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Post by Thy Dungyeon Maestyr on Oct 17, 2015 19:11:52 GMT -8
(What follows is an experience all of the characters had individually. Tiny bits of particulars may vary.)A dull evening turned to a depressing night. You watched TV idly, drifting in and out of sleep through the late night shows, until the cavalcade of infomercials began. Exasperated white people implored you that 'there has to be a better way!' You lost track of time as you drifted, but at some point, the infomercials stopped. A buzzing sound caught your attention - a white screen that hummed from the cathode tube. Just as you noticed it, the screen faded to a gentle Creamsicle orange -- the faded sunset over a tropical beach. The buzzing gave way to a gentle sound of the ocean lapping the shores of beautiful, exotic wherever. The KPLQ masthead faded in, the call letters for the local station. It lingered there, the waves lapping the shore. Were they going to start a movie yet or what? The gentle waves continued, and you were too tired or lazy to change the station, and drifted off, this time until morning. In the morning, you got the urge to check your mail, your benefits statement hadn't shown up yesterday, so you were eager to see what they'd deign to grant you this month. The envelope had indeed arrived, but thicker and heavier this time. You weren't sure whether that was a good or bad sign. You took the letter inside, and opened it. Along with your usual statement, was a thick sheet of bright yellow paper. It was printed with heavy sans-serif letters. You have been randomly chosen from our benefit recipients to take part in a special 'back to work' trial. We are working with a local affiliate to create a paid internship program, in addition to your current benefits. Pay begins at 100 dollars a week, at around 4 hours per day, five days a week. You will be trained on site to do simple clerical work, and customer service. To begin, bring the benefits summary included in this envelope, a clearly written job history, and your social security card to the following address: (The included address was for a clinic downtown). Your scheduled time is (Tomorrow's date at noon). You will need to pass a drug test, and answer a few basic questions to assess your work skills. Please arrive on time.For some reason, this seemed like a very attractive offer... (Please describe your morning, reaction to the letter and how you get yourself to the clinic.)
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DKender
Only One Skeleton has the Power to Control both Life and Death, Light and Dark, Words and Blank Space, Our Humble Lives Continue Only by the Grace and Magnanimity of This Skeleton
Nay, let us walk from fire unto firey skeleton ...
Posts: 9,204
Gender: Unknown Skeleton
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Post by DKender on Oct 17, 2015 19:30:02 GMT -8
Timothy was thrilled to read the offer - 100 dollars a week? For clerical work? Fantastic. In the bedroom, he ironed a presentable collared shirt and tried to remember if he'd eaten poppy seeds that week. No. Good. He hated poppy seeds - the little bastards wormed into the grooves and cavities among his teeth and completely ruined drug tests, if the sitcoms on TV could be trusted.
Suppose one of his TV dinners contained poppy essence?
Oh, that wouldn't do!
He rummaged through the trash, found the nutrition labels from his meals that week, and skimmed them. No poppy. But now his shirt was dirty. It took another ten minutes to clean up.
Finally on his way out the door, Timothy kissed Timmy on the head. It was lucky.
He drove to the auspicious address, noting that his old car was almost running on empty. Would they pay him upfront for the initial visit? Well, yes. He'd insist! Things were finally looking up for Timothy.
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Post by Dr. Jar on Oct 17, 2015 19:31:06 GMT -8
Erel- "...Well, this might be a good day job." It wasn't the best pay he's ever seen but it was something. Maybe with two jobs he'd be able to afford one of those new fangled high-up prosthetic legs. He had been saving up for one. "...Hm, at least it's not too hard." He searched through his cabinet drawer and found one of the old copies of his resume, and was suddenly glad it wasn't dated. Everything useful he had done to date. And he had been a medical professional... at some point. Was it worth bringing his small surgery kit with him? Probably not, but he stuck it in his bag anyways. Don't forget it, someday you might need it.
