Marny (5 page)

For a bureaucracy, it took surprisingly
little time for Marny to finish getting registered. Processed.
Whatever they called it.

The machine spat out her new badge, and
Brenna glanced at it before handing it over.

“Not bad,” she said. “Most people look scared
out of their wits or like severe criminals.”

“Good thing I’m not either,” Marny said.

The liaison gave her an approving nod. “I
like you, Fanalua. Okay, time to see your new home.”

Before clipping on her badge, Marny glanced
at the photo. Her unsmiling face looked back at her. Not
frightened. Not a felon. Just a broad-faced Samoan girl with kinked
brown hair, serious eyes, and a determined expression.

Yep, that was pretty much her.

Brenna waved goodbye to the receptionist,
then led Marny back down the hall.

“What should I know about being here?” Marny
asked.

“Oh, God.” Brenna let out a humorless laugh.
“Everything. At least you three interns can learn the ropes
together. It’s good to have a support system.”

Marny wasn’t going to count on that until she
met the others. Could be they’d bond into one happy group. Or
conversely, become one another’s worst enemies.

“Tell me about them,” she said.

“Anjah Lee is a brilliant mathematician, and
Wil Cutter’s an engineering genius.”

“Okay.” A spurt of anxiety jumped up in her
stomach, and Marny pushed it back down.

She wasn’t a genius at anything. Sure, her
app had gone viral, but what if had all been luck?

She made herself take a deep breath. No need
to get all tweaked. Intertech had picked her for a reason. She’d
just have to believe they’d made the right choice.

Brenna paused before the elevators, and the
blue light scanned them both. This time the system identified Marny
by name. It was a little freaky, but no stranger than the networked
house AIs that her rich friends had.

“Floor forty,” Brenna said.

The elevator hurtled upward, and pressure
built in Marny’s ears. She opened her mouth, trying to ease the
sensation.

“Yeah,” Brenna said, noticing her discomfort.
“Try yawning.”

Marny did, and with a soft pop, her hearing
returned. The display above the door showed they’d gone up thirty
floors in less than a minute—but the elevator was slowing.
Thirty-six. Thirty-nine.

With a ding, the doors opened, and Brenna
tipped her head. “After you.”

Marny adjusted the straps of her backpack and
stepped into a brightly lit hallway. The tan carpet underfoot had a
subtle pattern that probably hid dirt well, and the walls were
painted a warm shade of yellow. Pictures of fields of flowers lined
the far wall, which was ironic, considering they were in a
skyscraper thousands of feet above the ground.

Beside the elevator hung a photograph of a
stern, silver-haired man. The ornate gilt frame surrounding it made
his face seem even more austere in contrast.

“Our esteemed founder and president,” Brenna
said, a hint of sarcasm in her voice. “Dettwiler von Coburg.”

“Okay.” He didn’t look particularly friendly.
“Is there a picture of him on every floor?”

“Of course. Wouldn’t want the proletariat to
forget who’s in charge, now would we?” The edge in Brenna’s voice
was more pronounced.

Marny didn’t voice her opinion that the man
clearly had a huge ego. She glanced at the white ceiling. Though
she couldn’t see any cameras, she assumed the entire building was
wired for surveillance. The company certainly seemed paranoid
enough.

As her uncle always said—assume the worst
until proven otherwise. Especially where corporations were
concerned.

“So, this is the dorm?” Marny asked, as
Brenna led her down the hallway.

It seemed more like a fancy hotel, with art
on the walls and even a few tables with actual potted plants. She’d
imagined a big white room with metal beds and shared dressers.

“Yep. Not what you thought it would be, is
it?” Brenna shot her a knowing smile. “We just call it the
dorm—it’s really more apartments. You’re down here at the end of
the hall. Number 4027.”

They reached the door and Brenna waved her ID
card at it. The plasmetal slid open to reveal a tiled entry area
leading into a large living room, with plush beige carpet in a
nicer pattern than the utilitarian one in the hall. A bank of
windows looked out at the tops of nearby buildings, and Marny
caught a hazy glimpse of mountains on the far horizon. Mostly,
though, the view was all city. She bet it looked prime at
night.

