THE NEW LIFE, THE NEW ME - an Apple Loving Individual Thriller

Chapter 7 - Job Hunt

Chapter 7 – Job Hunt

Tuesday, May 1, 2046
6:43 PM
Pearland Town Center
Pearland, TX

After that asshole was carded off to jail, I spent the day applying online and in-person to different places. Okay, so in 2046, people don't apply in-person, nor do they use paper. I still carry a printer and I print my resume to show employers I'm genuinely interested. Although, it's a lose-lose, as they glare at me with that 'What year are we in?' look.

I still applied online, via social media and job-hunting sites. Although the former has now become more powerful than the latter. People and employers use Facebook™, Instagram™, LinkedIn™ and other various social media platforms, to enter the workforce. Most people only worked thirty hours per week, which was four seven point five-hour days. Telecommuting became easier with high speeds of long-range Wi-Fi Internet delivered via drones.

I decided to visit my parents in Pearland, and we went to the Pearland Town Center, the local outdoor food court which opened up in 2008. Like many shopping centers, it opened up as an outlet mall, but evolved heavily into a central hub for restaurants and city IT infrastructure operations, following the rise of e-commerce. Now it was mainly restaurants, IoE (Internet of Everything) hubs, and some small clinics; just only with robots working there. Ugh, no wonder they don't need us.

"Honey, you'll do better in life." Mom said, as I toured the former mall with her and Dad.

"I know, Mom." I said. "Just wish it'll happen sooner."

Then she pointed to a new gym that had opened up a few years ago. "Look at this, can you believe it?" she said. "Hard to believe it used to be a Barnes and Nobles."

"Yeah, didn't they close down fifteen years ago, due to bad business?" said Dad.

"Pretty much just like how many places did in the last forty years, honey." Mom said. "This place also had to go."

We looked up in the sky as the temperatures began to cool down and the early signs of sunset were coming. Drones flew above the mall, and taking surveillance footage.

Dad then decided to give me a hint. "Honey, did you ever try working for Galnac VR?"

"Galnac VR?" I said. "The one that's been all over the news lately, founded by Liam Mitchell Jr?"

"Yes, honey. You don't know, but Liam is an old colleague of mine." Dad went on to explain. "I met him first in 2021, when me and him worked for the same software company which I left in three years to start my own venture. When he first met, he was hardly twenty-five years old at the time. He knew at one time; people would lose their jobs in the real world. So, he worked hard on his own and established this company, to provide better services for people, and give them jobs online via virtual reality."

"What?" I was amazed. "Is that even safe?"

"More than you know, when you enter the simulation, your digital avatar will be a recreated version of you. For security purposes and ethical morale, it's company policy to make sure the person you tend to look like themselves and you look like yourself."

"That sounds amazing!" said me. "He sure must be rich."

"More than you know, and he has sold this system to people worldwide, now he has a self-made net worth of $800 billion."

"Should I apply? What about my field? What I studied in?" Indeed, I was worried. "I don't know anything else."

Dad calmed me down. "Yeah, all those jobs which robots took over in the real world can now be done in there. Just be careful, I know you need to work hard to make your ends meet but be safe. The starting pay for this job also is amazing. $116,000 per year."

My jaws dropped heavily. As a bookkeeper, I was earning a little shy of $40,000 annually, and wasn't being able to do much with it. But $116,000 per year? Why not? I thanked Dad for the tip and suggested this job to Nancy and Eliza as well. I didn't want them to be out of the loop.