An Unexpected Adventure Ch. 4.5: Meet the New Guy
#5 of An Unexpected Adventure
Enjoy the different. Enjoy it!
I walked down the hallway, trying to keep up with the already tall lady wearing too tall heels.
"We're glad to have you at Giovanni Incorporated Mr. Sanders."
"Incorporated? I thought it was the Giovanni Corporation?"
"We had to change the name. According to surveys the word corporation sounds too sinister."
"Haha do I need to worry about anything?" She just smiled back at me and continued to walk down the hallway. Her not answering the question was unsettling, but I brushed it off as part of the joke. We came to a stop at the elevator and she pushed the button. I heard a ding only a moment later and the doors slid open. She stepped back.
"After you Mr. Sanders."
"Thanks and you can just call me Jackson by the way."
"I'll stick to Mr. Sanders if that is ok with you." According to her smile I was supposed to drop the issue so I did. I could tell working here was going to be interesting at the least. We rode the elevator down 5 floors to the bottom basement level.
"So, this building only goes down?"
"Yes Giovanni Incorporated decided against the standard skyscraper approach."
"Why? It seems a bit odd. Not to mention quite a bit more complicated."
"Well the building was already here for one. Also Mr. Giovanni likes his privacy. No windows down here. Add in the security to get in the building and it is close to a fortress.
"Ah I see." I was getting more and more worried about this job. The upside down office building was odd enough, but the bulked up security on the top floor was even more worrisome. After a short elevator ride we arrived at the bottom level.
"This is the fifth floor. It is Mr. Giovanni's floor."
"The whole floor is his?"
"Yes, Mr Giovanni enjoys his space as well as his privacy. Come along." She exited the elevator and started walking down a long hallway. I followed after her wondering why one man would need a whole floor to himself. We passed by many well lit hallways, but stayed on the same on. Eventually we came to the end of it, where there were two doors. A door with a plaque that read Mr. Giovanni, President and a smaller door on the left wall that said Peggy, Secretary. I found Mr. Giovanni's lack of a first name and Peggy's lack of a last disturbing. She motioned for me to enter Giovanni's office. I walked up to the door and took a deep breath. Peggy went into her office as I entered Mr. Giovanni's. I walked into a large, richly decorated office. This one room was the size of my entire apartment. On the left wall was a massive fireplace, with a large flat screen TV over head. Across from that on the right wall were numerous bookshelves, all stuffed with books and magazines. There was a conference table on either side of the room and all the way across the room was a giant desk. There was a large computer monitor on the desk with a standing plaque stating that it was indeed Mr. Giovanni's desk. Again with a disturbing lack of a first name...or last...it could go either way. As I walked across the room marveling at its size and beauty I heard a voice boom out.
"Quite beautiful isn't it??" I turned and coming out of a door I didn't notice next to the bookshelves was Mr. Giovanni. He was of medium build and height with a head topped in slicked back black and grey hair. He was dressed in a fancy three piece suit and a large grin adorned his face. "How nice to meet you Mr. Sanderson." He stuck out his hand for a shake. I returned it quickly, so as not to seem rude to my new boss.
"Nice to meet you too sir and yes it is quite a lovely office." The handshake broke and he motioned for me to sit down in a chair in front of his desk as he made his way to the other side of it.
"Thank you Mr. Sanderson. I have worked quite hard to enjoy an office this...luxurious. I'm quite proud of it." He sat down in his chair and leaned forward. Joining his fingers in a tip which he then rested his chin on. "Now why don't you tell me why you are here."
"Oh well I was having trouble finding a job." He nodded as if he knew that part, but continued to look at me keenly, as if he was genuinely interested in hearing my story. "My uncle Blake works for you...I'm not really sure what he does exactly, but he said he could try and get me a job here." My uncle Blake had worked for the Giovanni Corporation, now Incorporated, since before I had come to live with him and my aunt 16 years ago. "So, he talked to someone here and now...well here I am sir." He nodded and sat up still looking at me keenly.
"Well Mr. Sanderson I am quite familiar with your uncle. He leads one of my finest retrieval teams."
"Retrieval team? What does that entail exactly sir? If you don't mind me asking."
"Ah, of course not my dear boy. You work here now, so it is only fair that you know. Your uncle is in charge of one of the many teams I have, all of which have the same job of retrieving, capturing, and if necessary kidnaping pokemon for me." I froze. Did he just say what I think he said? Surely not.
"I'm sorry sir, but did you say...kidnaping?"
"I did indeed my dear boy. You see. When I started this company a long time ago I wanted to supply top grade electronics to this region, the region I called my home. I unfortunately did not have the power necessary to get started and I did not have the money back then to purchase the power I needed. One day however I came across a Voltorb and captured it. I then had a brilliant idea. Why not use the Voltorb for power? So I tried and it worked like a charm. I was able to get started somewhat, but then the Voltorb died. I had to find a new one. It went on like that for some time until eventually after many, many years of hard work I ended up here, in this office with a successful company. We continue to use Voltorbs as a power supply, but one day years back I had a thought. What if I could use pokemon for something else. Something much more...well I suppose a laymen would call it sinister. You see Mr. Sanderson, I want this region for myself and then who knows...maybe all the regions. So, I send out teams, like the one your uncle heads, to find pokemon for me. Pokemon that can be used to rule this region and others." I was shocked. I did the only thing I could think of, I stood up to run away. "Do not run Mr. Sanderson, I would hate to have you killed, and on your first day too." I froze in my tracks. "Now sit back down." I slowly sat back down knowing this man would very well kill me if he had to and wouldn't feel bad about it in the slightest. He looked across the desk at me gravely. "Now Mr. Sanderson, you will not be on one of those teams. You will be keeping track of and sorting the pokemon those teams bring in." I swallowed hard and found my voice.
