Adithya Thakur felt a tingle run down his spine as he placed his hand into the scanner of the Sirius Software Portal door.

The door hissed open, and he stepped into the reactor control room where a few other technicians were already at their stations.

"Morning, folks," he said, taking his seat.

A few heads turned, and a couple of nods were exchanged.

Adithya took his seat at the console, fighting down a wave of nausea he felt as the black leather chair creaked under his weight.

For somebody who came from a culture were cows and cattle were sacred, working in a room filled with the smell of leather was a constant struggle.

The stark black and white decor only made it worse.

"Don't they's guys have any color in their lives?" he muttered petulantly, as he observed the reactor core monitors.

In truth, he was a deep-cover agent for Senator Monica Goldberg, and his mission was to cause as much disruption as possible within Sirius Nuclear.

However, it appeared that Sirius Nuclear had anticipated this, because the reactor was buried deep within lead mine shafts. Even if he could get past the reactor safety systems, there would be no Chernobyl-style catastrophe. The reactor would just get entombed in a lead coffin. At worst, there would be a mild tremor topside, but nothing more.

Then there were the costumed women who were called "security guards" who checked in on them from time to time.

It was bad enough that he had to wear a suit and tie to work, but the monster running this place had the gall to deck women out in what could only be described as fetish-wear. The fact that their clicking heels were amplified by the monstrous architecture of the control facility only made it worse.

His head throbbed as the tell-tale clip-clop of heels echoed through the room.

He turned to see a petite Indian girl wearing the Sirius Nuclear security uniform of a black leather blazer, pencil-skirt, pantyhose and thigh-high black leather boots. He did a double-take as he saw her approach.

"Everything under control here?" she asked, her voice light and musical.

"Yes, all systems are normal," he said, unconsciously switching to his native Hindi.

"English, boy. We're not in Mumbai," she said, her tone hardening.

Adithya swallowed his pride and switched back to English.

"Sorry, ma'am. Everything is normal," he said.

She nodded, and walked away, leaving him with a feeling of anger and pity.

"I need to rescue that beautiful girl from this hellhole," he muttered to himself.

----

"Mr. Zakhrov. I believe I have identified a few problem employees," said Fr. Victor, seating himself across from Aaron.

"I see, and who are they?" asked Aaron.

"A cohort of Sirius Nuclear technicians, led by an Adithya Thakur. They have been pushing for a relaxation in the corporate dress-code, citing ethnic diversity. Mostly, it has been around traditional Indian and Middle-Eastern attire, but they've been also been arguing for casual-wear. Under normal circumstances this would be background noise, but their performance has been slipping," replied Fr. Victor.

"Sounds like we've got a cohort of white-knights on our hands. Have they been making too many waves?" asked Aaron.

"For now, no. There has actually been a pretty strong pushback against them from other employees, particularly female ones," said Fr. Victor.

"All right. Let them just scream into the void. I'll beef up security around the reactor cores. We've just expanded the reactor fleet to 16, so we have some redundancy. However, I want you and Tatiana to keep them under extra surveillance," said Aaron.

"You got it. I'll pull in the lovely Dr. Khan as well. She's the one who brought them to my attention," said Fr. Victor, rising to leave.

"Thank you, Fr. Victor," said Aaron, dismissing him with a nod.

----

"Am I overreacting Vikram? I mean, I'm comfortable around you, and around those guys most of the time, but that one guy just made my skin crawl. And that thick accent of his! It was like he was fresh off the boat, and not in a good way," said Kavitha in a rush, as she paced Vikram's office.

"Well if you stop pacing my dear, I can tell you that Mr. Zakhrov has already flagged Mr. Thakur and his friends for extra surveillance," said Vikram patiently.

"Really? So I'm not the only one who feels this way?" asked Kavitha, stopping in her tracks.

"No, you are not. Our systems have already flagged him on dress-code violations. Wanting a turban is one thing, but he's been fined and forced back home for showing up in kadhi like some sleazy politician," said Vikram.

"Ugh! I get wanting to stay close to your roots, but don't bring that baggage to work! Though, I suppose I'm guilt of that too," mumbled Kavitha, recalling the times she was flagged because she had changed out of her uniform and into a saree whenever her parents poked their noses into the compound.

