The Tailor

Alicia took a deep breath and headed down the hallway that smelled of sweat and old coffee. Although she had been assured by Ralph that this assignment actually would be more palatable than the last one, she'd learned her lesson over the years - usually more reassurances from him also meant more reasons to worry on her part.

Ralph was there, as always, lurking in the shadows. He kept experimenting with ways to make his office seem less like something that belonged in a cheap action movie, but the harder he tried the less he succeeded. This actually worked to his advantage, Alicia reflected, as most people probably wouldn't take the job if it looked more ordinary. It could be impressive to witness the things that people would put themselves through just for the sake of having a good story, or even being able to hint at having a good story.

Nonetheless. She dropped into her customary position on his couch and assumed her by-now naturally quizzical expression. Her boss stepped out from the shadows and handed her what looked to be a small PDA. Upon closer inspection, she noticed some kind of transmitter on the front, and a series of gauges displayed on the screen.

"Modulation!" Boomed Ralph.

"Eh? I'm not taking any more of those pills from last Christmas, if that's what you've got in mind." Alicia had no qualms about blatantly refusing to do jobs for which she'd already proven herself particularly well unsuited.

"Not a chance, my dear! Never you worry about that..." again, the anxious tone as if he were trying to convince himself as much as her. "No, it just works like this, you have to do a bit of guesswork about their levels, but once you've got a pretty good estimation, you dial in whatever you want them to experience and use your best guess for the right carrier...once you figure out the right amount of receptivity, it's like a little translator. We've been able to add a lot more precision to their sensors since last year, and this one doesn't require running off of your main system, either."

Mmhm. This did actually sound quite a bit better. Okay, fine. If nothing else, the hazard pay could be used to buy herself a nice week's vacation somewhere warm and sunny in a few months. She gathered her things and headed out the door.

"One last thing, young lady!! You'd better not forget to show up for your normal job this year! Make sure you've got something presentable to wear, too. We'd do a much better business if you looked like you actually cared about your other work."

Yeah, yeah. Alicia thought that her pretend assignments were little more than a creative waste of time and space, but they did keep the paychecks coming between the real work, so she couldn't complain too much. Her job for this quarter was working as a teller in one of the banks close to her apartment; in all, it didn't actually sound that heinous.

On her drive home, she decided that it would probably be worth her time to stop by the garment store and get something nice to wear to work. After careful consideration, she decided to try one she'd never been to before, somewhere across town in one of the newer suburbs.

As she walked in, she cast her eyes over the racks looking for something to really stand out to her. After a few more minutes browsing, she chose a couple knee length skirts and some blouses to match. As she headed to the fitting rooms, a sales associate intercepted her. Actually, it wasn't an interception so much as a gentle redirection.

"Have you thought about just getting something made for yourself?"

She glanced up, taken aback and trying to decide if the man was implying that she had poor taste with the outfits she'd chosen, or if he was just trying to make a few extra credits before the holidays, or if he honestly thought he could do something better for her than anything he had out in his store. Naturally cautious, Alicia opened her mouth to politely dismiss him, but surprised herself with the words she actually spoke.

"Sure, I guess. What do you have in mind?"

"Oh, I don't know. You looked like you might want something nice for yourself."

Alicia allowed herself to be fitted. The entire process didn't take long, and at the end of it she walked out of the store with a couple ticket stubs to pick up new outfits the following week.

On Monday, two entirely too short days later, she arrived for her first day of work. Unsurprisingly her job turned out to be much more taxing than she'd anticipated; she seemed to have a particularly strong talent for underestimating new situations. As the day wore on, she tried everything to rid herself of the nagging sense of discomfort but it proved to have more persistence than the ancient Microsoft Windows Auto-Update systems. Thoroughly disgruntled and not a little cranky, she went to visit Ralph after her shift ended.

"I'm not going to do it. I can't handle the mindless drivel you've set me up for, and not only that, but I feel like after seven long years you could at least give me one of the more interesting side jobs. I'm tired, and I'm numb."

As always, Ralph just laughed at her.

"My dear" he giggled, "if only you knew what you were really telling me..." Still attempting to hold a few renegade chuckles at bay, Ralph went over to his desk and picked up a blank note card. After scribbling on it for a few seconds, he handed it to Alicia and told her to be on her way, refusing to acknowledge her presence no matter how hard she tried to position herself within his field of vision and hearing. Finally admitting defeat, she slunk back out the door. She was riding the elevator back down to the parking lot before she remembered the card resting in her hand.

1) You aren't doing your job if you're bored.
2) Courage and confidence!

As she hurried out into the frozen precipitation falling on the parking area, the faintest glimmer of realization dawned in her mind. She tried to reason away her embarrassment, but it took almost rear-ending the car in front of her on the highway to snap her out of her reverie. Finally she began to laugh at her own meta-struggle as she made her way back across to the other side of town to pick up her new clothes.

The outfits fit perfectly. Somehow the skirts and dress the tailor had made for her seemed to find the right places to support her figure without making her feel trapped inside a labyrinth of fabric and seams.

"I can't thank you enough..." she started.

"Don't." He smiled at her and rang up her purchases while she surreptitiously checked the levels on her modulator, pleased to see that her intuition was becoming more and more accurate.