Interview (11) – The Test

Medinger gestured towards one of the desks.

GM: Please sit there.

Jim sat down.

GM: In front of you, on the laptop you will see there is a terminal emulator. I would like you to log on to one of our servers. The userid and password you need are on the file card to your right.

Jim picked up the card and did as he was asked. He was about to ask something when Medinger continued.

GM: I will ask you to look at some things and perform some tasks. There is no need for you to tell me what you are doing. I can see everything you do on the screen in front of me. It is as if I was looking over your shoulder.

Jim nodded that he understood and then the test began. It was strange. Jim was aware that he was being observed. At first the tasks were simple. He was simply finding things in the directory structure. As time progressed he had to concentrate harder because the tasks became more involved and required more thought. He started using different application programs, some of which were entirely new to him.

Jim became aware that he was looking at data too. He suspected it had been obfuscated in some way. He seemed to be getting glimpses into what this company was doing but it wasn’t at all clear. He was curious to look at some things, but was reluctant to stray from the path of exactly what he had been asked to do.

From time to time he glanced across at Medinger. Each time he did, he say Medinger leaning back in his chair with his hands clasped behind his head, staring intently at the screen in front of him.

Quite suddenly, there came a pause. Jim looked up again. The doctor was leaning forward, apparently focusing on something on his screen. A brief smile seemed to flicker on his lips and then he turned to Jim.

GM: Good! That will do for now.

He paused, and looked up towards the ceiling, as if he was listening to someone else.

GM: Yes, I agree. Entirely satisfactory.

Then looking towards Jim,

GM: You will be hearing from Anastasia in due course.

JG: Is that all? Do you need to know anything more?

Jim glanced at the time in the bottom corner of the screen. Nearly 2 hours had passed since he had started the exercise with the Doctor and he had hardly spoken a word.

GM: No. We already know everything we need to know. Anastasia will contact you shortly.

And that was it! A few minutes later Jim found himself, with his suitcase, standing in the road looking back at the dilapidated house and wondering, what on earth has just happened? And what is going to happen next?

The drizzle had stopped and the day was clearing. Puzzled, he made his way towards the hotel he had booked for the evening.

 (Part of the “Tyson” project: 29th January 2017 – 494 words)