MINDLYFT (COMPLETE)

CHAPTER 3

Navigating the office wasn't easy even though it was a little like playing a video game. I rotated among my Genies, sniffing their thought patterns for fears and knowledge gaps, watching the world through their eyes and breathing soft ideas into their minds, hints that could help them in their work.

I ended up spending the most time with Dimwit. It only took her five minutes on the job to make a mess. Luckily it was in the break room when she neglected to put a cup beneath the coffee spout before it poured its contents onto the floor. Bigger messes were imminent if I didn't keep an eye out.

"Where did you work before here?" Asked one of the new colleagues, a man named Dwayne Bootlicker. His face was full of acne and he wore a permanent grin that pushed his cheeks so far back it made his chin double, even though he was skinnier than a stylus.

"I, was with Mother," Dimwit blurted out before I could interject.

"You did the paces for the AlgoBosses, picking up gigs on the side," I whispered.

"AlgoBosses," she muttered.

Bootlicker didn't miss a beat. His middle name might have been condescension since Dimwit didn't have anything to offer. "Uh, bet you're glad to be out of that swamp. This is more a people business you're in now. My recommendation is to forget everything the Algo's taught you."

The AlgoBosses is short for Algorithmic Short-term employment. Although some people work full-time their entire lives, most young people have to get their first jobs that way. A simple logon and they scan your education credentials, social credibility history, and resume. Then they run you through a series of intellectual, emotional and psychological exams. Based on the assessment they plug you into any number of different temp jobs. Could be anything from loading boxes on a truck, working alongside silicone robots, to repairing those same robots, depending on your scores. Other jobs include filling in for an hour or two in an office, providing companionship to senior citizens, or sex work if you're willing. Most jobs change several times a day and require you to switch gears on a dime. The pay is low, but you're given cybernetic stimulation jolts, so you can work eighty hours a week on the lower mental task oriented work, and even some tasks that require a level of concentration.

The Algo's are constantly giving you feedback on your performance and pushing you to take jobs you don't really want to do for lower and lower pay. If you don't perform well or aren't quick enough to accept terms of employment, they'll punish you with a series of lower paying gigs, or make you go days without any pay at all. They can even send you DownerJolts through your ThinkingCaps which feel awful.

I worked the AlgoBosses for two years but had it easy compared to others. An old classmate of mine was pressured into the SexSphere. The Algo's exploited a psychological weakness from his tests and even knew he had serious debts and a sick father to support. It can be even worse for the weak minded, but the Algo's are designed to weaken you. You have to provide full disclosure about your situation so they know how to exploit it. I'd already started tampering with my Cap so I was able to conceal some things. Most of my gigs were higher-echelon people engagement like high-end party hosting, waitressing in expensive restaurants where patrons don't want their food delivered by R2D2, and even some programming. Actually, its not really programming since the Algo's are self-learning now, but there are still human-interface issues they need help with. A high emotional-intelligence score helps with those gigs.

In short, Dwanye is right, permanent office jobs are a totally different situation. Instead of rushing from job to job and keeping tabs on a list of procedural requirements fed to you by the Algo, you have to have people skills. The work isn't really that much different, but you're around the same people everyday and you have a human boss. Making sure you fit in, that your boss likes you and that you can deal with difficult customers is really the most important thing. No matter your education.

For example a very smart doctor could work the AlgoBosses and just move from one fill-in assignment to another, doing exams, surgery or whatever, but he'd never be asked to work a permanent hospital job or give a difficult diagnoses to a high profile patient. If he wasn't able to ingratiate himself with his boss he'd never get the job.

There really isn't anything people can do that the Algo's can't, except be with other people. That's one thing the robots haven't figured out yet. When they do, people will really be out of a job. Kind of like what the SiliconeFuzzies did to house cats starting in 2062.

Dwayne wasn't someone I'd want to hang out with on the weekend but he'd be a useful friend at the office. Especially for Dimwit. She wasn't likely to win points with the Boss unless she had a few allies.

"Thanks for that advice Dwayne," I whispered into her ear. "You're obviously really smart. I bet you'll be up for promotion soon." I sent her a jolt of endorphins. I wanted her to smile when she said it. All kinds of negative thoughts and emotions were threading through her interface. It was painful to be linked-in with her.

She just smiled blankly at him. His own smile vanished. He looked naked without it. His left eyebrow went up in an arc. I couldn't see Dimwit's facial expression but based on Bootlicker's puzzled scowl there was something wrong. Maybe too many endorphins.

"Say something, stupid," I barked into her mind.

"Thanks Dwayne," she muttered, her voice a pitch higher than normal like she'd just inhaled a ball of helium. "Bet you're stupid."

Dwayne was more dumbfounded than insulted. "You're a really weird girl," he said, and then walked away.

"Obviously," said Dimwit.