[The City that Never Wakes] Wageslave

He lets out a little breath and sits back. "Please," he gestures to her. "I'd much prefer you do all the talking. Let me know what works and I'll try to meet you as far out as I can."
 
Ash considers for a moment, then speaks. "Alright, then I'll start with a bit of background. My basic objection to this entire exercise is that I am being asked to undergo far-reaching interventions with long-term downsides for what is at best a very temporary upside. Precisely none of the skills this program evaluates are even tangentially relevant payskills for any future role I might conceivably be gainfully deployed into, and all the boosts you have suggested involve long-term downsides which would be detrimental to my actual payskills. This gives me a radically different risk- and cost/benefit profile than that of my teammates."


Another pause. "Further brain surgery is strongly contraindicated, on the just mentioned grounds." Ash ticks off one finger on her left hand. "The obvious answer for short-term boost with minimal detrimental long-term effects would be to stim up for high-value tasks, a group of solutions into which I include hot sim." She ticks off a second finger. "The complication here is that this program lacks a clear prioritization of tasks into mission-critical and non-critical. Or at least a prioritization which is clear to us as participants. Without being able to identify high-value targets ahead of time stims become worthless, at least in doses and at frequencies that are not habit-forming." Ash fixes Ray with a penetrating stare. "And you're not paying me nearly enough to buy yourselves a stimmie habit."


"Of your original list, that leaves skillwires," she counts off her third finger. "The complication here is that while I may not look it, I am in fact already about as chromed up as I can get without taking a major hit to my ability to be healed by wage-mages. Which would drastically increase the long-term cost, both in health and wealth, of maintaining my chrome. And," she shrugs, "my actual payskills I'm already better at than any wire system you can implant in me."


Ash holds a hand out, palm up, inviting a response from Ray.
 
"That's a very well thought out set of objections," Ray answers after a moment. "Now, I think I could offer a number of valid reasons why that reasoning is incorrect, but what I'm actually hearing for the first two is 'I am personally uncomfortable' with this technology, and there's no arguing with that. So to try and meet you as far out as I can, I'm going to focus on the last one, since your objection to skillwires seems to be mostly career based."


He gives that a moment to sink in, and the continues. "Now, as you may be aware, NeoNET does not generally employ wage-mages to watch over our digital security staff, and healthcare for our security staff is fully covered. So the ability you're giving up by getting skillwires is a hypothetical. I'm not saying it's impossible for someone with your career focus—it may come up—but there's an optimization problem here. Which is worth more to you? The benefits of skillwires right now, or potential faster healing if you're promoted to an elite AAA spider unit?"


He holds a hand. "And before you answer, there's something I'd like you to consider something. One of your coworkers, Nora, uses her skillwires quite extensively, but she doesn't use them quite like the others. She's afraid of skillwire dependency, you see, so she's written a study optimization soft for herself—one that rearranges her schedule, sleeping patterns, etc, to maximize her ability to learn." He gives Ash a moment. "She has quite a few other unusual uses for them I think you might find more beneficial in the long run, if you give them the chance."
 
Ash nods slowly. "Okay, I'm glad that we're speaking the same language here, though for the record I am not in the least bit uncomfortable with best-practice use of stimmies."


"I trust you will forgive me for not going into the details of your hypothetical, as the full mental algebra involved touches upon topics which I am not at liberty, etc., etc." Ash makes a rotating motion with her hand, inviting the listener to finish the recitation on their own. "However, the final outcome of all that mental algebra is 'equal to or greater than two-thirds nominal strength on my clinical assensings,' which is a limit I'm already shaving pretty close to."


She straightens in her chair. "Now, it does so happen that the stuff Renraku gave me way back when, although top of the line at the time, is five and a half years old. Less invasive chrome has been developed in the meantime, which could in principle replace it to make room for more wires. I have it on good authority that this is feasible, given competent wage-mage oversight on the process. So a bigger wire set is something that can, in principle, happen." Ash trails off, allowing Ray to break in if he wishes.
 
Ray seems content not to interrupt, though when she pauses, he does interject one note: "Okay, right. This is constructive. I can bend on that. Please, go on."
 
"Well, there is the crass question of where they nuyen is going to come from. I have not had occasion to go over my personal finances lately, but at a quick guesstimate, I think I have somewhere between sixty and seventy-five thousand nuyen in the bank. Even a minimalist wire upgrade, under the boundary condition of preserving the integrity of my precious bodily fluids, would run into well over half that amount. And an extensive upgrade would be flatly infeasible on that sort of budget."


"Asking me to fork that over out of my own pocket seems a wee bit steep for meeting a temporary requirement. A requirement which, furthermore, HR has openly admitted is irrelevant for the position I was originally recruited for."
 
Ray doesn't blink. "A requirement is definitionally never irrelevant. If the company felt the requirement was irrelevant, it wouldn't be a requirement. Further, your employee contract clearly states that the employee shall bear all costs of any cybernetic or biotechnology enhancement they may require. NeoNET is a strictly merit-based employer, and does not adjust performance results to discriminate for or against those who may elect to use performance enhancing technology."


Just for a second, it's like being back in Renraku.


