Settling In

10 minutes after accepting the assignment and signing all the paperwork, I was at a tall and expensive-looking apartment complex in New York City. I was planning on packing my stuff for the month-long stay after I saw the living quarters first. According to the agreement I signed, I was allowed to leave the apartment complex twice a day which, to be honest, seemed pretty strict to me, but I figured it was just another way to make sure I didn't end up spilling company secrets or something. I walked through the doors and into a sleek and modern-looking lobby. A very cute, small woman with a friendly atmosphere about her gave me the keys and told me to take the elevators to the 20th floor. As the elevator climbed upwards to my new temporary home, I was both nervous and excited for what may come.

I opened the door to room 2003 and was shocked. Not by how clean or spacious the apartment was, but by how homely it felt. While the paint style and design of the apartment was very modern, simplistic, and automated, the furnishings and decorations made me feel like I'd walked into someone else's home. The floor-to-ceiling windows and granite countertops clashed with the worn leather couch covered in pillows and the soft high-backed recliner adorned with a beautiful quilt. I opened up the fridge and found it stocked with just about every condiment and healthy fruits/veggies I'd need. The counters had an expensive looking coffee machine right next to a toaster that could have been around since the 80's. It was both disorienting and comforting at the same time.

A quick tour of the apartment showed a shared living room and kitchen area with two large bedrooms on either side. Each bedroom had its own bathroom and walk-in closet that was going to be much too big for my limited clothing collection. The most interesting part of the apartment though was a room next to the kitchen that was guarded by a very secure looking metal door. I couldn't enter the room as it was locked by a keypad, but I had a feeling that would be the workspace for me and the assistant.

A couple hours and several different playlists of music later, I'd effectively moved into my new place. I walked onto a small patio overlooking New York City and breathed a sigh of relief. I could get used to living in a place this nice, that's for sure. As I looked over the area and took in the sights, a knock came from the front door and my new assistant came in.

The first thing I noticed was the oversized black & gold glasses perched on her small nose. They wobbled precariously on her face as she lugged two suitcases through the doorway and dropped them with an exasperated breath. Her straight shoulder-length blond hair shook side-to-side as she confidently strode over towards me with her arm out-stretched. "Hi!" she exclaimed with a grin that lit up the whole room. "My name's Rebecca Grafton!"

I smiled back and shook her slim hand as I said, "Hey, Brett. Nice to meet you, Rebecca." I looked into the hallway to see multiple bags that had yet to come in. "Need any help with your stuff?" I asked.

"Oh, yes, please! I didn't know what to bring so I brought... well too much I think," she said with a chuckle. She turned back to the doorway and we slowly moved her stuff into the other open bedroom. Rebecca had a certain cuteness to her, and I checked her out closer as we moved in. She was slightly shorter than me, but not by much, and wore a business/casual outfit with jeans, slip-on shoes, a loose white blouse, and an open tan button-up shirt. I could tell she was as nervous as I was feeling, but she disguised it with frenetic and funny enthusiasm. And yes, I'm a guy, so of course I noticed that her bust was fairly small, but she had a tight athletic build about her and it showed with her cute bubble butt that I caught a few glances of.

"Whew, thanks for the extra hands," Rebecca said after we'd unpacked her bags. "So, the place is pretty nice. Much better than I expected."

"No kidding," I said, looking around our new living quarters. "I expected a little better than a hotel room, not a whole suite for us to share."

Rebecca headed to an open seat in the living room and plopped down. "Hey, so do you know what it is we're actually testing? I was told some vague details about some breakthrough app or something, but I don't know why we need two testers for a mobile app."

I sat in the comfy looking recliner and sunk in farther than I'd anticipated. "They didn't tell you about Project Altered? Why'd you sign up if you didn't know the details?" I asked, curious.

Rebecca shrugged. "It seemed like a pretty good chance to prove myself. I've only been here since April and haven't made any waves yet." She smiled broadly as she continued, "Is this some, like, Ex Machina-stuff or something?"

I laughed at this and said, "Nah, nothing quite as dark or twisted as that I don't think. Great movie though, one of my all-time favorites!"

"Mine too!" Rebecca said, leaning forward. "Alex Garland's masterpiece, if you asked me," she said with a smirk. Oh, was she challenging my movie knowledge? Game. On.

Several movie trivia moments later, we'd agreed to get to know each other over some pizza and beers. I ordered a delivery from Papa Johns, popped open a few light beers I'd brought along, and we spent hours discussing our favorite films and tv shows. We actually had quite similar tastes, minus my love for documentaries which she promptly rolled her eyes at.

"Yeah, I'll pass. I don't think I need to see some older movie about British street art" she said, coyly taking a sip of her beer. "Hey, so how long have you been working at Quanta Life?"

I was leaning against the island in the kitchen at this point, and I set my beer down before answering. "I've been here about 4-5 years now. I started in your shoes actually. Yeah, first year as a part-timer was rough. I got worked on so many boring and shitty apps before they moved me up to actually quality test their boring shitty apps." I said with a wink, causing Rebecca to snort-laugh.

"Wait, so in the time you've been here, they haven't had one successful mobile app?" she asked.

"Nope. Just off-brand derivative stuff. Like Instagram for people in nursing homes or stuff like that." I rejoined her in the living room and gained a more serious tone. "This new one though, it feels different. Feels like they might be on to something."

Her eyes lit up at this and she leaned forward in her seat. "How so? I was told it was paired with like some patch-thing?"

"Yeah. It's unnamed right now, but it looks like it'll be able to directly monitor a person's body from obvious things to minute things."

Rebecca leaned back, thinking this over. "Woah... that could allow doctors to be able to diagnose things so much easier. If it works, of course."

"I know, right?" I was getting excited now. "We could be the first people to ever try a life-changing new program. Pretty exciting shit, right?"

There was a momentary pause while we realized the importance of the moment before Rebecca jumped up excitedly. "Well, what are we waiting for? Let's test this puppy out!"

"I love the enthusiasm, but the program and patch are probably in that locked room over there" I said, pointing to the locked metal door I'd found earlier. "I don't have the passcode, so until the higher-ups give us that, we probably just have to wait."

Rebecca smiled slyly and walked over to the door. "Oh, you mean like this?" she said as she punched some numbers into the keypad. 1216754. With a push of the Enter button, the seal broke and the door slowly opened. Rebecca turned back to look at me before she said, "Come on, let's go!"