I nodded.
“Right. Well, as I have decided that you are among the most promising of our new settlers—based on your youth, the results of the screening, and your general work ethic since your arrival here—I can officially declare you as my new mentee. And, as your mentor, I am willing to invest in you.”
I raised an eyebrow. “Meaning?”
“Meaning I’ll cover the surplus from my personal funds so you can get your parents transferred immediately.”
I almost dropped the food resting on my lap. “Oh, wow. Anna… Thank you. That would mean the world to me. Immediately meaning,immediatelyimmediately?”
She nodded. “Yes. We can go to the bank on Level 31 directly from here, and we’ll set things up. I will deposit the money into a trust and assign your name to it along with mine. We will sign a contract that states the money is yours to utilize as needed, provided you don’t change your mind about being my mentee, of course. If that happened, then the money would revert to my account. I’m sure you understand there needs to be some safeguard for me there.”
“I understand,” I replied, nodding slowly. I mean, I supposed it was reasonable.
There was something, however, that bugged me about her proposal, now that my initial spike of elation had dipped. I hesitated, thinking through my next words carefully. “I don’t mean to come across as ungrateful, but you really seem to be taking this mentorship seriously. Putting me through this pre-screening, investing time and now personal funds. I’m just wondering why?”
What’s in it for you?I wanted to add, but didn’t want to come offas rude.
Putting down her own money was just one step too far for me to believe that this was all for “the greater good” of Fairwell and its outreach mission. This was going above and beyond her call of duty. She knew about my parents’ dire situation, yes, but she and I were hardly close. I didn’t believe this was just a random act of charity, not when personal funds were involved. She had to have some personal stake in my recruitment. Maybe some kind of incentive from the government for scouting and cultivating new managers?
She smiled. “You’re right that I’ll be investing a lot in you. And yes, you’re right to suspect there’s something in it for me.” She paused, eyeing my unfinished waffles. “If you’ve rested enough now, how about we walk and talk?”
“Okay,” I replied, wrapping the waffles up in the foil and putting them back in the bag.
I rose to my feet.
“Oh, and before we leave.” Anna picked up her black suitcase which had been sitting beneath her desk and set it on her lap. She opened it and pulled out a blue uniform. “This is for you. You’re probably a bit damp, so perhaps change now, before we leave. There’s a bathroom through the door at the back there.” She pointed to a door off to the side of the room that I hadn’t noticed.
“Okay, thanks,” I said, frowning slightly as I accepted the uniform from her. I was grateful for a dry set of clothes, but her choice of color struck me as odd. Blue was for the outreach department, and yet, she hadn’t even known I would be joining the outreach department until after I completed the pre-screening… right? Unless she’d just been that confident I would pass.
Maybe I was reading too much into it.
I locked myself in the small bathroom and changed quickly. When I reentered the control room, Anna stood by the door holding my phone and backpack.
“Thanks,” I said, taking them from her and stuffing the cloth snack bag and my old uniform into my backpack.
We proceeded out of the room, and Anna closed the door behind us with a sharp click. We walked along the small corridor and back out into the main hallway.
“This way,” Anna said, gesturing to our left. “We need to take an elevator to Level 31.”
“Okay,” I said, increasing my pace to keep up with her broad strides. “So, you were saying?”
“Yes, I was saying that there is something in it for me. You recall I mentioned that for me to help you gain a leg up on the career ladder here at Fairwell, you will need to go through an induction process.”
I nodded.
“Well, the induction’s official name is the GICFF—General Induction Course for Founders of the Future—a bit of a mouthful, I know. So, let’s just call it ‘the Course’.”
She paused to smile and nod in greeting at a brunette in a dark red uniform who walked past us, then returned her focus to our conversation.
“The Course’s purpose is dual,” she went on. “Not only does it provide an opportunity for our brightest and most promising settlers to fast-track their careers, but it also serves as a kind of test for Fairwell’s current managers, including Heads of Operations like myself.”
“Oh. How so?”
“There is an old saying we have here at Fairwell: A great leader is known by how well he can replicate himself—or she, as the case may be. Over the next few days, each manager participating in the test will have selected a mentee from our settler population, and our challenge will be to train you to complete the Course. If you perform well, then we will receivekickbacks in the form of bonuses and promotions in our own careers.
“All participating settlers will also receive immediate monetary bonuses, by the way, in addition to expanded career opportunities—assuming they successfully complete the Course. So, you see, the GICFF benefits everyone all around.”
“So, I would receive a bonus too?” I asked.