"That said," he continues, the casual tone suddenly restored. "I think we can arrange an employee discount on the price."
 
"I can offer you up to 20% off," he says, folding his hands on the table. "Subject to the requirement that you actually use the wires during your job. But given that you'll need to do that anyway, it should amount to the same thing." He pauses. "And, I'm not supposed to tell you this this, but as a little bonus—if there are any other upgrades you want to get, the company processes that 20% as a lump discount, so you could wedge in some other things."
 
Ash pinches the bridge of her nose with two fingers. "Okay, that's good. I'm still a little bit apprehensive about saying goodbye to fifty - now forty - grand over what seems like a fairly trivial upgrade. I realize that you can't provide the chrome at cost, of course, but keeping around half my signing bonus in the bank gives me a certain amount of, well, freedom."


"In particular," her hand returns to its resting position on the tabletop, and she looks back up at Ray, "I have the issue that the money in those bank accounts? The Company still has a lien on that money. If I blow it on chrome, and someone up the totem pole decides to screw me over? Then I've gone from needing to beg, borrow or steal 75 grand from my friends, which might be doable with a little luck and a lot of legwork, to having to find a hundred and fifteen. Which is definitely not doable."


"So that might end up being a really expensive bet. Particularly if our hypothetical totem pole resident decides to sell my debts to the Azzies. Or Renraku. I'm sure Renraku would be thrilled to have me as a guest in one of their sound-proofed basements. But, uh, I'm not really keen on imposing on their hospitality."
 
Ray pauses -- and then gives the slightest of shrugs. "Even in the most carefully worded mutually beneficial agreement, a degree of trust is required between partners. I can tell you that NeoNET would never do that, but more practically, if you think the company is going to sell a good, honest employee into slavery on a whim, perhaps you shouldn't have accepted the offer to work here"
 
"I take the view that the higher-ups deciding to screw you over is always a risk, no matter which company one works for. I trust the Company, but that is not the same thing as trusting every single person above me in my chain of command."


Ash leans back in her chair. "I'm not trying to get you to go below what you've been authorized to sell for here. But I do believe that it would be only fair to formally count what I end up spending on upgrades in the line of duty toward what I would be obligated to reimburse if someone up the food chain decides I didn't try hard enough to pass this program. After all, I am going under the knife precisely in order to try harder. I think a monetary outlay of that order does signify some manner of commitment, don't you?"
 
"On a personal level, I agree, that would be fair," he says after a moment.


His crossed hands, level stare, and lack of a followup convey his meaning well.
 
"I am not," he replies, simply. "I've already given you the extent of what I'm authorized to offer. Which may be poor negotiation policy, but the HR manual discourages haggling over percentage points when there are issues of an employees personal or emotional integrity on the line."
 
"A policy both wise and commendable. Are you authorized to tell me how high up on the totem pole I would need to go in order to find someone who is authorized to make the offer I just outlined?"
 
"More than two levels above me," he says, adding, "and while I can put in the request if you like, I don't think the odds are good."
 
Ash shakes her head. "Yeah, let's not go make more work for your boss' boss' boss on a very theoretical contingency." She sits back up straight, her hands rejoining the conversation in her usual animated style. "Now, as I said, this is going to be a pretty close shave, assensing-wise, so I'll need to huddle up with a mage and a couple of doctors so they can plan out what goes where precisely, and how to pull off this little feat of metahuman engineering. I dunno what your wage-mages' schedules look like, but I'm guessing that it would be optimistic to think that this is something that can be done in less than a week. I'd ask whether that was an acceptable schedule to you, but," she shrugs, "the schedule is out of my hands, really, so there's not a whole lot I could actually do with your feedback on that point."
 
"The scheduling is out of my control, but HR has priority on this. Company-mandated upgrades move to the front of the line. After all, it wouldn't be fair to punish you for our scheduling problems." He waves in her general direction. "And assensing is included, of course."
 
Ash nods, then rises and extends her hand. "Well then, Ray. If you have no further items on your agenda, then I think this is where I tell you that it has been a pleasure to do business with you." She adds a bow which would have made any true Renraku employee cringe - while Ash is well aware of the value of formality, there is a line between formality and pedantry. Practicing a minutely different twist of one's body when the bow to goes with a handshake is, in her considered opinion, very definitely on the wrong side of that line.
 
Ray's expression suggests he understood Ash's intention just fine, and his tone is a bit harder when he continues. "I actually have quite a lot left on my agenda, so if you would kindly sit down?" A slight edge on the final words makes it clear it is not a request. "Please," he says, pulling a sheet of e-paper out of his pocket and pushing it over to her, "take the opportunity to review this list of suggestions for improving your performance."


"It is," he clarifies, "the official list."


It's mostly what he and Ash discussed. Skillwires, actually using them, time spent with Nora learning skillwire best practices, using the official company time management app. It's ugly, but nothing new. Then, Ash's eyes settle on one particular line.


"Skillwire Minimum Rating: 4"
 
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Ash looks up at Ray when she reaches this line. "I believe that there is a mistake here," she flips the paper over and points to the offending line. "We just spent eight minutes haggling over the financial and physiological feasibility of a relatively minor wire upgrade, and here I see a demand in the small print for what amounts to a complete spinal transplant."


