Living Tech

A week went by in a flash, all Nora achieved was she stayed alive. Tina was at Nick's place while she was at the dorm. She had to get out and do something or she would end up becoming a couch potato which she could not bear. She picked up her phones looking for anything that would get her out of the room.

A new mail. Opening it she saw it was from Living Tech. It was about the internship programme and a company tour, scheduled 3 days from now. She registered immediately.

She called Tina, telling her about the internship, she squealed with joy. "Nora you have to give your best impression. You're the best candidate for this job and you have to get it no matter what." She had said.

Three days later...

Nora got into a pair of white jeans and a navy blue shirt, she tied up her hair and got into her shoes and got everything in her bag that headed out.

The headquarters of Living Tech was located at the Eastern street, the hub of enterprises. The building stood tall, towering over the others. It was a structure made of glass and concrete, the entrance bore the name 'Living Technologies' in bold silver letters. She entered the building and walked down the white marble floor, she reached the reception desk, "I'm here for the company tour. Nora Williams."

"You're late." A woman shouted from behind her. She turned around, the woman wore a maroon suit, her hair were tied up in a tight bun, she looked her from head to toe and spoke, "At Living Tech we do not welcome the people who don't value time." She glared at Nora and turned to look at the group of people standing behind her.

"I'm sorry. I got caught up in traffic." Nora said.

"Excuses are unacceptable." She said and looked behind her again. "Get your visitor ID and follow the group. You've already delayed them 5 minutes." She hissed. Nora nodded and filled in all the formalities, grabbed her ID and joined the group.

The building was huge, every department was assigned a floor but Nora was most excited for the Innovation department. This department was solely for new ideas and nothing else. It was open 24/7, and it welcomed everybody who had an idea. The tour lasted for two hours, the woman turned around to meet the eyes of the group standing behind her. "So the tour comes to an end but as the registeration form mentioned, we will also choose our future interns from this pool. So we set up a test, today we have five trainers here. All you have to do is build an idea in two hours and present it in front of them. If you manage to impress them you're in, else we shall bid each other good bye." She looked at the group in front of her and smirked, "Let's see what all of you got."

They were ushered into a big hall and were provided with everything. "Your time starts now. These two hours are the most important two hours of your career. Use them wisely." The woman grinned and left the room.

Nora grabbed a corner for herself and sat there, others were completely into their work. "Look at that kid. She's just sitting there." A person said to the one beside.

"She's just a kid what can she possibly do." He smirked.

Nora looked at them, then moved to a table and picked up a laptop. She came back to her spot but a guy was already seated there. "That's my place." She said.

The guy looked at her, he had jet black hair and wore glasses. He smirked and looked at Nora with a disgusted tone, "This is not a joke. Go back to school."

"Excuse me?" Nora said.

"Look at you, what's the possibility you're going to pass this test. Maybe zero." He laughed.

Nora glared at him and then left, not wanting to waste her time on a person like him. She sat down and immerses herself in her work.

After two hours, the woman was back, "Time's up. Please proceed to 25th floor." She said. Everyone grabbed their stuff and rushed to the elevator. The Innovation department was the most colourful floor. They were moved into a room with the five trainers already seated. One of them stood up and greeted everyone. "Please sit. As it happens you are going to present in front of all of us. Know your competition." He sat down. Each of the trainer had a name plate in front of them. Each one of them was old enough to have at least a decade of experience in the field. They started calling out names at random from a list in front of them.

The variety was great, there were good projects, basic projects and bad too. Then a man with white hair and glasses called her name, she didn't bother to notice the name and stepped up the stage.

"Good afternoon everyone, my project deals with the differently abled." She clicked a key and the screen displayed a watch. "This watch works as a guide for them. A blind person walking down the street needs help on several occasions, this watch on his wrist, connected to the earphones in his ears, will guide him. It can sense direction and can approximate the distance between a hurdle and a person. For a deaf person, it can display the words which the people speak. It is user friendly,it also consists of sensors that would be able to detect sign language and help the other people to contact with a deaf person. But it doesn't stop here, even with all of this, this watch is a normal watch and consists everything that a normal smart watch would." She ended her presentation.

The trainers eyed her, then one of them spoke, "How will you fit everything of that in a small watch?"

"First, the development of the watch will require a lot of work. Also, what goes into the watch would not be much, a motherboard processor, the sensors and most importantly a perfect code because this involves the lives of a lot of people."

She said.

"Do you think the other people will buy it?" The other asked.

"Yes, they will. I just mentioned, it features all of the functions that a normal smart watch does."

"What do you think it would cost to make a watch like that?"

"It will be a bit expensive, considering all of the sensors and the high processor that would be installed in it. But it is possible to cut down the cost without affecting the quality of the product."

"I am sorry but your idea doesn't get me the least excited. What you're doing is making an expensive watch and nothing more." The man who called on her name announced.

"No. It is not. This watch can help improve the lives of a lot of people out there." She contradicted

"To me it's an unrealistic idea. Something that happens in cartoons. A watch that can do anything. Childish." He said.

"It is not childish. If made properly–" he cut her off in between, "Perhaps you did not read the rules carefully. If one of the five trainers disagree with the project, the person has to step down. So please step down." He said.

Nora picked up her laptop and stepped down, returning to her place.

The people after her were not even able to complete their presentation and were asked to step down in the middle.

The test ended, one of the trainers called out five names, they stepped up, "Congratulations all you have qualified." Everyone applauded. "The best project belonged to Jeremy Hamilton." He added. The guy with the jet black hair and glasses stepped forward. He looked down at the crowd with a smirk on his face. Everyone else was asked to leave, Nora picked up the laptop and waited for the crowd to disperse. She stepped out at the last, mostly everyone had left. She sighed and waited for the elevator, "Ms. Williams," a voice called from behind her, it was a short bald man, "I'm Samuel Smith, I was in there when you presented your project. I think it has a lot of potential and if worked on properly it will be a hit."

"But my project was rejected and I cannot do anything about it. I'm done here."

"No you aren't, there's a way you can get in as an intern. All you have to do is get a letter of recommendation from one of the trainers aside from the ones sitting inside. If they approve your project you can manage to get in. I really would like to work on this project."

"But they said it's unrealistic."

"I don't know why they don't see what I and my assistant thought." He shrugged, "but you should try once." A man as ran up and stood beside Samuel, "Here you go this is the list with the contact information of every trainer from last year. Please contact them." He almost pleaded.

"Why do you care much?"

"I like your enthusiasm and innovation. That's what we need here. Please make sure to contact them. I'm excited about working with you." He said.

"I'll think about it." The elevator dinged open and she stepped in. It stopped again at the next floor. The guy with black hair stepped in, he looked at Nora then said, "Told you. You have zero chances of winning. You shouldn't have tried."

"Can you shut up. I'm in no mood talking to you."

"Oh my, look at that attitude. Are you venting your frustration on me. You should already understand now, you cannot do it, just accept it already." He shrugged and got off the elevator.

Nora stepped out, "Wait there, I don't even know you and who the heck are you to talk to me like that." She snapped.

"I know you. You cheated in the Hackathon, you installed a virus and stole someone else's project, so I think you don't deserve to be here." He said disgusted.

"Don't spout nonsense when you don't know the whole story." She said, "As for if I deserve to be here or not, you are no one to decide."

"Deserve? You cannot be here." He laughed and walked away.

Nora looked at him and then down at the paper in her paper given by Samuel and the decision was made, she had to get in.