The New Programmer

The new programmer sat at the workstation next to Sharon's. He was already plugged in and working when she arrived that morning. His back was to her so she couldn't see his face, but she could tell that he was tall, lean, and also apparently having a frustrating first day.

Fanex was a division of Rotect, a large software, and tech company. Fanex wrote code and developed gaming programs, concentrating on virtual reality. They were unique in that they had developed a shared virtual environment where everyone working on the project could see the code every other person was writing. This was supposed to create teamwork and complete projects faster. The truth was that the employees felt as if this was just a way for the oafish project manager to micromanage.

"What are they thinking," the new guy cried with contempt as he scrolled through lines of code. "Do they really think this code is going to work?"

Sharon sat at her station, logged in and called up the lines she had been working on the day before. Usually, she could get to writing new lines right away but she was distracted by the new guy's agitation.

"Most of this is worthless," he cried, blazing his way through a dozen more lines. "Dreadful. Simply appalling."

This went on for more than an hour, while the other programmers worked furiously. Only Sharon, in the space next to the new man, could hear his vocal annoyance. His constant complaining wore on her nerves. After a while, he said, "I'm sorry; is my talking out loud distracting you? I'm not used to sharing a workspace with someone and I didn't see you come in."

With an agitated tone, she replied, "I can work around people who talk to themselves. But it's hard to work with someone who, on their first day, does nothing but bash the efforts of his new co-workers."

"Fair enough; that's a good point, and I apologize."

Sharon's voice was stern. "Okay, but this is a team of good people doing the best we can with the direction and resources we're given."

"I get it. But considering the level of talent that works here, I was expecting to see something more advanced."

He spun in his chair to face her for the first time. He looked surprised as if he was expecting a dullard that thought her subpar work was something excellent; what he saw was a striking intelligent beauty. Her pretty face had high cheekbones set in a frame of long brown hair that was similar in color to his own.

The man's appearance surprised her as well. His disparaging comments had created a mental picture of an arrogant mug; reality was that he had handsome, caring features. He had a rectangular-shaped face with a strong chin line, smooth skin, and soft comforting brown eyes.

For a moment they were both silent looking at each other. Finally, he spoke, "I didn't mean anything. I will keep my comments to myself. I hope I can get to know you and the rest of the team."

"Thank you," she said. "Hopefully, you can help us become a success." They went back to work, and to his word, the new guy stayed silent.

His actions shifted. Instead of reviewing and complaining, he started writing new code. Because they were in the same environment, she could see his work. He was creative, bold, and instantly improving the project. It was the type of work that she had wanted to do but management had always rejected it. She wondered how long it would take them to catch on to this new guy and push him down as well.

They both continued their work for several hours. Before they realized where the time had gone, it was noon and most of the staff was breaking for lunch. Sharon looked over and saw the new guy was still working. She thought maybe they should start over.

"Hey," she said in a voice more friendly and welcoming than before.

He stopped what he was doing and glanced over. "Yeah?"

"I'm Sharon Blaine," she said and extended her hand.

He smiled a sexy little smile. "I'm Daniel."

"I'm sorry I snapped at you."

"No, no, I'm sorry. I was a judgmental ass."

She snickered and said, "Yes you were. But you apologized so I'll allow it this once. Would you like to get some lunch?"

Daniel paused for a moment before answering. "Sure that sounds nice. Where's the pantry kitchen around here, anyhow?"

"A pantry kitchen at Fanex," Sharon scoffed. "You're joking, right? We've got some vending machines; that's it. We bring our lunch. Or, there's a sandwich shop across the street. That's where I'm headed."

The sandwich shop was a traditional, Italian style place that specialized in authentic, wholesome made-from-scratch food. In addition to the prepared food, there was a small deli in the back. The staff was quick, friendly and all smiles.

Sharon and Daniel placed their order and were waiting for their food. Daniel asked, "Why is there no pantry kitchen or cafeteria? The company should have food available for the employees."

Sharon laughed. "Maybe you could dash to Seattle and tell the Rotect Board of Directors. Listen; Fanex is barley a hair on that elephant. The Board thought it would be cool to put us on the other side of Washington in a converted vintage factory. Fact is they did it for the tax write-offs and P.R. They don't care where we eat or if we starve."