"What if I say no?"
"I'm afraid it is much too late for that dear boy. Much too late indeed. You see I already told you everything so now either you take the job or I'm afraid you will have to die...and we wouldn't want that. Would we?"
"Ok. I guess I don't have a choice." I would take the job. Then as soon as I left this accursed building I would call the police. Giovanni stood up and clapped his hands together.
"Excellent! I'm sure you'll enjoy working here Mr. Sanderson. Wait why am I being so formal you work here now, what's your name again son?"
"Jackson...sir."
"Ah very good. Alright then Jackson let's get you to your work place then shall we?" He started his way out of his office, not even looking back to make sure I followed. I heaved myself out of the chair and followed behind him. What have I gotten myself into?
I went with Giovanni to the third floor. He motioned for me to exit the elevator first and after I got out he popped out after me. He had kept his nice, grinning demeanor the entire time from when I first met him. It was really creepy and off putting. We took a left down a hallway and ended up at a dead end with only one door. Giovanni opened it and held out his hand, indicating I should enter. I walked in and he flipped on a light swith as he followed. The lights slowly flickered on to reveal a long room. Hundreds of yards, if not more. There was one desk at the beginning of the room to my left and the rest of the room was just shelves. Rows upon rows of shelves from the floor to the ceiling. Every one of them had an indent about the size of my fist in them every half a foot. Every indent was empty.
"This will be your workspace Jackson."
"I don't understand. What am I to do?"
"Easy, everyday you get here there will be a bag." He motioned to an extremely large canvas bag I had missed sitting in the corner by the desk. "That bag contains pokeballs marked with the type of pokemon in them. Rattata, pidgey, ect., ect. There will be a label on the outside of the pokeball telling you what the pokemon inside is. Under absolutely no circumstances are you allowed to let any of the pokemon out. Got it?" I nodded. "Good. I do not want to tell you what happens if you break that rule, but believe me it is not pleasant. Now, when you get a pokeball out and read the label you will jot it down in this notebook here." He walked over to the desk and pulled a notebook out of the drawer. He opened to the first page and pulled a pokeball out of the bag. "Like this. Pikachu." He read the name from the label and wrote it down in the notebook. "Captured by...Johnson, Robert." He wrote /Johnson, Robert after Pikachu. "Simple enough. Now after that is done you walk over to these shelves." He made his way to the seemingly infinite amount of shelves. "Each shelf is labeled with a pokemon-type. I.E. Flying, electric and ect., ect. This is a pikachu which means electric so..." He found the electric shelf and placed the pokeball in the first indent on the lowest shelf. "easy as pie. I trust you can handle this?" I nodded, hoping he would leave. His happy attitude was starting to terrify me. He clapped his hands together again at my nod. "Good. Your uncle said I could count on you. Now, there is one other matter to attend to, please take a seat at your desk." I sat down in the chair and waited for whatever was about to happen.
"I know you plan on calling the police." Giovanni's happy demeanor was gone. Not even a trace of it was left in his face. I leaned back away from the face now looming over my new desk. "I would not count that as a wise move son. See, I own the police in this town. In fact I own the entire police force in this region. Every captain is on my payroll and they are being paid handsomely to make sure no one knows of any of this. Bugs are being placed in your home and a surveillance team may or may not be keeping tabs on you outside of work. Who knows? You can go to no one with this information without me knowing it so don't even try. All you have to do is sort these pokemon. Eight hours a day, five days a week. I even give you weekends off because I'm such a nice guy." He leaned closer to me. "Do not disappoint me Jackson." With that he left the room.
I was terrified. What had I gotten into? Better yet what the fuck was my uncle thinking? I didn't want this job anymore and it terrified me even more knowing Giovanni had the police in his pocket. I mean he could be lying, but if he was I couldn't tell. Plus that isn't a risk I was willing to take. No doubt he would kill me if I tried to rat. Running was out of the question because he might have a surveillance team on me outside of work. Fuck, what was I going to do. All I could do. Bide my time. Do my job and hope for some sort of gap. Sometime where I could either escape or destroy this place. I don't know what that could possibly be, but I was sure I'd know it when it came. I sighed heavily and picked a pokeball from the bag. Pidgey. Captured by Welker, Frank. I wasn't going to enjoy this. I had to start looking for some way out of this place.
This chapter is a chapter that was meant to be the last chapter, but I wanted to do Nari's chapter first. It introduces us to a new character, Jackson. He will pop back up from time to time. I know this chapter is much shorter, and that is why it will be Chapter 4.5 instead of 5. Feedback is appreciated and as always I hope you enjoyed.