"OK, not exactly the coworking pods I expected." thought Nina, as she stood outside the towering black glass skyscraper that was the Sirius Software headquarters.
Surrounded by a gray concrete courtyard, with security cameras mounted on tall concrete obelisk-like pillars, the tower loomed dark, ominous and foreboding, the bright summer sunlight giving it an alien shimmer.
She swallowed her nervousness, squared her shoulders and walked up the sweeping concrete driveway.
"Hi, I'm Nina Avanthika," she announced, buzzing the intercom on the massive black door. "I'm here for the personal assistant interview."
"You were informed that the dress code is a skirt suit and heels, Ms. Avanthika." answered a cold, deep, gravelly voice through the intercom speaker.
Nina angrily buzzed the intercom again. "Look, I don't believe in such sexist and outdated practices like dress codes. Are you seriously going to turn away a potential employee because of that?" she demanded.
Nina's anger and bravado, slowly gave way to apprehension and disbelief as the silence grew, and the seconds ticked away.
Would they really deny her entry and an opportunity all because of a dress code?
She was about to buzz the intercom and lit into them with some choice words, when the disembodied voice answered again.
"Go straight to the 128th floor." It commanded, and the door swung open with a pneumatic hiss.
As Nina crossed the massive threshold, the door behind her slammed shut with a deafening boom, making her jump, an ominous metallic thud told her that she was locked inside.
She checked her phone to see that its cellular signal had completely dropped.
Her heart pounded in her chest while she frantically fiddled with her phone's settings to get her signal back to no avail.
Taking several deep breaths, she pulled herself together, and took stock of her surroundings.
The walls and floor were smooth, polished black stone, and sparkled with a sinister beauty under the white light that blazed from the OLED panels that covered the high ceiling, leaving no trace of reflection or shadow.
The icy conditioned air and deathly silence, gave the deserted lobby an eerie, sterile atmosphere.
Her sneakers made a muffled echo on the floor as she shuffled towards the elevator alcove. The elevator doors hissed open, and she stepped inside, her heart pounding in her chest as she keyed in 128 into the elevator's keypad.
----
Nina took several deep breaths to calm her nerves as the elevator began its smooth and efficient ascent.
The elevator doors hissed open to an empty foyer leading towards an office space with a large empty desk and another, black door flush with the smooth glass wall and flanked by surveillance cameras that just said "Aaron Zakhrov - CEO" in spartan black and white lettering.
This door hissed open as well revealing a dark room beyond.Swallowing her nervousness, Nina entered the office.
The office was pitch black. The only light sources, were the light from the outer office spilling in from the doorway behind her, and the LED strip lights from a massive PC case that was quietly whirring in the corner of a massive black desk. A veritable wall of massive ultrawide monitors covered the desk, completely obscuring the person behind them.
As Nina stepped further into the room, trying to get a better look, the door behind her slammed shut with a loud boom, plunging the room into total darkness, and she spun around in alarm.
The pitch black ceiling blazed with a white light. Temporarily blinded, Nina shut her eyes, and threw up her hands in front of her face.
Loud, booted footsteps sounded behind her, she slowly turned around, lowered her hands and opened her eyes to see Aaron Zakhrov coming around his desk.
Aaron was nothing like Nina expected. He was young, extremely tall, and dressed head-to-toe in sleek black leather. With a neatly trimmed black french beard and long silky black hair slicked back into a ponytail. His blue eyes were icy cold as he surveyed Nina in her baggy sweatshirt, yoga pants and sneakers.
"Sit," commanded Aaron in a deep, gravelly voice, pointing to a pair of plush black leather couches that faced each other with a glass coffee table in between them, in the corner of his office.
Still trembling, Nina shuffled towards the couches and sat down on the edge of one of them.
She shut her eyes and tried to calm herself down, her trembling slowly subsided, and she opened her eyes to find Aaron sitting opposite her.
She now realized that it had been his voice on the intercom as he tossed a stack of papers in front of her.
"Read this, and tell me why I should offer you a job when you are seemingly incapable of following instructions." He demanded, his deep voice and cold tone leaving no room for argument.
Color drained from Nina's face as she read through the documents and realized they were print-outs of her various social media posts attacking Sirius Software's character designs.
"I-I am a hard worker. I'm organized, and I'm good at event management" stammered Nina, wishing she sounded more confident.
"Who is this guy? I thought he would be just another dork using his games to make up for his insecurities, but this is something else! What have I gotten into?" asked Nina to herself.
"A-And I don't believe in dress codes. Besides, I don't have a suit" she finished breathlessly, but with her eyes shining with determination.
"I see. Your role and responsibilities as my PA are scheduling and organizing both online and in-person meetings, planning itineraries, and other day-to-day activities that cannot be automated. I expect professionalism, discretion and confidentiality. Are you capable of handling that without your personal opinions on the games I make interfering Ms. Avanthika?" asked Aaron, his icy blue-eyed stare boring into Nina's wide and apprehensive black eyes.
Nina looked away from him for a moment before returning his gaze with renewed conviction.
"Yes I am." she said firmly "I am a team player, and I can work with you as long as we don't let our viewpoints get in the way." She finished.
Her conviction seemed to satisfy Aaron, for he simply nodded in acknowledgement.
"This is the employee contract and non-disclosure agreement. Read it carefully and ask if you are unclear about anything." he said, handing her a plush folder.
----
Nina's hands shook as she read through the contract and agreement.
The contract included a meticulously detailed dress code that mandated skirt suits, pantyhose, and high heels for female employees, along with regulations on hairstyles, makeup, lengths of skirts and heights of heels.
It even had instructions on how many coats of nail polish were to be applied!
The NDA was extensive, and designed to keep extremely tight control over intellectual property and social media.
Employees were forbidden from unionizing, and were forbidden from discussing almost anything related to Sirius Software, with severe financial and legal consequences for any breaches.
She finally looked up at Aaron, fury and defiance in her black eyes. "Surely this dress code can't be legal?" she hissed.
"I'm the only law around here. Comply, or get out and don't waste any more of my time. This is the last, and only time I will tolerate your presentation in those shapeless rags." returned Aaron.
"But I don't have a skirt suit!" Nina shot back, deeply offended by his remark that her hoodie and yoga pants were rags.
"That's easily remedied. Sign the agreement and this is yours. You can start tomorrow" said Aaron, waving a Sirius Software employee credit card in front of her face.
Nina looked away from him and shifted uncomfortably in her seat.
One voice screamed at her to run away as fast as she could, to never look back, and to never set foot in this place again.
The other voice told her to show Aaron Zakhrov that she was not afraid of him or his Draconian dress code.
Voice number two won out, and gritting her teeth, Nina signed the agreement.
Aaron held a large tablet computer out to her. "Press your hand on the screen, your right-hand first and then your left" he instructed.
Nina did so, and the computer beeped.
"And your bank account information, for crediting your salary" said Aaron, swiping the screen to reveal an online form.
With a little trepidation, Nina entered her information into the form, which caused the computer to beep again.
Aaron then handed her the credit card. "Welcome to Sirius Software Ms Avanthika" He said and gave her a handshake. "I look forward to working with you"
"L-Likewise" Nina gulped. The handshake and welcome was the most normal thing that had happened so far, and his powerful grip sent a fresh shiver of fear down her spine.