No; Fast forward to her first day!

Lucy was in her father's Tesla, riding in to work. They had decided to carpool for the duration of her internship. "I'm telling you, pumpkin, it'll be fine!" her father reassured her, "Any job within Hycondrex is gold for an application. The other kids will NEED the real experience, you're a chip off the ol' block. You're gonna be a superstar in the field!"

Lucy had already heard the same sentiment a hundred times from her father, but it didn't FEEL like it was the truth. "Thanks daddy. I guess we'll see how it goes..." Lucy stared out the window of the car, the first of many security gates appearing on the horizon. Hycondrex was rumored to be involved in serious, strange research with the government, but obviously nobody had concrete proof. The only things you knew to back it up were comments made by your father, but with his sense of humor and stream of dad-jokes, it was legitimately difficult to tell if he was being serious or not.

The vehicle pulled up to the first security gate, Lucy's father routinely held his ID card up to his window, and the gate rolled open quickly. "Speaking of security..." Lucy's father spoke, "...you're going to be in a different building than where I work. Higher security than even your old man gets into! I mean, your mother and I have never had so much as a board meeting in that building." Her father leaned in and spoke in a feigned hush, "Who knows... Maybe that's where they hold the more... Controversial experiments... Oooooooooh!" Her father made a melodramatic spooky sound and Lucy laughed and pushed him away playfully.

"Thanks again, dad..." Lucy responded, amused but annoyed. "Yeah, I bet it's gonna be real exciting, pointing people to the bathroom. Men's or women's? Hope I can figure it out."

"I work with some real weird-looking folks. You may have more trouble with that than you think..." THERE was her dad's sense of humor. "...but they're supposedly geniuses, can't judge a book by its cover, I suppose." The discourse had passed the time, through several more security gates, and the car came to a halt in a large employee parking lot.

Lucy and her father got out of the car, and started walking towards the large, corporate-looking facade of the Hycondrex HQ. "OK Luce, I'll come with you to main reception, get you all set up, but then you're on your own. Like I said, they've got you assigned to building C-5, which is nestled in the back of the complex. They restrict access pretty heavily from what I've heard, so I probably won't see you the rest of the day. Buildings are blocked off from cellphone reception, too, but you've got my office number written down. You need anything, give me a call and I'll see what I can do. But you'll be fine!" They entered the revolving doors, and entered the building.

A large, multi-story entry room greeted Lucy on the other side of the doors. Many busy-looking individuals in suits and lab coats made their way down the balcony hallways. The building looked just as sleek and modern on the inside as it did out. Lucy's father advanced towards a circular reception area, filled with several monitors and receptionists.

"Good morning, Mr. Wallace!" The receptionist seemed energetic, yet professional. "Your coffee is waiting for you in your office. Can I assist you with anything to get your day started?"

"Actually, yes, Marcy." Lucy's father gestured towards her, and she stepped forward, "This is my daughter, Lucy. She was accepted for an internship, and today's her first day. I have a meeting I need to get prepared for..." Mr Wallace glanced at his watch, "Marcy, can you make sure she's taken care of? I'm in a rush." And without any more of a delay, Lucy's father turned to her, kissed her on the forehead, said "Gotta run, pumpkin. You'll do great!", and turned and briskly walked away.

Lucy turned to Marcy, and eagerly waited to hear her help. Marcy's attentive demeanor granted to Lucy's father didn't seem to extend to Lucy herself. Marcy immediately dropped all pretenses of excitement and attentiveness. "So, you're the one they got to temp at C-5, huh..." Marcy stretched upwards out of her seat and gave Lucy a look up and down. "Hmm... They sure have a type over there." Marcy continued to type away with a blank stare at the computer screen, and an awkward moment of silence ensured for Lucy.

"Uh... So, what's so special about building C-5?" Marcy continued to type away, abruptly stopped and deliberately looked at Lucy.

"I can't say! I've never been. I'm to understand they have a STRICT confidentiality clause for that particular building. All employees are kinda sequestered from the rest of us. No company picnic attendees, nobody in the lunch room. I'm honestly pretty surprised they're having an intern there, but... I guess they need it." Marcy leaned in and half-whispered, "The last 3 receptionists have disappeared under very suspicious circumstances..."

Lucy gave Marcy a blank stare. What did THAT mean? Now Lucy had even more reservations about this internship... She began to ask Marcy about what she meant, until she noticed the other receptionists flanking Marcy holding back laughter. Marcy finally broke her serious forboding act and cracked up laughing.

"Gets them every time!" The receptionist to Marcy's left joined in on the fun and laughed. "Don't listen to Marcy, she can't help it, she messes with all the new receptionists. If you come with me, I'll lead you to where you need to be." The dark-skinned receptionist took off her headset and stood up, heading towards the desk exit.

"Hey kid," Marcy had composed herself, "Seriously. I got offered a position over there and didn't take it. I hear weird stories coming outta there. Do yourself a favor, watch your back." And with that, she returned to her monitor with the expressionless face. The other receptionist had made it to Lucy on the front end of the desk, "I'm Charlotte. Nice to meet you. Let's get you over to the new employee lab, you'll have to go through all the entry procedures." Lucy followed behind Charlotte through the gigantic building.