He called one of his friendly acquaintances on his cellphone and they gave him a ride to the clinic.
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Post by Trinity on Oct 17, 2015 19:35:22 GMT -8
After Mason dragged his tired self out of bed, being sure not to disturb Socks as the sleeping pug snored softly at the foot of the mattress, he cooked himself a quick breakfast of scrambled eggs and fried ham. Then, he replaced his sleeping pet's water bowl with fresh water, and a scooped some kibble into another from a large bag. He checked his mail, glad to see his statement had arrived, and was surprised to see this letter. 100 dollars a week, plus current benefits? Doesn't sound half bad."..Socks could use a bed of his own, anyways." Mason quickly got dressed, stuffed the requested items back into the envelope, and he would take the bus system to get to the address provided.
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Post by Dr. Maneep Pamplemousse on Oct 17, 2015 19:36:42 GMT -8
Eric blinked at the letter for a minute, considering if it was worth it to jeopardize his unemployment. Even if it did, it wasn't significantly less than his and there's the possibility that it could turn into something long term, maybe. The next day, he pulled a mostly-clean shoulder-tabbed white button down shirt and navy slacks out of the clothes pile and got dressed. He walked to the corner and got on the 151 bus to reach the address on the letter.
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Post by ◊◊BLOODBEASTER◊◊ on Oct 17, 2015 19:43:34 GMT -8
The clinic was a small, squat building behind a Plaid Pantry. You might have gone there before to take a pee test or two for a job at a call center. It was a relatively nice part of town, clean sidewalks and large lanes. Not very friendly for walkers, or bus riders. They'd find themselves hoofing several blocks by the busy road. This was near the yuppie part of town, but mostly just an area for them to pass through on the way from work to their nicer suburbs. Outside the building, two silvery vans idled, humming and spitting out grey exhaust. No one sat in the driver's seat, and the sides had no windows. Two men in well loved painter's overalls came out of the Plaid Pantry with coffees and bags of muffins. They chatted genially, and got in a pickup truck and drove off. The streets were then empty enough to easily find parking, or jay-walk a shortcut to the front of the clinic. The sun was bright and blinding, early spring 'jacket weather.'
The clinic was cramped, the unforgiving metal chairs were practically interlocked to shove more people in. At the moment it was empty save for a woman with badly permed hair. She comforted a snotty nosed baby, who was thankfully doped up on something enough to not be squalling. Behind the receptionist's desk, a young woman in a blazer took notice of you as you came in. Her name tag read 'Jo.' Jo - "Hello, if you're here for the work program, please check in and take a packet and a bottle of water. Be sure to drink it all." She gestured to a sign in sheet, and a stack of brown envelopes, bulging with paper. Taped to the front of each, a note with block-printed sharpie.KPLQ EMPLOYMENT PIPELINE OPPORTUNITIES SIGN ALL AND INITIAL - THANKS KPLQ, huh? You'd find inside a great torrent of handouts, confusingly worded consent forms, and a Non-Disclosure Agreement. 'Jo' seemed busy with a complicated phone conversation. The woman with the baby was called back, and other candidates arrived, taking their envelopes. A TV mounted at the top of the wall played the local news at nearly inaudible levels. It seemed to break to ads every five minutes.
(Please describe your arrival, and you may interact with your fellow candidates as you fill out the boring paperwork.)
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Post by Dr. Maneep Pamplemousse on Oct 17, 2015 19:43:51 GMT -8
When he was mostly there, Eric realized he forgot the job history and tried to write one out on the back of the envelope. Maybe he could borrow a sheet of the pin-feed stuff when he got there to write it out on something more... office-y.
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Post by Dr. Jar on Oct 17, 2015 19:47:46 GMT -8
Erel- Erel walks into the room, using his crutches to help propel him through. He leans them against the side of his chair as he takes the packet and water.