Daniel frowned. "Why don't the workers complain? Aren't their all sorts of portals on the company employee website for that sort of thing?"

Sharon shrugged. "Oh, they do. But the local management is all about productivity. They don't want us wasting time on things like employee satisfaction surveys so they turn them off. They ignore anything that is not related to the current project. Any complaints corporate H.R. gets they push down to the local Project Manager to resolve. They never come here, they barely answer our phone calls. Besides, we all expect to be shut down any day; so why bother complaining."

"What makes you say that?"

"Well old man Douglas grew the company from scratch and then left it to his four kids. The two daughters are totally hands-off. One son only cares about the bottom line and the youngest son is more interested in being an astronaut or something."

"I'm not sure it's like that," Daniel said with a grimace.

"No, it's exactly like that. He doesn't make public appearances or attend the board meetings. His social media only talks about astronomy stuff. I don't think anyone outside the board even knows what he looks like."

Daniel was about to say something when the person behind the counter yelled, "Order up!"

The couple took their lunch and settled in at a table outside on the sidewalk. They had a good view of quaint small-town Main Street: the town park and the converted factory that was their employer. After taking it all in Daniel said, "This is really nice. What a great place to be."

"Yeah, I like it here. It doesn't have much but what it does have is pretty great. What brings you here?"

Daniel finished chewing. "Have you heard about the Zahnpole comet?"

"I saw something about it online. It's new right?"

"Yes just discovered a few months ago. It will fly by Earth this summer and looks to be one of the brightest seen for decades."

"So you're looking to hitch a ride?"

He grinned at her joke, "No. I'm a semi-professional astronomer. This is the only time in my life I'm going to be able to observe this comet. I was living in Seattle and wouldn't be able to get a good look at it with all of the city lights. My trade is programming. So I figured I would move here, work at Fanex by day and observe the comet by night."

"Sure that makes sense, we're rural enough that you could get some great views out here. Where are you living?"

"Funny you ask," he said. "I got in a few days ago and haven't been able to find a place. I guess the town is so small that between Fanex employees and other astronomers, there are no places to be had. I'm staying in a hotel. You don't know where I could get a place, do you?"

"Actually my landlord has a place. But I don't think it's ready yet. The last tenant moved out and left furniture and other stuff behind. He said it was going to take him weeks to get it ready. It's not much, a one-bedroom basement place, but it's at the edge of town so you can walk to and from work. It's also dark at night and there's roof access so that might work for your comet watching."

"That would be perfect. I don't care about cleaning up after someone else if it gets me a place. I also don't have any furniture so leftovers could be a perk."

"Okay, I'll call him."

They exchanged a grin and finished their lunch.

Sharon was able to get in touch with the landlord. He and Daniel came to an agreement over the phone and just like that, Daniel was living in her building. She thought it strange that Daniel didn't want to see the place first. But she got the sense that he could roll with it, and wasn't afraid of new things.

Daniel left at the end of the day to check out of the hotel, sign the lease and get into his new place. Sharon stayed at work and got a few more hours of programming in. When she got to her building she checked on him. He had left the front door open so she knocked on the door frame as she walked in. "How's it going?"

"Oh, hey, yeah it's going good thanks. This place will be fine. Thanks a lot for the help."

She noticed that he did not have much and was pretty much settled in after just a few hours. "No trouble at all. I'm glad it worked out. Is there anything else you need me to help with?"

Daniel looked surprised at the question. "No, no thanks I'm good here. I need some dinner though. Do you want something? Let me buy you dinner for helping me get this place."

Now it was Sharon's turn to be surprised, she was not expecting that question.

Seeing some apprehension on her face he said, "I'm sorry I didn't even think to ask if you had a boyfriend."

She shook her head, "No, no nothing like that. Yes, I would like dinner. Give me half an hour to change."

"Okay sounds great."

Sharon went to her third-floor apartment to get ready. She had a moment of doubt that maybe it was a bad idea to be going out with him. When she first met him he was a first-class jerk. But, he did apologize, and the rest of the day he wasn't like that. He was also a good looking guy. Those didn't come to town too often.

