The Second Hand Unwinds (Book 2)

Tech and Trainin'

Betty had no idea what Abby meant by "her own tech." It was as if she were speaking another language. Well, Betty thought to herself, I've always been good at learning languages so let's give this one a shot. They'd exited the elevator in the basement of the building, but it wasn't the dark and dingy place that Betty had imagined it to be. Bright lights, more glass-fronted offices, and giant open workrooms filled the space and there was a hum of electricity and machinery.

"Nerdiaaaaa!" sang Abby, looking around. "Where are you hiding today? I got someone for you to meet."

A disgruntled-looking head appeared over a bank of monitors, scowling in Abby's direction.

"I told you not to call me that, Knowles," the woman grumbled.

"Yeah, and I told you to get me Barton's number. Look's like neither of us are getting what we want." Abby snarked, her voice taking on a different tone than the one Betty was used to hearing from her. "Anyway, Betty, this is Dr Nadia Brendish, tech guru and chief nerd. Nadia, this is Betty Rogers, vintage ice queen."

"Hi," Betty smiled.

"Hi," muttered the woman, stepping out from behind the screens. "Are you staying or going?" she added to Abby, looking a little hostile.

"I'm going. I wouldn't dream of getting in your way," Abby smiled sarcastically. "Betty, do you think you can find your way back upstairs from here?"

"I'm sure I can figure it out."

"See you later then. Bye Nerdia," Abby threw over her shoulder as she headed back towards the elevator.

"Piss off," she muttered under her breath. "Fucking agents, always thinking they're better than everyone else. Who the fuck do they think sorts out their shit?"

"I'm assumin' that would be you?" Betty responded, arms folded across her chest, eyebrow raised.

"Shit, sorry, did I say that out loud?" Nadia had a panicked look on her face.

"Mmm hmm," Betty raised a corner of her mouth, nodding.

"Fuck. Sorry."

"Don't worry about it Doc, I'm not an agent." Betty grinned.

"Call me Bren," she offered, sticking out her hand for Betty to shake.

As Betty took her hand she appraised the woman in front of her. She was a riot of colour, from her patterned boots to her purple flared jeans, to her crocheted rainbow sweater. Even her hair was colourful, shaved at the sides with a fall of turquoise waves on top that were currently held out of her eyes with a twist of what looked like electrical wire. Betty was bemused by the various piercings that decorated Bren's face but mentally shrugged them away as another aspect of the future that she'd just get used to.

"I did actually get an email about you from Dr Thurso just before you arrived," Bren said taking her hand back and picking up a tablet, flicking her finger up and down the screen. She said you'd be fine with a phone and a tablet like this one. Are you OK with that?"

"Yeah, I mean, I've not actually seen a phone anywhere yet, but I used a tablet yesterday. Abby showed me how to do shoppin' on the internet."

"Of course she did," Bren gritted through her teeth. "Lets get you a phone set up first and then we can sort you out a tablet. After that you'll be fully connected to the modern world!"

Pulling out a small rectangular box from under a random stack of papers, the tech wizard opened it up to show Betty the contents. It was, to Betty's eyes, a flat piece of black glass. Confusion fell across her face, but Bren stepped forward to do her show and tell. She was impressed with how quickly Betty picked up her tutorial and they chuckled together as they practiced making and receiving voice and video calls, sending text messages, and even emails. Bren also completed facial, retinal, and fingerprint scans so that Betty could use the security systems and cashless dining in the canteen.