Eric waited uncomfortably in the lobby. It had been unnerving enough, having to come through the main gate with all the soldier-like guys with the guns, examining his license and his face with an intensity that made him squirm. But, apparently, he'd been on "a list" and they finally let him through. He hoped it wasn't going to be like this every week, or he'd end up blurting all his secrets out one morning. One of the soldiers escorted him up to the main building, and then inside, standing with his hands wrapped comfortably around the dangerous looking gun cradled against his body. Alpha Williams had said the lab employed a private security team, but this looked like a freaking army.

Eric adjusted his glasses and straightened his tie. Strong, angry, and brooding didn't seem like the kind of guy who was up for small talk, so Eric didn't try. Finally, a face he recognized exited the elevator to the right of the reception desk. "Dr. Jay!" Eric greeted the man. He'd been the person Eric had interacted with most over his series of interviews, and the one who had called to offer him the job. 

Dr. Jay smiled and reached out to shake his hand. That seemed to be the sign for soldier boy to leave, because he turned without a word and marched back outside.

"Any trouble getting in?" Dr. Jay asked, guiding Eric to the elevator.

"The guards at the gate are a little intimidating..." Dr. Jay laughed and brushed the comment away. "You get used to them. And after today, you'll have your employee badge which will shorten the process significantly. Speaking of which..." They exited the elevator and Dr. Jay guided Eric to a small office. "Your welcome packet is on the desk. Your employee badge should be inside."

Dr. Jay leaned against the doorway while Eric opened his packet. The badge was a normal, beige plastic card with a barcode on it.

"That will let you in all the areas of the building you're cleared for. Everyone has to check in and out, so make sure to tap your card at every access point, or it won't recognize you when you try and tap back out."

Well... that would make sneaking around significantly difficult. He could slip in behind someone, but unless he could slip out behind someone, his goose was cooked. But Alpha Williams said he didn't need to start looking for anything hard core right away. He needed to establish himself first. Fade into the background, if possible.

"You can look through the rest of your paperwork later. Come on, I'll show you your toys. Keep the card, though. If you want, you can pick up a lanyard for it or one of those retractable key chain things in HR.

Dr. Jay explained things as they passed different rooms. "We're working on advancing humanity, here. I'm sure that sounds a bit first-world problem, after all your work trying to bring the far reaches of the world up so they can join the twenty-first century, but I believe it is necessary for the world."

"All science builds on each other," Eric said. "I wouldn't be here if you hadn't presented a convincing argument." The half truth lay bitter on his tongue. It had been Alpha Williams' argument, but Eric wouldn't lie to himself that the picture Dr. Jay had painted of cutting edge biotech for humans had excited Eric's intellect in a way splicing corn genes hadn't. His previous job had been intellectually challenging enough, but what had driven him there was his heart. The same heart that had driven him to agree to spy on Gecko Labs.

Dr. Jay graced him with a wide, perfect smile. "True, true." He tapped his card against an access pad and directed Eric to do the same.

"You won't see many of our test subjects or sample providers. We have an agreement with the US Government to source volunteers from the inmate population. Since we're doing such in-depth analysis, we have a small extension of the prison on-site so that we can move quickly on our hypotheses and tests. Even though the inmates are here voluntarily, they're still criminals, and many of them are violent. You might see them in the hallways, in passing, but I would advise keeping your distance. Some of them can be unexpectedly violent."

Volunteer inmates, right.

"But like I said, you'll be working with samples and the sequencing machine, so it's unlikely you'll run into many of them. Ah, here we are." Dr. Jay tapped his card against another access pad and Eric followed suit, walking into a lab that was basically a geneticists wet dream. His eyes locked on to the star of the room, the sequencer. "I didn't know this model was on the market yet," he said, running his hand over its demure black case.

"It's not," Dr. Jay said smugly. "As far as I know, this is the only one available outside of the R&D of the production facility currently."

"Can it really sequence the entire human genome in six hours?"

Dr. Jay shrugged. "You'll have to tell us. It arrived two days ago, in preparation for you."

Eric looked around in amazement... They'd order all of this... for him? The overwhelming sense of dread he'd been fighting earlier had faded as Dr. Jay had lead him through the comforting familiarity of the lab environment, but now it was a razor thin dagger sliding over his skin. Who were these people? Eric couldn't even imagine the kind of money and influence it would take to get all this together this fast just for him. 

"If you want to play around, we've already prepped some samples for you." Dr. Jay indicated the sample refrigerator. "Do you remember how to get back to your office?"

Eric nodded silently, looking around the room in terrified wonder. 

Dr. Jay seemed to only pick up on the wonder. "Enjoy. Oh, I almost forgot, because of the instability of some of the inmates and the secrecy of our work, we go only by initials. Hence, the 'Dr. J.'" He waved at himself. "So from now on, I will address you as Dr. V. And remember," he raised his card, "tap in, tap out."

"Tap in, tap out," Eric repeated as Dr. J left. 

Eric turned around, scanning the equipment, wondering if Alpha Williams knew what she had thrown him in to.