The leather sofa cushion under Waverly's cheek was soft, rich, perfect. But this was one of the days when the perfection of his surroundings made him feel like damp trash in comparison.
Waverly was never enough. For the public, for the company, for his friends.
For David.
The breakup was old and worn, now, but on days like today he couldn't help but take it out and turn it over in his hands, like a smooth pebble. Think about everything he was supposed to be and wasn't. Everything he wanted and didn't have.
All the things he could never give David. The person he could never manage to be for David. All the ways he was never enough. Never quite enough to be loved.
They'd met, of course, in the stables.
David had been dressed in plain rustic clothes, cleaning out the stalls for cash under the table. Waverly was one of the owners, had inherited the share of the place from his father. He was used to everyone giving him a certain amount of deference.
When David critiqued his riding in unflattering terms, Waverly had snapped back at David's fashion sense.
David had laughed, and said, "Well, maybe we all have things we're not the best at. But don't you want to get better?"
David had done his best to help Waverly with his seat. In return, Waverly had helped David get his papers in order and helped him get into business school. David had taken to business school like a duck to water. Waverly had continued to be all out of rhythm with every horse he sat astride. Waverly Kemp had inherited his father's love for horses, but his talent with them had completely failed to follow.
Living, breathing creatures had never been Waverly's forte. As much as he loved them, it seemed as if they never would be.
He had many strategies for putting that out of his head. Most of them involved working. His newest kinetic interactive programs were at least somewhat diverting. But when he couldn't stand looking at the code on the computer screens for one more minute, he slumped over and stared at the wall in despair.
"Don't be a mope," Toto said. "Get up. Do something. Cook."
"Don't feel like it."
"I found some great new recipes!"
"No new recipes, Toto. I'd ruin them right now."
There was a pause while Toto processed. Then the robot came over and prodded Waverly's shoulder with the end of his limb.
"Waverly, will you make me peanut butter cookies?"
"You know you can't actually eat, right?"
"Just a matter of time, Waverly. Just a matter of time."
"You're not gonna make that breakthrough in time to eat this batch of cookies," Waverly said, but he got up, chuckling. Baking sounded okay.
The cookies were for Waverly, of course, as was the request. It was so much easier for Waverly to do something at Toto's urging, to please the bot, than to do it simply for his own sake. So Toto had learned to ask for things when Waverly needed them most.
He baked for everyone he dated—it was one of his few strengths in the dating arena—but being in the kitchen still reminded him of his grammy more than anyone.
It was a peanut butter cookies sort of day. A day to make the whole kitchen smell like sweet, filling, home-baked goodness. A day to remember that there had once been someone who he was always enough for.
Peanut butter cookies were the first thing his grammy had ever taught him to make, and it took many batches over many years, but he'd finally gotten it so he could make her recipe just as good as she could.
This was a recipe he didn't end up sharing with many people. Not because he didn't want to, but because it was what he made on days when all he could do was curl up in his favorite chair by himself, and pretend he wasn't alone.
Between Toto and his grammy's cookies, he almost wasn't.
*~*~*
It was the wee hours of the morning, and the bathroom was empty, for the moment. This wasn't anywhere Okka wanted to be, xe thought as xe looked around at the utilitarian, worn, and slightly grimy place. But it was as good a place as any to be a stop on the way in someone's journey.
Stepping into Nifu's parlor had made everything feel less urgent, but xe couldn't have stayed there. Couldn't do nothing while xir people were enslaved and the Cewri threatened to overtake the galaxy.
There had always been Mimica on Earth. There was a chance—a slim chance, but still a chance—that Okka could find another Mimica with a mission on Earth and stop them from reintegrating with the Collective and falling to the Cewri.
It was the only thing xe could think of to try. Xe wouldn't feel settled until xe had another Mimica to confer with, to bond with in the absence of the Collective, to help xem make a long-term plan.
So, xe would go undercover on Earth. Xe'd done it before. But thanks to the way time moved while xe was on Avla, that had been ages ago on Earth. Xe had watched Nifu's windows carefully to see what kind of world xe would be living in.
