Berkley walks through a crowded airport terminal. She looks at her watch and starts to increase her pace, moving through the crowd as quickly as possible.“Sorry...excuse me...sorry,” she shouts as she rushes through the wave of people.She pushes through the main doors of the terminal and towards a throng of taxis.Berkley sits in the first available taxi and throws her suitcase on the car seat.The Taxi Driver looks over his sunglasses at her.“Where to?” he asks, looking less than interested.Berkley struggles with the seatbelt.Berkley drops the belt and takes a smart-phone from her pocket. She taps the screen and opens her address book.“Olympus corporation headquarters. It’s on twelve...” she starts.“It’s okay honey, I know where that is,” the driver replies.The taxi slowly hovers off the ground as it turns, flying in the opposite direction.“You new in town?” the driver asks.Berkley smiles as she struggles with the belt, finally locking it in place.“Is it that obvious?” she replies.The driver smiles into the rear view mirror.“Oh...only a little,” the driver says as he takes a left.Berkley looks out the passenger side window and is amazed by the scale of the city.The city bustles with various lanes of hovercars above them and people walking quickly to their various destinations.“Where’re you from?” the driver asks.Berkley continues to gaze out the window.“Nebraska... right smack in the middle of nowhere,” she replies.“So what brings you here?” the drivers asks.“Job interview and I’m afraid I might be late,” Berkley says.“Not a problem, little lady. We’re just here,” The driver responds back.The car slowly descends onto the road below.A jet black bike zooms past and shakes the car.The cabby hangs out the driver side window and shouts at the rider.“Crazy woman!” he screams.The rider gives a calm wave and turns into the building as fast as she can.Berkley steps from the car and hands the driver her money.He examines the money and shakes his head.“Too much kid. Do yourself a favor. Remember you’re in the big city now,” the driver nods and hands her back some of the money.“Thanks. I wasn’t sure how much to tip,” she says.“You have to act big city to make it in the big city....youknow?” the driver says.“I think so,” she replies with a smile.“Take care of yourself and best of luck with the job,” the driver shouts as he drives away.Berkley turns and looks up at the Olympus headquarters. She takes a deep breath and enters the building.“Act big city...no problem,” she says to herself as she trips on the main steps.She enters the building. The main reception area is a lavish collection of marble walls and floor. People fill the area going about their daily routines.Berkley turns and looks up at a large mural on the ceiling of the reception area and turns, knocking over the security guard’s coffee as she bumps the desk.He screams as the hot liquid splashes against his lap.“Sorry...” she says.The security guard jumps back from his desk and looks down at his stained trousers.“Not again. That’s it. I’m giving it up,” he says.“I’m here for the...” she starts to say.“Assistant’s position?” he asks.Berkley attempts a smile.“Yes. I’m a ....” she says.The security guard slides her a badge.“Fifth floor. But if I were you I would take my time. There’s like fifty ahead of you...” he replies as he walks away to change his pants.“Fifty?” she asks.The number hits her like a ton of bricks. She walks to the elevator looking dejected.Berkley gets off on the fifth floor and is immediately met by two long rows of people sitting on either side of the narrow hallway.At least fifty people going for the same job. All dressed in various business and dress suits. All looking more prepared then she is.She looks down at her jeans and quickly realizes that because of the rushing, she never changed for the interview.Berkley shuffles into a bathroom and tries to change her appearance.She takes a ruffled jacket from her suitcase and puts it on. She tries to fix her makeup and drops her lipstick into the sink.“I wouldn’t rush honey, some of us have been here for over an hour and no one has even been interviewed yet,” a young woman says to Berkley.She walks up behind her and fixes her own makeup.“But to be honest...” the woman says.The woman steps back and looks Berkley up and down.“I wouldn’t hold up much hope. This job is mine.” she says, blowing Berkley a kiss while looking at her in the mirror.“Best of luck now,” the woman says as she walks towards the door, “you’re going to need it...” she laughs as she leaves.Berkley looks toward her suitcase, before looking at her own clothes.Berkley walks from the bathroom and gives the woman a nod.Now dressed in a short black skirt and white blouse, she looks stunning. The men in the hall all look up from what they’re doing to check her out.Berkley blushes as she takes a seat.The woman looks less than impressed as she approaches Berkley.