1 SEA OF EYES

It was my first day at work. I was shown around by my 'buddy' and was introduced to the other employees. We started off in the office. There were hi's and hello's here and there, and there were some names which I couldn't even remember. There were lots of new faces and new departments. Everything was entirely new to me.

My 'buddy' was kind and accommodating. He was also an engineer in the same department. The company that hired me had this buddy system in which case, the newest or the youngest in the team would pair up with the new-hire and tour him or her around, and teach the new-hire the basics and the norms of the company. My buddy's name was Joe.

By the way, my name is Aya Murazaki. I am twenty-five years old. I graduated as a Chemical Engineer at the state university in Country F. I'm just starting my career recently. Thankfully, a company believed in me and hired me. I didn't even believe in myself. I hope I won't disappoint them.

Going back. my buddy, Joe was busy touring me around. Once in awhile, he shared bits and pieces of information that he thought would be handy. I nodded politely but actually, I didn't understand any of it. Therefore, it's safe to say that I wouldn't even remember those.

We were done touring the office. Just like any other chemical plant, there was a location for the production, which was usually separate from the office. It's the same in the company that hired me.

Well, actually my point is that, after touring the office, we went towards the production area. In the electronics plant, the manufacturing area was maintained in a cleanroom. The number of bacteria in the front line should not exceed 100,000 counts, and in the end line, should not exceed 1,000,000 particle count. Just to ensure that there's an additional suit that needed to be worn on top of the clothes we were already wearing, before entering the clean room. It was called the bunny suit.

The bunny suit was sort of an over-all with a hood. It was worn by inserting the legs first, then the arms. The zipper was located in the front, which started from the lower abdomen up to just below the neck. On top of it was a button that still needed to be closed after the hood was put over the head.

Oh! I forgot! Even before the hood was put on, for female workers such as myself, we still needed to wear a hairnet. Guys don't need it, considering that their hair length is short to no more than two to three inches - the usual haircut for guys.

After the hairnet, the hood was put over the head, and for the final touch, there's a mask that's attached to the hood that needed to be buttoned at the other side of the face.

Oh! I forgot again! Inside the hood and the mask part of the bunny suit, we were required to also wear the usual face mask- the one that could be hooked onto the ears. Therefore, there were actually two face masks.

There!

We donned the bunny suit completely. On our shoulders, there was a color-coded cloth that was placed as an identifier. For engineers, it was green. Thus, mine was green as well.

I was about to enter the assembly line when my buddy grabbed my bunny suit at the back portion.

"W-We-we-we-wait! Where do you think you're going? We're not done yet!" He said to me, reprimanding me a bit.

"We're not done yet?" I said in disbelief. My eyes nearly popped out. So much to do before going in.

"Not yet. Boots." He pointed at my feet.

Have I already mentioned that just before we entered the plant, we were required to change shoes? There's this yellow horizontal line in the foyer of the plant which we cannot cross with our street shoes on. We removed the street shoes, walked towards our lockers with only our socks on, then put on the shoes that we only used inside the plant. They said that those shoes were special, it hinders the flow of electricity - something like that.

My buddy was not talking about those shoes. We were already wearing those. He was talking about the boots made of cloth similar to the cloth of the bunny suit. Another urban legend was that the cloth used to make the bunny suit and the boots had a gold thread in it. Although it was white in color, with a checkered green pattern.

Upon the instruction of my buddy, Joe, I donned the boots. It was 90% cloth and 10% rubber. The sole was the only rubber-made and the rest was made of the special cloth I mentioned. The special boots had velcro and ties on it. It reached mid-calf when donned accurately. It was rather complicated on the first try.

Finally, we were ready to go in. We went past a small room where the air was blown on us to clean us further as if we're still dirty. Beyond that small room with air, finally, we set foot in the assembly line.

Everything and everyone looked the same. The machinery was rectangular and was so big that it was even taller than six or even eight feet.

My buddy led me to different stations. He again introduced me to the employees there - some were engineers like us, some with different designations. But gosh! If it was hard to remember the names and faces of the people in the office, it was so much more difficult now! There were only names and a set of eyes for each name! How am I to remember them?

As my buddy was saying, "This is Meri. She's an engineer like us, but she's assigned at Station X."

Deep inside my bunny suit, I'm actually letting out this awkward laugh. How am I gonna identify her outside the assembly line? Maybe my buddy should have introduced them to me outside, during lunch perhaps?

As politely as I could, I replied, "Hi Meri, nice to meet you!" At least I could discern from her eyes that she's smiling too.

Joe and I walked on. It was the same everywhere. The more people I saw and had been introduced to, the more I realized that by the minute I was drowning in the sea of eyes more and more. It was disturbing.

But what's more disturbing was this new sensation I was feeling. Oh, shoot, I need to use the restroom. I need to pee. Mentally I'm scratching my head while being aware of all the layers I was wearing. It's gonna be troublesome removing everything first and donning everything again afterward.