Erel then reads through the consent forms and tries to get a more distinct idea of what kind of work it is. He signs the non-disclosure agreement after a quick readthrough and takes a quick glance at the rest of the people there. Mostly kids, it seemed like, and a couple of adults. He thought about asking the men about their lives but decided not to, instead focusing on the paper, but they may catch that he is contemplating friendliness.
A fellow who was always thirsty, he takes a drink from his water bottle, and keeps signing through. If anyone looked like they were having any trouble reading through anything, he would assist them.
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Post by Dr. Maneep Pamplemousse on Oct 17, 2015 19:50:07 GMT -8
Eric smiled almost convincingly to the lady at the desk, then took a seat as directed. Drink the water? They must not have patience for shy bladders. Eric realized he hadn't had anything to drink this morning and had also peed as soon as he got up, out of habit. Oh well, he'd done this enough times to know he could squeeze it out when the time came. He swigged the bottle in under a minute, then filled out the forms. He was annoyed by the sniffling baby, seriously, who brings a stupid baby to a job interview? He was sure she wasn't getting into the program. He watched people come and go, mentally making up backgrounds for them, mostly denigrating or embarrassing, things that would make him feel better about his own life.
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DKender
Only One Skeleton has the Power to Control both Life and Death, Light and Dark, Words and Blank Space, Our Humble Lives Continue Only by the Grace and Magnanimity of This Skeleton
Nay, let us walk from fire unto firey skeleton ...
Posts: 9,204
Gender: Unknown Skeleton
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Post by DKender on Oct 17, 2015 19:51:03 GMT -8
Timothy was grateful for the many empty chairs - he certainly did not trust a crowded waiting room to be anything but virus-bacteria soup. He took the packet with a quick: "Thank you." and moved to a metal chair a couple chairs away from the quiet black man, who seemed unlikely to cause trouble. Timothy ducked his head and began working on paperwork, occasionally sneaking glances at the others. Interesting variety of candidates. The internship must be random. He drank his water in large gulps and ignored the television.
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Post by Trinity on Oct 17, 2015 19:51:30 GMT -8
Mason walked inside and smiled to anyone who made eye contact. Quickly, he scribbled his name in cursive 'Mason F. Granger' into the sign in sheet, grabbed a water and one of the packets, and found an empty seat. He was quick to get to work; Occasionally sipping the water as he filled the information out.Mason, smiling as he wrote- ".."
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Post by ◊◊BLOODBEASTER◊◊ on Oct 17, 2015 19:54:37 GMT -8
To those who scrut the papers -- They were vague, and poorly written in the way corporate documents generally are. There were forms about consenting to a drug test, and another that when deciphered by a careful reading seemed to define 'informed consent' in round-about ways. Nothing seemed especially sinister, unless one was prone to finding forms sinister to begin with. Mixed in among the things to initial and sign were colorful handouts with Kindergarten level health advice- eat your veggies and drink 8 glasses of water etc.
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Post by Dr. Jar on Oct 17, 2015 19:56:29 GMT -8
Erel- Erel went on and signed away, not seeing anything particularly sinister afoot. A drug test wasn't anything to worry about, or so he thought, as he wrote away and wondered what was going to come next.
He finished up his bottle of water and then sat with his arms crossed, paperwork finished and sitting on his lap.
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Post by ◊◊BLOODBEASTER◊◊ on Oct 17, 2015 19:57:29 GMT -8
To Holly -- The receptionist didn't look up at her request, seemingly engrossed in saying "Mm-hm" and "Oh, I see" into her headset.
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Post by ◊◊BLOODBEASTER◊◊ on Oct 17, 2015 20:00:42 GMT -8
A short-ish man stepped out of a side door and appraised the room with a blank expression He wore an ill-fitting, cheap suit that pooled at the ankles and nearly covered his hands. He hesitated, eyes darting around and glancing back several times before raising his voice.
Man - "Uh, work program... people... you got five minutes to hurry up and sign everything before we start calling you back... Yeah..."
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