A big open room with a large screen took up
one side of the living area. A sim system was installed there, and
a couple of console devices. Next to the living room was a kitchen
larger than Marny’s bedroom at home. A hallway led off to the left,
presumably going to the bedrooms and bath. She made herself say
nothing, although part of her wanted to ask if this was the right
place. The apartment seemed way too nice to house lowly student
interns.

A pair of large black athletic shoes lay in
the entryway, laces tangled. The open coat closet showed a colorful
array of jackets and matching purses. She’d be living with a
slightly slobby guy and a girl who took her fashion way seriously.
This would be interesting.

“I’m sure your roommates will be out to greet
you in a moment,” Brenna said. “I pinged them while you were
filling out forms.”

Right on cue, a tall, lanky guy sauntered
into the living room. His blond hair was messy and overlong, but at
least it didn’t flop over his eyes and remind her of Tam.

“Hey there,” he said, coming over to shake
Marny’s hand. “I’m Wil. Welcome to our humble abode. Whoa, you’re
tall.”

Clearly he wasn’t used to meeting girls over
six feet in height. Not that the world was necessarily full of
them.

“Thanks,” she said, taking it as a
compliment.

He grinned at her, and she thought maybe
sharing a space with Wil wouldn’t be too bad.

“Anjah?” Brenna called. “You here?”

“Yeah, she is.” Wil waved his hand toward the
hallway. “Had to put on her makeup or something.”

“Coming!” a high voice called, and a moment
later a beautiful, petite girl with exotically tilted eyes and
perfect lips emerged from the hall.

Marny swallowed back her stab of jealousy.
When people talked about gorgeous Asian women, they meant girls who
looked exactly like Anjah. Not robust Samoan gals with full mouths,
wide cheekbones, and even wider shoulders.

Damn. Marny thought she’d gotten over that
particular issue. She’d worked through hanging around cute white
girls like Jennet, but clearly had some issues with mixed-race
beauties. She let out a quiet breath.

“Hi,” she said. “I’m Marny.”

“Anjah.” Her roomie strutted forward on what
had to be three-inch heels and extended a perfectly manicured hand.
“Pleased to meet you.”

Even wearing heels, the top of her head
didn’t reach Marny’s chin.

“Right, then,” Brenna said. “Marny, I’ll come
get you at one for lunch and a little shopping. Then tomorrow
morning, crack of seven thirty, I’ll be here to take you all down
to the thirtieth floor, where you’ll receive your assignments.
Meanwhile, I’ll leave you three to get settled.”

“Thanks,” Marny said, trying not to feel a
little forlorn as the metal door whooshed closed behind Brenna.

“Shopping?” Anjah raised a graceful eyebrow.
“Aren’t we special.”

“It’s not that.” Marny calmly held the other
girl’s gaze. Anjah’s eyelids glimmered with blue eye shadow. “My
luggage got lost in transit. I have nothing except what’s in my
backpack.”

“Aw, bummer,” Wil said. “Though it’s not like
there’s any more room for stuff in the bathroom. Anjah’s girly
potions have completely taken over.”

“They have not,” Anjah said. “I left one of
the drawers empty.”

“A drawer will be fine,” Marny said.

She was used to sharing a bathroom with her
two older sisters, younger brother, and Grandma Harmony, who lived
with them half the year. Having only three people sharing would be
a luxury—even if one of them was evidently quite fond of her
makeup.

“Your room is this way, at the end,” Anjah
said, turning to lead her down the hall. “Bathroom’s on the
right.”

Marny peeked in as they went past. Despite
Wil’s warning, she was a little amazed at the amount of cosmetics
and lotions and perfumes spread out on the pale marble counter. A
basket held an array of hair
curling/smoothing/straightening/rumpling appliances, their cords
escaping like tentacles, and the walk-in shower was lined with
colorful plastic bottles.

The first bedroom door was ajar, showing a
spill of jeans and T-shirts and an unmade bed. Wil’s room.

The second door also stood open. In addition
to the standard furniture, Anjah had a hot pink upholstered chair,
a white and gold vanity table, a screenie system, and a fluffy
cream-colored rug laid over the carpet.

“When did you arrive?” Marny asked. It looked
like both Anjah and Wil were pretty settled in.

“I’ve been here two days. My mother and I
drove down from Vane, and she helped me move in.” Anjah waved her
rose-tinted nails. The sparkle of a gem set into her wrist-chip
caught the light. No shock there. Marny was fully prepared to be
surrounded by ’leet rich people at Intertech.