“Won’t do you much good honey. I have more references than your skinny behind has had hot dinners. Do yourself a favor and go home,” the woman says.Berkley looks up at her with a smile.“We’ll see won’t we,” Berkley says.The woman walks back to her seat.She looks at her watch as time passes. The crowd becomes more agitated with every passing minute.A few people leave. Others start to look for someone to complain to.Berkley looks over at the woman who waves at her with a very forced smile.Berkley begins to examine the hallway. The cameras. The biometric locks on doors.She opens her bag and takes out her smart-phone.Berkley starts to select various applications on her phone.She slides the phone into two screens. One is a touch screen showing a keyboard, the other is a selection of program code.Berkley begins to tap on the board and launches several applications. Changing options. Hacking codes.Within a matter of seconds she has logged onto the buildings main security systems and is viewing room plans, camera locations and basically everything to do with the building.She looks around at the group of about forty people and back down at the phone’s screen.She grimaces for a second before selecting an option.Instantly, the fire alarm blares and everyone begins to run for the exits.Berkley smiles to herself and moves to the front of the line.She sits down and turns off the alarm, as she checks the time on her watch.Almost instantly the door to the interview room opens and Katherine walks out to greet Berkley.“I’m Katherine. Alex will see you now,” Katherine says.“I’m...” Berkley starts.“We know who you are. Please,” Katherine replies as she raises a hand to invite Berkley inside the meeting room.Berkley looks to see the woman walking back up the hallway.Berkley turns and waves giving the woman the same type of forced smile.Berkley enters. The room is massive with a large oak table in the center of the room.Alex stands at the far side of the room, looking out the expansive windows.“Please take a seat,” Alex says to her as she enters.Berkley is taken by the lavish room. She sits at the table with a look of both amazement and intimidation.She rubs her now sweating plans on her skirt to dry them.Alex walks over to join her. Katherine remains in the background, observing, but not joining in.“I’m just waiting on someone else to join us for the congratulations,” Alex says as he sits.“But...? I thought this was an interview...” Berkley says.“Oh it is... Was... You see we know everything about each and every candidate. More than we could learn from any round of interviews or questions. Everyone has been very carefully selected before we even invited you here,” Alex says.Berkley shuffles in her seat.“May I see it?” Alex asks.“What. I’m sorry. May you see what?” Berkley replies.“Your phone,” Alex says. “You see we need people to act... Adapt. To get things done. That is why we decided on more of a trial run in the hallway. Sort out those who may succeed from those who would just quit.”Berkley hands Alex her phone.“Your little stunt was bold. But very clever,” he says.Berkley attempts a smile.“Am I expected to believe you hacked into our state of the art. Multi-million dollar security system with this? An off the shelf computer phone?” Alex asks.He looks over at Katherine who nods.“Well yes. But not exactly off the shelf. I’ve made some adjustments and modifications... I modeled it on NASA specs and then, um, improved it some...” Berkley says.“Then my dear, you can see why the interview would have been worthless,” he says, handing her the phone. “And why you have the job. You got the task done. Made the most of a bad situation and worked it to your advantage.”The main door opens and Sam walks into the room.“Finally! Berkley, I want you to meet the team leader, Sam,” Alex says.Berkley stands and holds out her hand.“Sam. Meet the new personal assistant Berkley,” Alex says to Sam.Sam smiles as he holds out his hand to shake Berkley’s.“Welcome to team Zeus,” Sam says.Berkley shakes his hand and smiles.“One of your first projects will be to improve the security systems around here,” Alex says.Berkley nods.“Come on, I want to introduce you to the others,” Sam says.Berkley follows Sam from the room, the door closing behind them.“I wasn’t sure about her when she entered the building. Looked a little out of her depth. But you were right Katherine,” Alex says, tapping a screen to replay footage of Berkley hacking the security systems.“This little test of yours was ingenious,” Alex says.“She was in my top ten from the start. I’m happy she lived up to expectations. She has an exceptional aptitude for technology, as she demonstrated,” Katherine says.Alex walks to the window and looks out at the city skyline.“She’s perfect...” Alex says.The End.
