As he stepped into the room he was met by a pretty young lady seated behind a huge circular desk. Alex looked around and took in the crisp decor in the waiting room.

  “Can I help you, sir?” said the friendly voice of the lady behind the desk.

  Alex stepped towards the desk, “ Uh, yes. Agent McGuinnely deposited me here to do my paperwork and get a badge.”

  “Name?” she asked.

  “Oh, right. Alex Moorez.” he said, the heat rising to his cheeks.

  “Mr. Moorez! We have been waiting for you. I am Emily Gotier. I will be your Concierge, so to say, for anything you need while you are here.” she exclaimed as she reached her hand out to shake his.

  “Oh great, because I definitely need a scooter!” Alex laughed, shaking her hand in return.

  “Of course, let's get your on-boarding done first. After that I will take you on a tour of the campus, and then we will go and meet with your team.” she smiled at him. “Let me get your paperwork together so we can go over it.”

  “Sounds good. I am going to go look at that fish tank over there,” Alex said pointing towards the waiting area. Alex approached the tank and delighted in the fact that it was a saltwater tank. “Well look at you,” he said, watching a small octopus devour its prey. After about five minutes he heard Emily walking back down the hall towards her desk.

  “Alex?” she called.

  “Yep, still here.” he said as he walked towards her desk.

  “Follow me please.” she said as she walked towards a door on the other side of the waiting area. She opened it and inside was a round table with four chairs and a couple of bookcases. “Take a seat, we have a lot to go over.”

  Alex sat down and she sat in the chair next to him.

  “Let’s begin,” she said as she plopped the stack of papers down in front of her.

  After about 40 minutes they were down to the last of the paperwork. “Almost finished,” Emily smiled.

  “How do you stay sane doing this?” Alex asked. “I feel like my head is going to explode.”

  “I agree it is a lot to take in, but you have to remember what you are signing up for.” Emily countered.

  “Fair enough,” Alex admitted.

  “Anyway this is the last of it. This form is for your apartment, sign here. Initial here. And last but not least, this one is for your scooter.” she smiled as she put the paper before him.

  “Yes! I think I am most excited for this one,” Alex chuckled, “or maybe just excited we’re done.”

  “I would go with the ladder, but maybe both. With that, we are done, give me about fifteen minutes to get this all filed and get your badges.” Emily said as she gathered the paperwork.

  “Sounds good, is there some water or anything I can get around here?” Alex asked.

  “Yes, in the waiting room there is a small fridge with some beverages,” Emily answered as she opened the door and gestured for Alex to go.

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  “Oh, thanks,” Alex said. He headed back towards the waiting room and found the mini fridge. Grabbing water he walked back towards the tank and watched the octopus some more. True to her word about fifteen minutes later Emily was walking back towards her desk. Rummaging in a drawer she grabbed a lanyard and walked to the entrance door.

  “Alex,” she called. Alex walked towards her. “This,” she said, handing him the lanyard, “is your badge. Be sure to always have this on you. Even in the recreation area.” she said. “This,” she said handing him a card, “is your campus credit card. So anything you need to buy from the recreation area you swipe this card for it. Essentially it is an advance on your paycheck. So whatever you spend there will be subtracted from your check before it is deposited into your account.”

  “Cool, I need some clothes. My stuff doesn't get here for a few days.” Alex said as he tucked the card into his wallet.

  “Oh, I can check on its location. When they get here I will be sure to have it delivered straight to your room.” Emily stated. “For now let's get to the tour.”

  “Agent Mcguinnely took me to my Apartment and kind of pointed out the recreation center.” Alex told her.

  “Oh the campus is much bigger than that.” Emily said as she opened the front door. She led the way down the stairs and walked around the corner to a garage door at the side of the building. She stepped in and a moment later Alex heard the grumble of an engine. She drove out on a small golf cart. “Hop in” Alex walked over and sat next to her. “When you come back I will get your scooter for you.” she said as she closed the garage and climbed back into the seat. “So the center of the Campus is the recreation center.” she said as she drove up the path leading towards a huge building. Surrounding it were various patios, like areas where Alex could see people talking and eating. “In here you will find a food court, there is a little bit of everything there. You will also find some shops and a grocery store if you would prefer to make your own food. Anything you want from these shops or the food court you swipe that card I gave you.”

  “Sounds good,” Alex said looking around. He noted many people zooming about on the scooters.

  “Don't forget you are allotted money for food items. Once you pass that allotment it will be charged against you.” she said. “Now you are in apartment building three,” she said, making a left and continuing down the road. “That is your building so you are right next to the path that leads here.” she pointed.

  “Nice,” Alex nodded.

  “This path that we are on circles the Rec center, but it is the easiest way to each of the different laboratory buildings. Like I said, it is the center of the campus.” she smiled again as she continued down the path. There are five labs in total. All labeled as such to make it simple.” she said as they continued the drive. “This is Lab One.” she pointed as they drove past a three story square building. “This is Lab Two,” she said as they passed a five story rectangle building. “This is Lab Three, and my favorite” she noted as they drove past a two story building with a huge clear dome for the top. “Next we have..”

  “Let me guess Lab Four?” Alex smirked as they came up on a three story square building similar to the first building they looked at.

  “You guessed correctly,” Emily laughed “I know, I know, for a place full of geniuses not very creative names.”

  “You would think maybe a little effort in the names,” Alex agreed. “So this last building is Lab Five right?”

  “Correct, and where you will be meeting up with your team.” Emily said as she turned on the path that led to the giant oval building. “As you can see there are spaces for your scooter” she pointed out as she parked the cart. “This way!” Emily called as she hopped out and headed up the stairs to the door of the building. She swiped her badge and a faint click could be heard. She pulled the door open and held it for Alex. There were scanners on the other side and she swiped her badge again, turning around and gesturing for Alex to do the same.

  “So secure,” Alex commented. “Nothing like the college I was working at.”

  “Again, remember where you are and why you are here. Big things.” Emily smiled.

  “Right,” Alex said, swiping his badge and following her.

  “Reshma Choe is the Team Lead for your assigned group” she said, continuing down the hall. As they walked Alex looked in on the groups of people working diligently on various projects.

  “Kinda cool to be able to see everything like this,” Alex said to Emily.

  “Yes, we are fully transparent in this lab so that if anyone is watching and notices something they can help, even if it's not your assigned team. After all, we are all here with the same purpose.” Emily stated.

  “That is awesome,” Alex said quietly.

  “Here we are,” Emily said as they approached a pair of doors. She swiped her badge and the light went from red to green. Pushing the doors open they were greeted by a scream as a huge chunk of earth was hurling towards them.