Xe needed to be average—but there were many ways to calculate an average. There were a wide range of hair colors, but black hair was by far the most common, both planet-wide and in this particular city, if the people on the streets as he watched were any indication.
Myrdu's hair was greying, which was also common, but xe didn't know how long xe would be on Earth. It might be a long time.
And xe wasn't Myrdu.
It struck Okka for the first time that xe was choosing a set appearance for a lifetime that would not be a sealed box, as Myrdu and the others had been. Xe was choosing a set shape for xemself. Xe wanted it to reflect that—as much as a set form ever could.
Xe had no gender. From what xe recalled of Earth culture, that might prove a problem. For a set of monomorphic species, humanoids got hung up about the strangest things. Lately there had been hints that some parts of Earth had loosened their interpretations, making them a little more open than what Myrdu had grown up with on Avla, although probably not open enough to be relied on. But if xe chose an appearance based solely on xir own preference and not on any particular gender and let the humans assign their own values to it, that would probably do.
Chuckling, xe realized xe didn't even know which kind of bathroom this was. Well, it was empty and there was a mirror. That was all that truly mattered.
Xe put something together, shifted into that form, and looked in the mirror to make adjustments here and there. A rounder face than Myrdu's, this time, and rounder in general. The long leanness of him had come to represent desperation and loss, so Okka wanted xir newest life to be softer, more substantial. But then with the shape of xir hair, xe made a contrast to that, a nest of unruly black spikes that was a study in sharp lines and acute angles.
Xe absorbed Myrdu's clothing into xemself and adjusted it right alongside xir body to suit xir tastes and what xe knew of the styles of Earth. It would have to be comfortable, not just in its fit but in its personality, and the way it went with who Okka was right now.
Okka spent a long time in front of the mirror, tweaking small things here and there. Xe did not know how long xe would be living in this form, and xe wanted to have at least some affinity for it.
*~*~*
Okka had always been a quick learner, but Earth was equally quick to change. Studying the languages through the windows in Nifu's realm could only prepare xem so much. The way time passed on Avla meant that every weekend visit was separated by years on Earth. And Earth hadn't been the only world they'd watched.
But Okka thought xe could get along. Money and a bed were the first priorities, which Okka achieved through the probably legal but otherwise questionable means of selling xir Avlan coins in a place with a big friendly sign telling xem that they bought gold, and then asking around that area until xe found a tiny room xe could rent in cash by the week.
Even with so many people, people all around and crushed in together the way they never would have been on Avla, Okka felt weighed down by the lostness and loneliness of it all. Xe was alone in a sea of people—a very unusual sensation for Mimica who remembered who they were.
Where to go next? Xe needed to find a place to find things out, to become accustomed to the local technology, maybe find people xe could connect to in some way, maybe make some money in a slightly more honest way.
Maybe xe could even find parts to construct some of xir own Creeper detectors?
Although obviously the Cewri had found a way around those precautions at least once. Maybe once was all it took to bring down the Mimica, once and for all.
There was no longer a Collective. Not really. Only an echoing emptiness where so many lives should be. It seemed unlikely there would ever be a Collective again.
Okka almost staggered under the impact that thought still had. But here, xe would not surrender to it.
Xe found a place to sit down, though, in a cafe with a cup of something hot and comforting, and xe watched people.
Xe paid particularly close attention to the communications technology that everyone seemed to carry with them. On Avla, computers were more of a luxury, unless they were required for one's work. Here, everyone seemed to consult them constantly.
They were branded with logos, three or four that xe saw most often. One of those was a bright red logo. Angular, negative space spelling the name Kemp.
Xe'd seen the same logo on one of the buildings nearer xir entry point to this world.
There was so much to learn, and Okka needed to learn it quickly, without the tools xe was accustomed to having in such a situation. Most Mimica went undercover either as very young members of a species, or with firm grounding in previous spies' memories of a given world or culture. Otherwise, there was too much chance of making a misstep and being uncovered. Most new insertions were prepared for in advance, with identities ready for them. But occasionally, they did need to introduce an identity without warning, and that often involved black-market transactions.
The kind of deep, trusted network of underground contacts that could safely be used to acquire an identity was rare. It could only be built up over years and couldn't be rushed, especially without a thorough background knowledge of the culture.
