NEW SURROUNDINGS
Some time later Mary woke up in what looked like some sort of penthouse suite/apartment. "I must have been more jet-lagged than I realised" she thought, "I don't even remember coming back here last night. I hope I didn't drift off during the interview, please say I didn't make a bad first impression". She got out of the King-sized bed she had been sleeping in and went to explore her surroundings. There were three rooms: a bedroom, living room and bathroom. There was no kitchen or even dining room. Mary assumed the building must have a canteen or something to cater for her meals (not that she was complaining about the possible prospect of Japanese food cooked to order whenever she pleased). All in all there were a couple of things which stood out to Mary; firstly every room, including the bathroom had a plasma screen and stereo system built into the wall (the one in the living room must have been at least 48"). Secondly the living room had a drinks machine in the corner which was another extravagance to come as a nice surprise to a girl who had only been in Japan for little over two days. Everything thing was beyond her wildest dreams, she couldn't believe it. The only things which had struck her as odd were the lack of any clock or window anywhere. There was one small skylight in the bedroom but it just seemed to serve to inform Mary that it was night time. Still though, given the choice between a clock in every room or a T.V and sound system, Mary didn't think she was missing out too much.
Walking into the bathroom Mary glanced into the mirror (or should one say a wall which shows you your reflection). She definitely wasn't dressed in the same clothes she had arrived in; all she could think about was how 'pink' she looked dressed up in a little Hello Kitty negligee. In fairness it was quite a cute look, but Mary wasn't one for cute. "Oh well," she reckoned, "I suppose they felt it was best for me to get changed before sleeping and it's not like I brought any clothes with me so I can't complain too much. This is probably just the Japanese girl look; it'll be fine once I get my own clothes back. It just looks so pink." She returned to the living room and sat in a sofa facing the huge Plasma screen thinking this would be an opportune time to sample the delights that Japanese Television had to offer. A remote was lying on the table beside her which she assumed must be for the T.V. It was not however like a normal T.V remote, there were just ten buttons: the numbers 1-3 along the top, two with arrows pointing up and down respectively, a button marked N, one marked P, Buttons marked 'Stop' and 'Go' and finally a red button at the bottom. Slightly perplexed Mary decided to experiment by pushing button one and to her delight the T.V came on.
However, despite the screen clearly being on, there did not seem to a picture just a kind of flickering. Trying to make out what was going on (as well as secretly hoping she hadn't broken it) Mary studied the screen to see if she could make out an image. Suddenly the flickering stopped and words began to write themselves on the screen as a voice narrated:
"Hello Mariko. How are you feeling?"
Slightly taken aback by being confronted by a talking television Mary stuttered. "Err... fine. What's going on?"
"Allow me to explain. You are in an MKDN employee residential apartment. It is designed to give you maximum comfort and pleasure in keeping with the company policy of 'If we make you happy, then you will make MKDN happy'. I am a state of the art computer programme designed to answer any questions you may have, aid you in your employee training and pretty much act as your guide to MKDN. I have also been programmed to respond to the name Sam in order in order to add a friendlier touch to our interaction, although this can be changed if Sam is not to your liking? I have nine preset names:
Sam, Luke, Ulrich, Tom, Mike, Adam, Kevin, Ed Rob. Which would you like?"
"Err... Sam is good" Replied Mary, still somewhat bemused by what was happening.
"Then Sam I shall be" The Television replied in what could almost have been interpreted as a flourish. "I am voice activated so if ever you need me just say my name and I will answer, I will always be around. Do you have any questions?"
"How can you do that? You're just a computer"
"I'm state of the art I'll have you know. I am programmed to make your life easier; here at MKDN we have technology that most people think only exists in science fiction. Even your American NASA and CIA are less advanced than we. Please just relax, would you like some tea?"
"Err... no thanks I think I'd like to take a walk round the city, I still haven't done that yet"
Sam sighed, "Mariko, Mariko, Mariko, this will not do. I have told you that my primary function is to teach you Japanese language AND culture. Therefore I need you to treat me like another person; you should already know that it is a great disrespect to turn down the offer of tea. Do you want to offend me?"