Although she had covertly checked out
Brenna’s wrist, and the liaison didn’t have an embedded chip. She
thought back to her observations from earlier that morning, that
maybe having a chip or not wasn’t such a big deal in the city. It
would be nice not to deal with the gaping social divide between the
haves and the have-nots.

“Here you are,” Anjah said, gesturing to the
last room. “Home sweet home.”

Marny stepped into her bedroom. It was
comfortably furnished with a desk, dresser, and bookshelf, a
nondescript picture of a tree on the wall, and best of all, a
window that looked out over the city.

“Nice,” she said.

“If you like tiny rooms, I suppose.” Anjah
gave a dismissive sniff.

“Right. So, did Wil get here two days ago,
too?”

“He arrived yesterday—flew in from the West
Coast,” Anjah said. “Where are you from?”

“Crestview.” Marny shrugged off her backpack
and let it land on the bed’s tan and white coverlet.

“Never heard of it,” Anjah said.

“Yeah, it’s not that big a place.”

“Isn’t that where VirtuMax relocated?” Wil
asked from the doorway. He grinned when Marny whirled to face him.
“Didn’t mean to surprise you, but I heard you girls say my name,
and was hoping for something juicy.”

Anjah narrowed her eyes at him, as if no one
in their right mind would find him attractive. Marny didn’t think
he was that bad looking, though he didn’t particularly spark
anything for her.

“That’s right,” she said. “VirtuMax is
headquartered in Crestview now. Are you a simmer?”

“Yeah,” he said. “That’s my rig in the living
room. Had to ship it out special.” He leaned against the doorframe.
“Got any insider info about what the company’s working on
next?”

“Nope.” She didn’t mention that her best
friend worked for VirtuMax. Already there was a too-interested
gleam in Wil’s eye. “Also, I don’t sim.”

“What?” he straightened. “Everybody
sims.”

“I don’t,” Anjah said, pursing her perfect
lips.

“Okay,
almost
everybody.” Wil cocked his
head at Marny. “You look like a gamer.”

“I am. Just not a simmer.”

Anjah gave an exaggerated sigh. “You two can
squabble over this later. We should show Marny the rest of the
apartment.”

“I saw there’s a kitchen,” Marny said. “Are
we supposed to do our own cooking?”

“Of course not!” Anjah
looked horrified at the thought. “That’s what the dining room is
for. I keep a few things in the fridge, but you won’t see me
cooking
.”

“Speak for yourself,” Wil said. “Personally,
I’d rather sleep late and grab a protein shake than get up and go
to breakfast.”

“But you guys won’t mind if I cook
sometimes?” Marny asked, although she wasn’t planning on it.

For starters, she didn’t have a lot of extra
money to buy food, and the dining room was included as part of her
internship. But it was nice to have the option to make her own
meals, especially since she had no idea about the quality of the
Intertech food. It might be decent, judging by the apartment.
Still, she never knew when she’d need to cook up some comfort food.
Spicy chicken curry, coconut bread—two dishes she’d bet were not
offered on the dining room menu.

“Sure, cook away.” Wil shrugged. “But if
whatever you make is good, I want some.”

“It’ll be delicious,” she said. “Maybe too
spicy for you, though.”

“Hey, I’m adventurous.”

“Stop flirting with the girl,” Anjah said. “I
have to get ready to go to brunch.”

“That’s not for another two hours,” Wil said.
“Jeez.”

“I need to choose something to wear, and redo
my makeup,” Anjah said, in a tone of voice that implied Wil was an
idiot.

“You just want to get there super early so
you can sit at a table with that cute tech guy,” Wil said.

“Lies.” Anjah blushed though, just a
little.

“I saw you chatting him up last night,” Wil
said.

Clearly, two days were long enough for Anjah
to start on a love life. Privately, Marny thought it was foolish to
go down that path. Work and romance didn’t mix, and besides,
interns were only around for two months. Any relationship would
have to come to an unhappy end at that point.

But she wasn’t going to say as much to Anjah.
The girl clearly had a sharp side, and Marny didn’t relish the idea
of getting cut up over something small. She’d save herself for the
big fights, which she had no doubt lay in their future. In direct
contrast to Wil, Anjah didn’t seem like the easygoing type. At
all.