Myrdu had never studied Earth's culture with any kind of method or dedication. His time with Nifu had been time away from his work with the military, studying every last detail he could winnow out about the Cewri, their allies, and their tactics. He had never felt like being particularly analytical during his time off. That meant that Okka's knowledge of American culture was now frustratingly spotty.
Okka knew that xe couldn't trust any identity xe acquired to be foolproof. But there were layers of being compromised and found out, and especially in a society as diverse as the one in this city, there would always be a way to explain away a difference in knowledge or experience.
Earth was pre-contact, at least. To be thought of as a bumbling, incompetent, or even dangerous human would be preferable than what would happen if xe slipped up on Kintinna. There was a fair chance there that they would suspect xe was Mimica and detain xem for the Avlans to take care of.
He would face the same dangers as other humans, here. Not negligible ones, but still. Without a memory override or a firm plan decided on by the Collective, xe did not have the patience to let the dangers of integrating here on Earth delay xir attempts to find other Mimica.
Through a combination of eavesdropping and subtly leading questions, Okka discovered that people who needed to learn things without many resources of their own could go to the public library, where books and computers were available to use. So xe went there and settled in to learn what xe could.
At its heart, the computers themselves were not so very different from what Myrdu had worked with on Avla. Nor were the languages, at least functionally. But the many ways in which humans used them were more complex and varied.
There had been nothing like the internet on Avla.
So much human knowledge, pooled and waiting for people to connect to it, to each other. Bringing them together to share in something like a larger consciousness.
Like a Collective.
Oh, fates and powers. Humanity had learned how to build their own sort of Collective, out of computers, words, and pictures.
It could never be close enough to what xe had lost. It would never be like sharing skin with millions of Mimica. But it was just similar enough to hit xem like a brick to the gut, make xem long for what xe had lost.
Okka soon developed a fervent appreciation for the human contributors to the pool of knowledge available on Wikipedia, wikiHow, and YouTube. Xe knew many more things about the ins and outs of surviving on this planet and in this time and place.
*~*~*
The seller swore the identity would do the job and that xe wouldn't attract attention by using it. Okka's own research indicated that the government might flag the number when xe filed taxes, but they probably wouldn't do anything about it. So many people had falsified paperwork so that they could live and work in peace.
It was a calculated risk. Every possible path here was a calculated risk.
The seller offered Okka papers in a name of xir choice, for a higher price. It probably would have been safer to go with some random, anonymous human name, but if Okka could not have the Collective, xe could at least keep possession of the name they had given xem. To do otherwise seemed unthinkable.
None of xir last names from any of xir mission identities fit Okka xemself. As close as xe was to Myrdu, these days, xe was no longer a Pandrach.
But Nifu was still xir daughter.
Xe decided on the name Okka Pathfinder—one of xir daughter's titles. Okka Pathfinder, parent of Nifu Pathfinder.
Xe liked the way that sounded.
The next thing xe needed was a job. One in the technology industry, if xe could manage it. Xir research had turned up many companies that operated in the city. One of them owned that building with the red logo that had caught xir eye. Kemptech. They were an attractive prospect.
Pattern recognition software, and xir research on how to detect the power cores of various spacecraft and the transmissions of the Collective, xe had on xir own computer. But the arrays that would bring xem the raw data, radio telescopes and research satellites, and the knowledge necessary to get them to talk to xir own Avlan computer? That, Okka did not yet have.
Xe needed to learn, and for that xe could seek out any number of resources. But for access to the equipment, xe would need to go big. There were risks to starting out at a bigger company like Kemptech. It was higher profile than a lot of other options. But the company was also big enough for xem to go unnoticed within it—the building was almost a small city in itself.
Okka was drawn to it.
Xe didn't think it was only because the place was the most obvious, most clear route to the technology that would allow xem to find other Mimica. But that was part of it.
The lobby was bustling. A steady stream of people went to and from the elevators. A directory described the contents of each floor as all sorts of offices. Marketing, legal, research and development. A put-together and alert woman sat at the reception desk, sharing attention between her screens and the people in the lobby. She eyed xem as xe approached.