When she got back to his apartment, she found that the door was still open. This time he was waiting for her and said, "Nice coat."

She was a little perplexed by his comment. She looked down and saw that she had grabbed her old denim jacket with a sewed on Wonder Woman patch. She looked up and saw that he was wearing a t-shirt with a faded DC Comics logo on it, "Nice shirt," she replied.

"Where to?"

"I know this little rooftop place back at the center of town. They have a limited menu but it's all good."

"Sounds terrific."

It was a warm night so they decided to walk rather than drive. Their path brought them past a nice mix of shops, businesses, bars, and eateries. They were almost to their destination, passing a rather boisterous pub when the door opened and three men stumbled out. As soon as Sharon's eyes met one of them she felt nauseated.

Ted Chapman was the Program Manager at Fanex. He and Sharon had a history. When she started, the rest of the employees told her he was a brute. Initially, that was not what she saw; Ted treated her well. Sharon thought it was because he recognized her talent.

After a few weeks, Ted asked her out. Not knowing what else to do, she said yes. That night he went on and on about how misunderstood and under-appreciated he was. She was barely able to get a word in around his self-focused monologuing. When he did ask her questions, she could tell he wasn't listening, just nodding before starting in again about himself, his problems, and his life.

The date ended when his intentions became clear and he tried to sleep with her. Sharon told him that she thought it best they keep things professional. The next day, he was as brutish to her as he was everyone else.

Now, she and Daniel were face to face with him and his intoxicated friends.

"Sharon, what're you doing here? And who's this?" Ted asked as he tried to pull his sloppy drunkenness into something that looked intimidating.

"Just going to get some dinner, Ted."

Recognizing how awkward the situation was, Daniel tried to navigate them all through it. "I'm Daniel. I'm new to town. Sharon is a co-worker and was kind enough to show me a place for dinner."

Ted was taller and much heavier than Daniel. He brought that size in close, "Well, 'Daniel', if you're Sharon's co-worker, then that makes me your boss. And unlike her, I'm not a 'kind' person, and I can tell whatever this 'dinner' is I don't like it and that's not good for you."

Not backing down but also not provoking Daniel said, "Well Ted, today was my first day at this site, and I'm amazed at the level your employees perform under your leadership."

Sharon recognized the backhanded compliment immediately. She also knew that even sober, Ted wouldn't. This was as neat a face-saving gesture anyone could've pulled off.

Ted poked a chubby finger into Daniel's chest, "That's right new boy, you better believe it. In fact, we're going to have a meeting first thing tomorrow morning. You two had better be there."

"Oh, we will. I'm looking forward to it," replied Daniel.

"You better. Come on guys we got another bar to get to," Ted grunted as he started walking away.

Sharon sighed in relief that the situation was over, "I'm really sorry about that."

With a short laugh Daniel said, "No need to be sorry, you didn't do anything. He and I were going to meet eventually. Come on let's get to dinner."

The restaurant was on the rooftop of an old brick building. It was filled with cozy, semi-private tables that were shielded by plants. Every table had a striking view of the town and the night sky. The drinks were mixed well and the food was delicious.

Throughout dinner, Sharon and Daniel talked about what they liked in food, drink, music and comic books. They found they had a lot in common. The meal was done and they were enjoying one more drink while admiring the visual spectacle the location offered.

One of the buildings was the one they worked in. Sharon saw Daniel looking at it. "It's a shame isn't it?" she said, "a beautiful old building just partially brought back to life. The top two floors aren't even used. All the old training rooms and executive office space are behind locked doors and boarded up windows. Just an awful waste."

Daniel took in her comments, nodded and asked, "What would you do with it?"

"With the space?"

"Yeah."

"Well, there's a college a few towns over. It has top-notch tech programs. The problem is that the students don't get a whole lot of practical experience because there are not a lot of jobs around here. When they graduate the area loses them for the same reason. We could set up that space for co-op programs. This would give us affordable people, fresh ideas and first shot at the talent. We could also set up a decent R&D department. Look into something other than video games."