"Mr. Zakhrov and I understand your particular predicament, but Mr. Thakur is pushing on a purely ideological basis. That is something Mr. Zakhrov made very clear on my first meeting with him," at this point Vikram cleared his throat and theatrically deepened his voice: "Let me be clear, Mr. Singh. I don't forbid cultural expression so long as it aligns with company aesthetics. You can wear a turban, but it must be from the approved colors, and it shouldn't detract from the Western suit. This is a company, not a Gurdwara, and this is America, not India. Do I make myself clear?" he said, mimicking Aaron's tone.

Kavitha giggled at the impression.

"Yes, very clear. So that's why my fines have been waived?" she asked.

"Yes, but I'd suggest you inform your parents not to visit the compound too often. And it's not like you can't go over to their place instead of being cooped up here," said Vikram.

"But I like being here, compared to the drama at their house," said Kavitha, pouting.

"Understood. Just try not to let them come here too often, I can't keep bailing you out of trouble," said Vikram, smiling.

"Oh, yes. I'll make it clear to them," said Kavitha, blushing as she realized that Vikram was the one covering for her whenever she had to hide her Sirius Software Security/Medic uniform from her parents.

----

"Daddy!" squealed Mikaela, as she ran into Ivan's arms.

"Hi, Princess. I missed you," said Ivan, hugging his daughter tightly.

He was in a park near the border of Pine Springs, with Officer Vasquez, standing a few feet away.

"I missed you too, Daddy. Why can't you come home instead of meeting me here?" asked Mikaela.

"Because it doesn't work that way, Princess. Mommy still won't let me come over," sighed Ivan.

"Want to hear about school?" asked Mikaela, deciding to change the subject.

"Of course. Tell me everything," said Ivan, sitting down on the bench with Mikaela on his lap.

"Well, we had this big test in math, and I got an A! And then, in science, we learned about atoms and molecules. Did you know that everything is made of atoms?" asked Mikaela excitedly.

"Yes, I did. What else did you learn?" asked Ivan.

"We also learned about Pride month and pronouns. My teacher said that some people like to be called he, she, or they. I think it's silly, but I guess it's important to them," said Mikaela.

"Yes, it is quite silly, but some people feel strongly about it," chuckled Ivan.

"Yeah, like Mommy. I have to wear these bracelets that say she/her on them. I mean come on! Everyone can see I'm a girl," pouted Mikaela.

"Yes, and a very pretty and clever girl," said Ivan, as Mikaela snuggled into him.

"I want a hot dog," said Mikaela, as the smell of cooking meat wafted through the air from a nearby hot dog stand.

"All right, let's get you a hot dog," said Ivan, standing up and taking Mikaela's hand.

As they walked towards the hot dog stand, Officer Vasquez followed them at a discreet distance, keeping an eye on them.

"Ivan's actually a pretty good dad. Annette on the other hand, is a nightmare," thought Officer Vasquez, as she watched Ivan help Mikaela wipe her mouth after eating the hot dog.

"Those two actually seem pretty good," chuckled Officer Martinez who was her partner.

"Yeah, well. This is better than those militant looks Annette gave us when we rolled up to the house," agreed Officer Vasquez.

"That's because we transferred to the SZPD. Annette hates our uniforms," said Officer Martinez, gesturing to the black leather SZPD uniform she was wearing.

"Well, I told you to wear plainclothes," said Officer Vasquez, rolling her eyes.

"Yeah right! I ain't pandering to her. Besides, I look good in this," said Officer Martinez, striking a pose.

"Sure you do," said Officer Vasquez, shaking her head.

Ivan and Mikaela walked back to the quietly humming hybrid SUV that was Officer Vasquez's personal car, a compromise she had made to keep Annette from throwing a fit over the SZPD Stormkreuzer patrol cars.

"All right, Princess. Time to go home," said Ivan, buckling Mikaela into the rear seat.

"Okay, Daddy. Can we come here again next week?" asked Mikaela.

"Sure, Princess. We'll see," said Ivan, kissing her forehead and stepping back.

"See you next week Mr. Zakhrov," said Officer Vasquez, as Officer Martinez got into the front passenger seat.

"See you," said Ivan, as the car pulled away.

With a sigh, Ivan turned and walked back to his black BMW M5, to go back to his house in Fenrir Township.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.