"Excuse me, are you hiring?" xe asked.
"Kemp Technologies? Yeah, pretty much constantly. We haven't got any paper applications, though, it's all online now, of course." She tapped a few keys on her computer. "What kind of position are you interested in?"
"Wherever you need people."
She looked at xem kind of pityingly. "No ideas? We have a lot of departments." She turned her screen a little so xe could see the listings. There were many openings, everything from janitorial to prototype manufacturing, but there was not much that involved working with the technology that didn't require a degree. Okka didn't think any of Myrdu's certificates would get xem far. Nor would anything Rhea had achieved in Ancient Greece.
"I'll start wherever you'll have me," xe offered.
She gave xem an odd look, but then seemed to recover and nodded briskly. "There are a lot of entry-level positions you can apply for. You know how to get to our website, right?"
"I'm sure I can manage," xe said with a polite smile.
"All right, so you just go down to the bottom of the page where it says 'careers', and you'll get to this list and read about our open positions. You can apply for as many as you like. Now, is there anything else I can help you with, uh, sir? Ma'am?" She eyed him in a way she hadn't before, as if only now registering xir appearance.
Okka waved the question away, which seemed to frustrate her.
She set her jaw and opened her mouth in a determined manner. "Listen, I'll give you some friendly advice. If you want to impress people at this level of business, you need to present a professional demeanor. That means makeup, or a suit. Um."
Xir eyes narrowed. Xe could have gone with the flow of wrong assumptions, xe was prepared for that, but xe found that the annoyance and disdain with which this woman seemed to regard anyone she couldn't immediately pigeonhole made xem loath to claim either of her boxes as xir own.
Xir form was well within human variance. Xe was familiar enough with the genome to know that. How would this woman treat others who looked like xem?
"Whichever is more appropriate," she finished at last.
"And if neither is?" xe asked. Xe could sense people stopping in their journeys across the busy lobby, curious about the sudden tension in the air, but xe wanted to know how she would answer.
"Excuse me?"
"What if neither one is more appropriate than the other?"
She frowned in confusion. "Well, it's one or the other, isn't it?"
Okka didn't know the culture quite well enough to argue properly, but oh, xe wanted to.
"Is there a problem here?" a voice from behind Okka asked.
The woman's face transformed. Her eyes widened at the voice. "No, sir," she said quickly. "I was just giving this young person some advice about working in a professional environment." She was tense now, and her stance held an undercurrent of dread.
Okka turned to see who this person was who could do so much with so few words.
It was a man with dark wavy hair and a bright smile. He must have been watching their interaction for more than a passing moment, but he didn't seem to have any of the same reactions to Okka as the receptionist had. Intelligent, assessing eyes didn't make the smile feel any less genuine. "Is that right?" he asked Okka.
"She seems to think I can't get by here being anything except strictly masculine or feminine," Okka answered, trying to keep xir voice calm and friendly, just in case he agreed with his employee. Xe didn't know how well xe managed.
"Well, that's just not true," the man said to Okka, and then turned to the receptionist. To her he said flatly, "Run the sensitivity course, Caroline. And this time, take notes."
As she absorbed the words, she flinched, then nodded. "Yes, sir," she said.
She seemed to think she'd just been told off rather harshly, but by someone in a position to do so unchallenged. Okka wondered if this clearly powerful man would have done the same for any stranger.
He held out a hand to Okka. "Hey, I'm David Miller. I'm actually looking into hiring more interns into our R&D department. I think you might fit in there. What's your name?"
Okka shook his hand, and answered, "Okka Pathfinder."
David stepped away from the reception desk, and into a slightly quieter corner, gesturing Okka to follow. "Good to meet you. Okka? Interesting. So you want to work at Kemptech?"
"I do." Okka looked between David and the reception desk. "Even more so now than when I walked in the door. Thank you for listening to my side of the story, Mr. Miller."
"You shouldn't have needed to tell one. I'm going to have to keep a closer eye out for things like that. We respect people's identities here." He tilted his head a bit. "At least, we try. There are a lot of introductory training courses and I'm aware most people don't do a lot more than skim them. Anyway, if you end up working in software development to, you're going to know me best as David, so if you want, you can call me that."
