Employee Handbook

"I’m going on a mission to Europe." Hao Ren tried to impress by imagining himself in a black suit and a pair of sunglasses. Additionally, he spoke in a low voice. He wanted to project himself as a glamorous agent.

"Nice, I’m in!" Lily agreed excitedly, just as Raven had predicted.

However, Vivian’s thought process was a little lagging. "Paying rental with my cool air, good idea..."

Her strayed mind annoyed Hao Ren.

"Can you emanate warm air too?" Lily gave a sideways look as she tried to stump Vivian. "It’d be more than enough to pay a whole month’s rental."

"Being ectotherms, the Blood Clan has no difficulty emanating chill but when it comes to warm air, errr..."

"Ahem... We’re talking about a more serious topic here." Hao Ren was even more annoyed as their conversation went off course. "Lily’s in. How about you, Vivian? Please join us if you can make it. After all, Europe is an unfamiliar territory."

Hao Ren was being honest. Apart from the Southern Suburbs, Third Ring Road was the farthest place he had ever gone. He was now being offered the opportunity to go to places he had never thought of before. Moreover, everything was being paid for by the administration. To say that he was excited was an understatement.

"At least it’s a public service, albeit a foreign one." Hao Ren thought.

"Me? I’m okay." Vivian lowered her head and awkwardly said, "I just lost my job a couple of days ago. I’m officially jobless now. Hey, why don’t I work as your tour guide and offset half-a-month’s rental in return?"

So much for being a vampire and nobility of the night; Vivian had just thrown her status and pride out of the window.

"Let’s not bother with the rent." Hao Ren looked up to the sky and let out a long, long sigh. "I already have an agreement with Raven 12345 and all of you are gonna stay here with me. Anyway, I don’t mind if you help me out with some of the house chores. Didn’t you work in McDonald’s and a few other places a while back? I heard that they’ve all gone bankrupt thanks to you."

"Ahem...Ahem...I’ve got nothing to do with that!" Vivian exclaimed.

Lily was still immersed in the excitement of going abroad. "Landlord, when do we depart? Where to? For how long? Is there a time frame? Can I pack my luggage now? When are we going to have our lunch?"

Hao Ren raised his hand and warded Lily off. "Let’s just slow down. I haven’t even booked our flight yet. Besides, I’m still waiting for the mission details from Raven 12345. Oh yeah, I have something fun for all of you to see; it’s kind of high-tech! It’s Space Administration standard equipment...darn, where did I keep it"?

He tucked his hands inside his pockets searching frantically. He remembered he had the awesome MDT in his pants’ pocket but he only found a few loose threads hanging in it. He was sweating like a pig.

"I’m dead, man!" Hao Ren could not bear to think of the consequences if the gadget fell into the wrong hands. He ran through many scenarios in his mind and there was nothing more terrifying than certain death should Raven 12345 find out he was negligent as an agent.

Just when he was about to rush out to search for the misplaced device, a buzzing sound was heard right next to him. A swirling hole opened up mid air and he saw the hexagonal MDT emerge from it. As he reached out, the device dropped right into his hand while a holographic message was displayed. The message warned, "Dear user: Please refrain from leaving your device in the car as the device has limited capabilities in finding its owner. You shall not misuse its functions; if you do, the device will automatically alert your superior accordingly."

Hao Ren was astonished at what he saw. There had not been a computer that could talk back until then. He started to get what Raven 12345 meant by "no less intelligent than you"—it was an MDT with AI, artificial intelligence.

Lily’s eyes gleamed with curiosity as the little gadget attracted her interest. She rushed over. "Landlord, can I have a look at that thingy?"

Hao Ren was careful not to break the rules in the employee handbook. He made sure it was okay before passing the device to Lily, saying, "Be careful. Although the device is solidly built according to Raven 12345, there’s no way to fix it once it’s broken."

Lily took the MDT from Hao Ren. She played with it for some time but it seemed like it was not responding until a holographic message popped up: "Right of access required. Please save yourself the trouble from trying again."

They were lost for words at how cheeky the AI was.

Unlike Lily, Vivian had more control over her own curiosity. She smiled at Lily mockingly before prancing into the kitchen. "Have fun, big dog! I’m cooking."

Lily shove the MDT back to Hao Ren before following Vivian into the kitchen. "Wait! I’m going with you."

"Do you even cook at all? I thought all you know is eating?"

"I need an air-conditioner."

"....."

Left alone, Hao Ren took the opportunity to familiarize himself with the MDT. He also wanted to know what the Space Administration was all about but the more he read the handbook the more terrified he was.

The beginning chapters of the employee handbook were about standard protocols however, the chapters towards the end of the handbook were bizarre:

The Observations and Guiding Process of the Turk-III Civilization

The Registration Methods for the End of the Sixth New World

A Guide to the Reporting Process of Regional War Containment

The Intervention of Examining Officers in Planetary Wars

The Basics of Extermination Law and the Roles of an Examining Officer in Related

Processes

Hao Ren thought he could possibly find out more from the AI MDT, which was capable of interacting with humans. He started to inquire in his mind, "What do all these mean?"

"Literally—," the MDT emanated a holographic reply. "…these are for examining officers only, they do not concern you for now. Examining officers are regional agents of the empire. They are akin to living saints or living sons in religion. Are you having problems with your work?"

Hao Ren quickly denied it. He needed some time to clear his mind.

Late in the afternoon, he received the details of his mission from Raven 12345. He set aside the weird handbook and focused on the upcoming important trip.

The destination was England but the location was in a little-known, remote countryside where his new tenant would be waiting for him.