Daniel looked interested, "What do you mean by that?"

"We're a VR company. The most obvious uses for what we are developing are games and porn. I get it, whatever, but it doesn't have to be just that. It can be more than that."

"What's more?"

"We can do stuff that makes a difference, stuff that can improve the world. Like what if we created virtual museums. Think Degas sculptures, or Mayan ruins, or the Coliseum in full VR. Imagine being able to enjoy the New York Philharmonic or the Victoria Secret fashion show from any VR headset. We could bring life's most coveted experiences to the people who do not have the means to do so first hand."

Daniel was visibly excited by these ideas, "Yes, yes I see. You could expand to locations as well. Things like the Grand Canyon, the Eiffel Tower or the North Pole."

"Exactly! Bring the tech into the classroom and revolutionize education," she said with exuberance.

"Wow, brilliant, I'm blown away."

Sharon was exhilarated by the day's turn of events. It started with her wanting to stab this guy with a spoon and by the end of a late dinner, she is sharing her life aspirations with him. She grinned and looked up. "Hey is that your comet?"

He followed her gaze and saw the same fuzzy dot she did, "Yup that's it." It's past Mars' orbit by now and headed this way. The view will get better every night for about a month, then it'll pass us and fade back into space."

"It only comes around once in a lifetime?"

"Probably less than that. It was just discovered, no one knows if it's ever been here before. It could be once in a hundred lifetimes. We won't get an opportunity like this again."

The moment just hung in there. Both of them were unsure if they were still talking about the comet or the connection they were making. It was an awkward moment that neither knew what to do with.

Sharon broke the silence, "It's getting late. We should get home."

"That's a good idea."

The next morning everyone came to the programmers meeting. Ted was an ass throughout the whole thing. He spoke down to and bullied his ideas over the team. Having been through dozens of these they all kept their mouth shut and patiently waited for the meeting to be over.

This was Daniel's first meeting at Fanex. He stayed silent but looked unhappy with what went on. Bit by bit his agitation crept into his body language. Still angry from last night Ted called him out, looking for a fight, "You, new guy, you disagree with something I'm saying?"

"No, I don't disagree with something you're saying," Daniel replied.

Ted snapped back, "Well the way you're acting it certainly looks that way."

Daniel paused then said, "It's not that I disagree with something you're saying. I disagree with everything you're saying."

This caused an audible gasp from the rest in the room. Ted was not used to anyone challenging him, let alone a direct challenge in front of everyone. "How about you explain yourself and I'll explain why you're wrong."

Sharon watched intently. This was a side of Daniel she hadn't seen. The day before when she confronted him, he had backed down. That night, when Ted was the aggressor, he side-stepped to neutralize the situation. Here he was on the offensive, directly clashing with authority. She knew Ted would not back down and wondered how far Daniel would take the argument.

"Well, first we're using the wrong language. We should be using Onity or Real-Engine, not Psi-Tran."

Sharon had felt the same way, even spoke up about it. At the time Ted had shut her down quickly. He would do the same to Daniel. But maybe it didn't have to have the same outcome. Maybe if they worked together, "I have been saying that for months."

There were several 'me too's' from others in the room.

"Psi-Tran has everything we need to provide a state of the art product." Ted snapped.

"No, it doesn't. It's good, but its niche. Using Onity or Real-Engine we could have very visual interfaces that allow us to target multiple platforms, from PC to console to mobile."

"I like that idea," a young programmer named Jake said.

"We could accomplish more and faster," said Lori, another team member.

Sharon was amused on how Daniel had made such short work of Ted. He spoke with the intelligence and articulation of a leader, inspiring the Fanex team to support him. Ted's bully techniques were ill-suited for this type of conflict.

The stunned project manager was sweating and his cheeks were red. He looked like he wanted to say something but he was caught in a tide of backlash so high he could not get his mouth to move.

Daniel spoke again, "Look, people, we're here to create compelling Virtual Reality. To do that we need to create interactions that will keep the player in the experience, have a high and consistent framerate with good spatial audio. We have everything we need to do that here. We just need to change our approach and apply our talent."