I’ve had this scene knocking about in my skull for a couple of months now, and I finally couldn’t resist jotting it down. Piece by piece, I’m fleshing out the world that my alter-ego inhabits, and what you see here is the closest I’m likely to get to an “origin” story. (Deal with it.)
No, this doesn’t count against my NaNo. I’m not a cheater!
The Job Interview
“Well. Everything seems to be in order, here. Yes, your file looks very promising. You’ve shown imagination, determination and strength of character. I think you may become a valuable asset to our organization.”
“Thank you, sir.”
“I must pose some questions, if you don’t mind.”
“Not at all.”
“You’re going to live for a very long time, by normal human standards. Are you prepared to deal with that?”
The applicant paused briefly before answering, “Absolutely.”
“You had to think about that. Perhaps you’d care to go into detail as to why.” This clearly wasn’t a request.
“You asked a very serious question. It deserved more than just a glib answer, but I didn’t want to belabor the point. My answer stands: I’m absolutely prepared to deal with the baggage that comes with an extended lifespan.”
“Fair enough. How about this: Can one person change the world?”
“Of course. What they can’t do is change the people in it at least not without crossing what I consider to be serious ethical boundaries.”
Behind his polished wooden desk, the interviewer slowly leaned back in his chair. The two men weren’t actually sitting in a real, opulent, top-floor downtown office, but only one of them could tell the difference. The other still lacked the power to do so. It was the other’s agility of thought and grasp of certain realities that the interviewer was tasked with discerning.
He decided on a new line of questioning. “You’re going to die eventually, you know. This job isn’t a ”˜get out of death free’ pass.”
“Of course it isn’t. Everything and everyone goes, eventually.”
“You’re awfully relaxed about that.”
“Why shouldn’t I be? No matter what, I’ll live longer than any normal person. This is a dream job, almost literally.”
The interviewer smiled and asked, “How so?”
“You’re letting me correction, offering to let me play God, within certain set boundaries. I can do almost anything, anywhere, to anyone or create any scenario I see fit, as long as I don’t manipulate certain kinds of events or directly tinker with anyone’s mind. Since I’m not interested in the contents of anyone’s psyche, this isn’t a problem for me. So, what’s not to like?”
“Death. Failure. Frustration. Cunning adversaries. The general unfairness and hostility of the universe.”
“You’re quoting, there, aren’t you?”
“I’m allowed.”
The interviewee indicated his acceptance of that with a shrug and a wry smile. “I already knew about all of that before I came here. What more should I be afraid of? I notice you didn’t mention boredom.”
“We don’t bring in people who are prone to boredom.”
“”˜We were never bored because we were never boring,’ indeed. So, what else?”
“Love.”
“Come again?”
“You heard me.”
That earned a long pause. “Let me see if I can suss this out. What you’re saying is that I’m going to need the ability to handle falling in love with someone, knowing that I’ll outlive them by centuries.”
“If not millennia, yes. Go on.”
“And even if they’re long-lived, there’s the chance that the relationship will go sour and I’ll have to deal with an ex-girlfriend, possibly even a hostile ex. Actually, over time I suppose I could collect quite a few of those.”
“Likely. Did you know that you can be rather abrasive at times?”
“You’re not the first to notice. Let’s see there’s also the chance that I could end up juggling romances across any number of facets of the cosmos. That’s a lot of work, right there.”
“Indeed.”
“So what’s the problem?”
The interviewer quirked an eyebrow. “Can you handle all of that?”
“What’s to handle? Yes, I admit I have a particular weakness. I also, however, know better than to let my reach surpass my grasp by too much. I know what’s important in life, and I know how to multitask and prioritize. The real trick, though, is in having high standards.”
“Oh?”
“Yes. I won’t get involved with anyone who isn’t intelligent enough, emotionally centered enough and has a strong enough grip on reality to deal with me on my level. They also have to be comfortable with the fact that they’re not the only love of my life.” He paused. “Maybe that sounds conceited to you.”
“It does, but a certain amount of conceit is useful in our line of work. You know you’re going to make mistakes, don’t you?”
“Of course I am. And even when I meet the perfect woman and we hit it off beautifully, two centuries along or so we may have become entirely different people. Nothing stays completely the same forever, especially a human being. I think that should add some zest and flair to my existence, in fact.”
“Could you kill her if she became enough of a threat?”
The interviewee blinked and went perfectly still. “I Hmm. I don’t know. Sorry, but that’s the best I can do. I won’t know until I get there.”
Standing up and coming around to the front of the desk, the interviewer said with a smile, “Don’t worry. You’re not supposed to have all the answers. One of the requirements for the job is recognizing and admitting when you don’t know something, even about yourself.”
“Especially about oneself, I’d think.”
“Very true. So. Welcome aboard.”
They shook hands to seal the applicant’s fate for the next several millennia.
“Well then,” the interviewer asked, “Would you like to go out for a drink?”
“Sorry,” Andrew replied. “You’re not my type. I thought that was in my file.”
“It never hurts to ask.”