Company - Max Barry [35]
Jones says, “This is a lot to take in.”
“I wish I could give you a few days to consider it. But I can't. You're either with us or against us, I'm afraid.”
“You're offering me a job? As what?”
Klausman holds up his palms. “I just do vision. Eve, take Mr. Jones somewhere and fill him in on the details, will you?”
Eve tips Klausman a wink on the way out, and Klausman says, “Be gentle with him,” and they both laugh, which concerns Jones somewhat. Eve slips her arm through Jones's and marches him down a corridor. “Want to get some sun? A few hours in this place at a time is about all I can stand.”
Jones says something in response, but can't remember what, because Eve's left breast is snuggling up against his bicep. When she reaches for the elevator button, her honey-brown hair brushes past his face, and the scent invades Jones's nostrils, heads straight for his brain, and starts fooling about with his controls.
“Sometimes you can wait here for five minutes,” Eve says, looking at the screen. “They won't stop unless they're empty. At lunchtime—ah, here we go.” She steps inside. Jones follows. In the elevator's mirrored walls, he can see himself and Eve, Eve and him, all the way to infinity. “I have to say, I am deeply impressed by how quickly you found us out. Most people who work at Zephyr are dumb as cattle. I mean that. It's numbing. Some nights I go home and just stare at myself in the mirror until I remember I'm not one of them.” She grins.
“What are you? What's your position?”
“Well, what do you think? How do we control Zephyr Holdings?”
Jones thinks. Then he catches sight of the button panel, and the answer is obvious. “Human Resources. They're not a real department. They're part of Alpha.”
Eve smirks. “Actually, no. Human Resources is just like that. We gave them a lot of freedom to evolve on their own, and this is what happened. You should read the reports; they're fascinating. HR staff actually grow to hate people. No, Alpha works by placing agents throughout the company. There's only twelve of us. Most of the time, all we do is watch. But when we want to study something in particular, we pull a few strings in the background to make it happen.”
“And nobody in Zephyr knows.”
“Right.” Her teeth gleam. “Now, if you see anyone you know, act natural.”
“What?”
The elevator doors slide open.
Eve starts across the lobby floor, her heels clacking. Jones hurries after her. He feels incredibly self-conscious. Gretel gives him a smile and a wave, and Jones is too rattled to return it properly. Does Gretel know? He catches sight of the security cameras in the corner of the ceiling and suddenly understands how pervasive they are. They are in every room in the building. Until now, he never thought twice about them.
The lobby doors whoosh apart. Eve digs in her purse and then the beautiful Audi convertible is boop-booping and Eve is throwing the keys at his face. Jones catches them, startled. “You can drive a shift, right?”
“You're not serious.”
“I am serious.” She unlatches the passenger-side door, levers her long legs into the car, and drums her hands on the dash. “Come on, gawky.”
Jones takes a moment. He thinks: Am I really about to drive this car? Then he thinks: Yes. I am.
He opens the driver's-side door and slides his butt into the seat. The leather whispers approvingly to him. He puts his hands on the steering wheel and takes some deep breaths.
“Are you one of those people who are really into cars?” Eve says.
“I had thought not,” Jones says.
She laughs. “Let's go.”
“I'm not talking yet,” Eve says, “because you seem preoccupied with the car.”
Jones shifts into fourth and the car leaps forward. What impresses him is how much the Audi trusts him. His old Toyota, currently parked on sublevel 2 of the Zephyr lot, doesn't respond to the controls so much as take their advice on board for consideration. This car reads his every twitch as