tomorrow

For a moment Kyle stood very still and felt a sense of calm that he had rarely if ever felt. His mind felt clear and serene and the wires and lights which a moment ago had seemed confusing and threatening now seemed to make sense and be exactly where they should be. Kyle closed his eyes and unconsciously brought his hands together in the "ohm" position and felt at one with the universe.

Unbeknownst to Kyle, Bjorn's eyes widened and a grin played across his face.

Then the hum of the room began to intrude on Kyle's consciousness, and he slowly opened his eyes again and looked around, feeling mildly anxious. The more he looked, the more anxious he felt. His knee began to twitch ever so slightly. He'd fixed the cloud, that was good, but now what was he doing? In PIA? He was supposed to be in Diagnostics. He should go. With a more pronounced twitch in his right leg, he turned to Bjorn and said nervously, "I should go."

"Fascinating!" Bjorn exclaimed, with gusto.

"Erm. Ok. Thanks so much for your help. I'll make sure to give you proper credit with the Director."


Bjorn wasn't listening. he was staring down at the water gun as if it had recently been a banana and he wasn't sure what to do with it now. He turned it over slowly in his hands, and hten started tapping madly at the consel.

"Um, so I'll just see myself out, then . . "

"WAIT! You have to come back!" Bjorn was actually animated. "Tomorrow. For lunch. My treat."

"Here?" Kyle looked skeptical.

"Yes! I mean, we can meet here and I can give you the proper tour, and then we can go down to the cafeteria, get some food, see how you interact with other people. Maybe the Director will be there - oh that would be great . ." Bjorn had trailed off towards the end and turned back towards his consel.

"What?" Kyle was getting alarmed again.

"What? Oh, nothing. Meet me here at noon. We'll have a look around, then grab some lunch." Bjorn said more coherently.

Kyle still looked poised to run away and never look back, so Bjorn adopted a bit of his previous nonchalance. "It'll be a good networking opportunity for you. I'm the director of PIA, and I know everyone in this place."

This was a language Kyle could understand, and he brightened a little. "Oh, Ok then. Tomorrow at noon. See you then."

"See ya." but Bjorn was already engrossed with what he was typing and didn't notice as Kyle slipped out. Kyle rubbed his eyes. What a day. He vaguely remembered frantically throwing papers around his office at some point, and decided he should go tidy it up before heading home.