Jay Reynolds, as intheacting CMTRO for Neurovance.
He wasrenownedfor his work on memory technology, but also shrouded in mystery, as were most C-level Neurovance employees.
The website didn’t host anyone’s photos. It was very clean and impersonal. This was done for the staff’s safety. There was quite a bit of social discourse on whether or not memory extraction was ethical, and there had been a few instances where employees of Neurovance had been targeted by activist groups.
To learn that Jay Reynolds was not only the man leading orientation, but had just seen me eatabsolute shit,was making me want to freaking die.
It was the equivalent of your favorite rock star seeing you live out your most embarrassing moment.
My face was so hot that I thought it was going to melt off.
Jay, however, was completely oblivious to my internal struggle as the small group of new Neurovance employees rushed to check in on their phones.
He was staring at his own phone, nodding as all the notifications came in, and once we were all done, he beamed at us.
How was he so young?
He must have learned how to code in the damn womb. He couldn’t be a day over thirty-one, and he was heading up the most innovative department in the world’s leading biotech company.
Insane!
I was so wrapped up in my thoughts that I almost didn’t notice he was already leading the group toward one of the sleek, silver towers on the west side of campus.
I rushed to catch up and tripped over my own shoelace.
I went down again.
“Eeep!”I cried as I fell, knocking unceremoniously into a pretty girl with dark hair and cat-eye glasses.
“Ew! Watch where you’re going, you fucking clutz!” she hissed at me, wrinkling her nose in distaste as she did her best to avoid getting taken down with me.
The familiar snickers and whispers that had haunted me my entire life started up, and I crushed my eyes shut in humiliation, wishing I could melt into the ground.
Maybe I should just quit now.
Why was I like this?
Forcing myself to push past my crippling social anxiety, I rolled onto all fours and scrambled to tie up my shoelace.
I blinked, however, when I realized someone was already kneeling before me, expertly taking my laces in his fingers and tying them into a quick, efficient bow.
That woody scent enveloped my nose, and I almost groaned out loud when I realized the fingers painted with chipped black polish belonged to Jay sex-god Reynolds.
I looked up to find him frowning at me, and he held out his hand, offering to help me up.
I was shaking so much I was worried I wouldn’t be able to stand, so this time, I accepted his help. His warm hand enveloped mine, and goosebumps sheeted up my arm at his touch. My anxiety was through the roof, and the laughter from the crowd was making me feel soperceived.
“You okay, Milo?” he asked softly, and I nodded, staring resolutely at the ground.
“Yeah. Sorry.”
“Don’t be sorry,” he replied, turning angry brown eyes on the girl who was now complaining loudly that I’d made her spill her coffee.
“Everyone,listen up!”he snapped. “I’ll let this slideoncesince it’s your first day and we haven’t gone over the four pillars of expected behavior from Neurovance employees.
“For those of you who haven’t yet studied your handbook, the first pillar is ‘to be kind.’You will be living together on this campus and working closely with one another on a day-to-day basis. We strictly enforce a zero-tolerance policy for bullying.”
My face heated further as the quiet laughter abruptly stopped.