"Thank you, David," xe said. "If you really do want to hire me, I'd be enormously grateful."
David just smiled a little crookedly. "We'll see if you still feel that way after we've put you to work. Come up to my office. We'll talk over some details."
Xe hoped xe could find a place for xemself here. Closer to David than to Caroline, ideally.
David was the first person who didn't look at xem and pity xem for not belonging. He was compassionate, but also bright and full of attitude.
Okka thought Earth would be a little more pleasant, if xe could spend time with David.
*~*~*
Once they were in David's office, Okka handed over xir papers, and David scanned them into his system. Then he asked some questions about Okka's skills.
Okka had been fascinated by the internet as a concept, and so during xir research, xe'd focused on what made it work and what could be done with it. Xir assertion that xe knew JavaScript was perhaps exaggerated, but not so far outside the realm of xir ability to fake.
"I've got some experience in other types of programming," xe said. "I don't know how much of it will be applicable to what you do here. It's all been rather esoteric."
"Huh," said David, frowning. "I'm not quite sure what you mean by that, but I'm sure Waverly will enjoy finding out." He gave Okka an amused smile.
Then David's phone made a noise, and he took it out to look at it. "Results came through on your background check," he said, gesturing with the device before reading the message.
Okka held xir breath.
"Yeah, you're good," David said with a smile, "although there's a couple of things I have questions about regarding your IDs."
"What kinds of questions?" Okka asked.
"Well," David began, "your IDs have a female marker, and as far as I know you could just be a passionate defender of nonbinary people, but if you want me to refer to you by any particular set of pronouns, just let me know, okay?"
Of all the questions Okka had been imagining, this was one of the least concerning. That didn't mean xe knew exactly how to answer it. "I'm not sure what would be the most accurate," xe mused. "English isn't my first language, although from what I've learned so far, I'm not sure it would be helpful even if it was. So many of your words are new."
"The singular 'they', then?" David offered. "That actually has a pretty long tradition."
"I've been considering it," Okka said. "But 'xe' with an X caught my eye, too. I'm not sure what about it appeals to me, but it feels more like the way I think of myself in my own head. I don't have a strong preference, though."
"Still," said David. "If it feels more accurate to you, then that's what I'll use."
"That doesn't seem like a common attitude," Okka commented. "Why are so many people hung up on this binary-gender nonsense?" xe asked.
David shrugged one shoulder, looking slightly uncomfortable. "I mean, I know where some of the rationales come from. I'm not about to claim they make sense. But a lot of people say we're only differently shaped so that we can reproduce."
Okka frowned. "That's ridiculous."
"Yeah, some branches of Christianity just fuck up their kids' perceptions of the world really badly." David's whole face scrunched, as if he'd smelled something foul. "Anyway, thank God for the Internet." He wiggled his phone. "Spreads this stuff around at least a little to the kids who really need it."
They appreciated what they had. Okka was glad, even through the heaviness that came with the reminder of what xe had lost. "You didn't have access to it, though?" xe asked, seeing a similar wistful look in David's eyes.
David laughed, a shade of bitterness to it. "Before I came to the city I lived, almost literally, under a rock. No internet, no telephones, no technology more complicated than a spinning wheel. I was raised Amish."
No long-distance communication. No internet. The thing that connected people's minds on this planet, gave them to know they were not alone. "Sounds… lonely."
"In some ways, yes, very. Even more so when you're a Kinsey-four bi boy terrified that you're going to hell for who you love."
Okka dropped the subject, because xe could see that it wasn't the most comfortable one for David. But xe kept thinking about it.
"Anyway, Waverly saved me, in a lot of ways. He's got his flaws, but he really does try to help people whenever he sees an opportunity. I think he'll be on board with you coming to work here." He looked like he wanted to say something more but stopped himself.
Okka wanted to meet Waverly. Not just because he was the center of this enormous network of communication and technology, but because this human, David, had reached out to Okka so easily. Tried his best to bring xem into the fold, despite the fact that xe must not seem much like xe belonged here, or anywhere, right now, with all xe was. But David welcomed xem.