"That would require re-chroming my entire headware package to state-of-the-art alphaware - in some cases betaware. Which is just not in my price range, employee discount or no discount."
 
"The company does not agree with your assessment of the situation," Ray explains patiently, though now there's a distinctive edge to his tone. He's having a bit of trouble keeping up the friendly air. "Based on your cyberware and Essence profile, we think that another round of upgrades is entirely feasible. If short-term monetary concerns are a problem, the company would be pleased to extend a line of credit, and given your long run earnings profile, we see this sort of upgrade as both reasonable and desirable for your income level."
 
Ash leans back in her chair and scratches the surgical scars on the back of her head. "Right now I'm honestly wondering why your boss is wasting your time with this conversation, instead of having me talk to an agentsoft. You obviously don't have the clearance to read my file, you're singing from a hymn sheet I've heard before, you have no mandate to deviate from your canned boiler. I wouldn't even make book that you're not slotting the same damn chip as the last guy I had this conversation with. What precisely do you bring to the table that the last guy to lecture me on what the Company thinks it's entitled to do with my body didn't have? And why," Ash adds, her composure beginning to fray a little at the edges, "did you pretend that you brought a negotiation mandate to the table when you're clearly not empowered to be anything more than a bag-man?"


"Sorry." Ash frowns and shakes her head sharply, as if to clear her headspace. "Sorry, that was needlessly confrontational."


She inhales once, before continuing. "Point stands, though: This conversation is a waste of your time and mine. I need to talk to someone who," she holds up a hand, "has read my file," she ticks off one finger, "who is empowered to discuss solutions," second finger, "and whose incentives line up with my long-term performance," third finger, "in the job I was recruited for, rather than the short-term progression plan of a training program I was shoe-horned into to evaluate my suitability for a security clearance."
 
"Well then," Ray says, rising from the table, "In the spirit of my of my proud, customer-service program ancestors, 'Please hold while I escalate your call.'" While his tone never reaches the point of outright hostility, it can't help but add a certain sarcastic twist to the final phrase. He tells Ash to wait, promises to return shortly, and the leaves. With him gone, there's nothing in the little soundproof cubicle but Ash, the table, and the chair.


So she waits. She drums her fingers. She fiddles with her commlink a bit. She tries to call Razor. Checks her scanner. No wireless. Right, a faraday cage. She reads for awhile, but can't seem to focus on the words.


After awhile, she checks the scanner again. Still no wireless.


It's a good fifteen minutes before the door behind her opens, and a new figure strides in. She's certainly a far cry from the dark haired little elf in the jumpsuit from a moment ago. She's tall, and striking, and wears a proper suit instead of the company uniform—a black armband with the company logo showing her allegiance. Ash can't place her metatype at a glance—her ears are pointed and her skin is a burnt brown, but her eyes are golden and sharp and a pattern of silver scales covers both her cheeks. The pattern is symmetric, even beautiful, which rules out a mutation, but Ash can't say more than that. She might be a SURGE victim. She might be a rare metatype, like a naga. She might be an elf with a flair for cosmetic surgery.


It's not until she smiles that Ash realizes she might be a Drake.


"Congratulations, Ash," she says, briefly reaching up with a fingernail to pick something out of her fangs. "You have been directed to someone with the authority to negotiate. I am Cahya, the Senior Director of Metahuman Resources for the ARAT program. And to answer your earlier security questions, before working here, you were a subteam manager for the digital security unit on Renraku's 16th street North Tacoma facility. If you have more questions as to my qualifications, please, save them for later."


Unlike Ray, she isn't making much of an effort to keep up the pretense. Quite the opposite, even.


"Now," she says, "here's the offer I'm going to make you. You will abide by all of the original terms Ray presented you, and I will add an additional clause that if you are ever promoted to an AA or AAA rated spider unit and still feel your skillwires are incompatible with that position, or if you are promoted to any other position where your Essence is demonstrably relevant to performance, the company will pay for the removal of your skillwires and full Essence recovery treatments, as well as refunding you the full amount paid for them, plus any relevant interest."


She quickly sweeps up the e-paper Ray left on the desk, and with a single wave of her hand, adds the clause. Curiously, Ash also notices a video file, now added to the paper. "If these terms are not acceptable to you," she continues, "I am also empowered to require you to comply with all three points on his original list. To that end, you may find this video segment instructive."


The video starts playing on the E-paper. It's a recording of Ash during her initial arrival, when she was shown her employee contract. The camera zooms in over her shoulder, showing her using the commlink they so thoughtfully provided. A moment later, a feed appears showing her screen, including the lawyersoft analysis she ran.


"As you can clearly see, regardless of any mistakes your recruiter may have made, you were fully aware of the mandatory cybernetics requirement before you signed your contract. In consultation with MHR's legal subteam, I am authorized to inform you that the company considers its actions in this regard to be fully in compliance with all relevant regulations, and categorically rejects any claims to the contrary you may elect to make in the future." With a sharp finger, Cahya reaches out and closes the video.


"Now, can we wrap this up quickly?"
 
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