. Still naked, I went to the maintenance panel next to the door and connected to it. After a few minutes of routing around I found the water control system. I had enough time before the security system automatically locked me out of it. First, I rerouted another twenty minutes of water usage to my shower system. Second, I had a little surprise for Miss Trope. I managed to disable the temperature control system and set her shower system to the hottest setting. This will teach her not to mess with me.

With my added shower time I managed to get to a point where I started to feel clean again. Once the timer kicked off I was not mad, I kept a mental count of the time so that my thoughts did not wander off to other things. 'I am not going to let this get to me', I muttered to myself every few minutes. Once I was out of the shower I did not even put on clothes, I just crashed onto my bed, exhausted from the day. At this rate I don't think I will have any free time to do anything I want, and even if I did find the time, would I even been in the mental state to do anything?

I was on the verge of falling asleep when my Pip-Boar beeped. I groggily grabbed at it and checked the message. It was from Heather Trope.

Miss Springs. My record shows that you left work twenty minutes early without finishing your daily tasks. Miss Rattertat in Quarters 231 has personally told me that her toilet is still malfunctioning, and the residents around Transfer Tank #4 reported that all their septic systems suddenly overflowed leaving a rather nasty mess, and now they want me to clean it up. I have decided that due to your negligence at work, that rather then come in at 0600 tomorrow, you will need to report to duty at 0400 to fix every single backed up toilet and clean every room effected by your incompetence. I will be sending this report to the Overseer as well. Do make sure to put a better effort into your duties or else there will be repercussions.

I was enraged. She blames ME for not having the proper tools for the job? ME for doing the work that someone much smaller should be doing? And she has the nerve to report HER failures to the Overseer as my own? I did not even want this damnable job! I am only twenty years old and I have this fucking job to look forward to for the rest of my life? No, I just… I can't. Having to drag myself to this job day after day, having to put up with that bitch who only after a few hours already seems to have a vendetta against me. I have no relatives, my only friend is Onion, and that's just because I programmed him like that, and not even rabbits, my own kind, seem to have any interest in me. If I was gone, no one would miss me. If I showed up dead in the morning no one would beat an eye.

"Onion, get over here."

"What is it Miss?"

"Onion, you are my closest friend, the only one who cares about me, and the only one I truly trust."

"Well you did program me like that, but I do respect and care for you Miss Springs. If it was not for you, I would not exist."

"Then I can trust you to help me, and no-one, I repeat, no-one can find out."

"Find out what Miss? What do you plan to do?"

"We are leaving."

"What do you mean, leaving? Are we relocating our quarters? I hear that there are a few vacant rooms that are much more spacious."

"No, we are leaving Burrow 76."