David clearly cared about Waverly. But the two humans had some trouble between them. Okka wondered what it was about Waverly that made this open, friendly human man so hesitant to speak of him.
Okka, who loved the new, the different, and the dangerous even more than most Mimica, thought that Waverly Kemp sounded like a challenge.
*~*~*
David was Up To Something. He had that mischievous look on his freckled face. That was almost as delightful, and almost as terrifying, as his annoyed expression.
"What?" Waverly asked, drawing back a little.
David stepped out of the way to reveal a stranger behind him and held out a hand to them with a flourish. "Waverly, this is Okka Pathfinder. Xe is your newest intern."
Xe was a chubby puck in skinny jeans. Short but defiantly present. Xir short black hair swept out from xir head in so many directions, xe looked like a hedgehog. Xir round face with its short nose and the suggestion of dimples looked like it was just waiting to smile.
Waverly felt a pull, the way he sometimes did, upon meeting people. Like David. But thinking of David reminded him to be cautious.
"Welcome. Why do you want to work here?" That was a good, normal interview question, right? Somehow, Okka didn't seem like the type to take the opportunity to gush all over Waverly. With some of his fresh interns, Waverly felt like he'd accidentally invited them to vomit all over his shoes.
"Among other things? David is kind," Okka said in a soft but clear tenor, with a slight, unidentifiable accent. "He seems to like you."
Waverly could feel himself start to smile. "Not the worst reason." Determined not to overwhelm the new intern on xir first day, he gestured to a desk. "Get comfy. Hopefully you'll be here a while."
Pulling Waverly a little aside into the nearby lounge area, David said, "Xir skill sets are atypical for this level at the company, so xe might be playing catch-up for the first little bit."
Waverly smiled lightly. "Well, I'll make sure xe catches up fast. I'm an expert at corrupting young and innocent minds with heresy like custom Linux installs and unsecured boot sequences."
David glared, clearly not appreciating the joke.
"I'll be nice," Waverly said. "I promise."
*~*~*
"Now," Waverly said, "important things first—here's where we keep the snacks. Take as many as you want, I'm rich."
Okka smiled mildly. "Thank you, Mr. Kemp."
The man responded with a full-body shudder. "Call me Waverly. In my experience, anyone who calls me Mr. Kemp is annoying as hell."
"Fair enough. So can you tell me more about what you do here?" Okka asked.
"Oh, so many things," Waverly responded. "But our focuses are compatibility and responsiveness. We wanna make sure that everybody, everywhere in the world, who uses one of our programs has a smooth and easy experience getting it, installing it, and using it. No matter what platform they start with."
Okka nodded. Xe thought xe understood the gist of that. There were so many different types of computers here, it would take some doing to get them all to talk to each other. The closest thing Okka had ever seen to that was the way the Cewri Imperium could make a virus to crawl its way into any computer system from any planet. It was sort of intimidating to know that this person had such a similar skill set to the foes xe'd faced for so many years. But then, he was using it to connect people, to make things easier to use from one computer to another. "And how do you do that?"
"Well, computers are like people, you know?" he said. "They can speak different languages, they can have different basic values, different basic assumptions they make because of the culture that produced them. That can make conversations… rough. We try to smooth things out as much as possible, make sure differences are accounted for so that the conversation doesn't stumble right out of the gate. Sometimes it's as simple as translating commands from one language to another, and sometimes it gets really tricky. Like with people."
Okka raised an eyebrow. "So what I'm getting here is that you have trouble talking to people?"
Waverly laughed aloud, bright and chagrined. "Let me tell you, my computers are a lot better at this conversation stuff than I am," he said.
"You can say that again," said a four-legged robot, approaching them gracefully on black rubber hooves. The robot would be as tall as Okka with the neck joints fully extended.
"Yeah, yeah, Toto," said Waverly. "Everyone knows you’ve got all the charm in this operation." He turned back to Okka. "Toto's the most compatible computer on the planet, with other computers, and with all different people. If he can't interface with something right off the bat, he can learn, and write himself new interfaces. He's literally the best."
Okka recognized the softness in Waverly's smile. It reminded xem of when Myrdu would brag about Nifu. If Toto wasn't a person, then at least Waverly thought of him that way.
Okka had seen stranger shapes for people than this lanky, metallic quadruped with his long, hinged neck and vaguely conical head. Even accounting for the thick black umbilical that ran from his body to an attachment in the wall.
"Hello, Toto," Okka said. "It's good to meet you."
Waverly's smile brightened into something genuinely delighted.
Okka already wanted to make that particular smile happen as often as possible.
"Likewise, Okka," Toto said.
Waverly cleared his throat. "So. We work with a very wide range of software, pretty much all the big names and the smaller ones, when we can manage. Apple is very proprietary. Doesn't play well with others sometimes. Hey, I get it, it's a business model. Windows is… well, they've got their own issues. A lot of 'em come hand in hand with having the biggest market share in some sectors. Linux? You can do a lot with Linux. I base most of my stuff in it, when I can."
Okka made a thoughtful noise. "It's fascinating how much these systems both compete and cooperate." On Avla, all computer systems were made to work together, except for the protections that were required to isolate the machines around an infected computer against the Cewri's attacks.
It was a lot like the Avlan society that used them, really.
"Yeah, it is," Waverly agreed. "Linux, of course, is the most cooperative, because at its heart it isn't about money. You can still make money with it, though, obviously. Android. Red Hat. Chromebook. KempTech."
Okka just shook xir head in bewilderment. "That is a long list of very big names."
Waverly shook his head, laughing a little. "No one's expected to know all of them. Most of our employees specialize in one thing or another, and learn enough of the rest to get by when we bring everything together. You can start wherever you are. In the meantime, if you aren't familiar with the KempOS, that's the first thing to get on top of. The company issues Kemptech phones to all our employees." Waverly handed Okka one of those ubiquitous rectangles, not so different from an Avlan pocket computer, but much more universally used. "Not everybody uses ours, some people turn them right back over and we donate them, but you need to at least get comfortable with the basics of the system."
"Thank you," Okka said, taking the phone.
"It's got my number in it. More importantly, here's David's number. He's the real genius when it comes to getting interns settled. But hey, I try. So yell for me if you get lost."
Okka smiled wryly. "Don't worry about me; I learn quickly."
"Well, then you can yell for me even if you don't get lost." He winked conspiratorially.
"Oh, Waverly," Okka responded. "How will I ever endure with you all of twenty feet away?"
Waverly laughed brightly and went back to his own office, leaving the door between them open.
Okka, on this first day, had three tasks: to familiarize xemself with xir phone and the larger machine at xir desk; to complete some corporate training that David had showed xem how to view on the larger computer (including the infamous sensitivity course); and to be around, in case Waverly wanted someone to talk at besides his robot, Toto.
The surface of Waverly's enormous desk was an enormous e-paper touchscreen, on which he laid out all his code in tiny text, so that he could see it all at once, or sometimes he brought up plans for the hardware of whatever the code was for. He had music on, and at one point, Toto ambled over to convey the message that they could shut the door if Okka would rather not hear it. But it was an interesting mix, some from genres Okka could not have named from Myrdu's spying on this planet, as well as some rock and some R&B.
He moved as he worked. Okka's gaze was drawn to him over and over.
The way Waverly shaped his world into rhythms was intoxicating. He seemed almost fluid sometimes, but he had structure on the time axis, as well as in his lean, wiry humanoid form.
It was hard to believe all that could be expressed through the simple motion of one concrete form.
The images the movements evoked were varied and beautiful, his arms like dark glimmering-wet branches in a storm, or even like the black tentacles of xir ancestral form. His thin but mobile face was always expressing something new.
"Distracted?" David asked, appearing from out of nowhere at xir elbow. Okka started up, wide-eyed.
"You must be," said Toto. "You seem to have sprung a leak." He gestured at the line of drool on Okka's sleeve.
"I don't know what you're referring to," said Okka primly, arms going into xir lap and under the desk.
David tutted and swatted at Toto's head/hand. "That's the kind of thing you pretend you don't see," he said.
Okka determinedly turned xir attention back to xir work.