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The Beta Testers: The Way Of The ASPIS

By Eric Pulsifer

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Joni McLean thought of that Arnold Schwarzenegger movie as she toured the campus at her new job. She gawked at the transparent dome covering the buildings and common area. At the groups of people her age milling in the corridor you’d swear was outdoors. At the plants growing wild along the outer edge of the corridor, partly screening the dome wall. The strong Arizona sun lit the area though it stayed a cool mid-70s inside.

When she pulled up to the facility an hour ago she couldn’t believe how big it was. A pair of domes covering more than 100 acres. By far this one was the smallest. Still, it reminded her of the Astrodome she’d seen pictures of. A very big Astrodome, probably three times its size. Never mind the Astrodome; from the inside this place reminded her of the Martian settlement in that old movie.

“This is so amazing,” she whispered.

“You likes?” her guide asked.

Kevin, she remembered. That’s her guide’s name. He interviewed her for the job a month ago, by teleconference. She liked him right away. Like in the interview was dressed office casual in back jeans, white shirt with sleeves rolled up and loosened tie.

“We’re really environmentally sensitive here,” Kevin said. “We’ve built a whole self-contained village.”

“I’ll say.” Joni held a leash and her miniature dachshund darted here and there. “This is fabulous.”

“Everything’s here,” he continued. “Computer labs, apartments, shopping, restaurants, recreation, everything. We even grow our own food here.”

Joni looked up at the clear roof and its unobtrusive framework. “That can’t be glass.”

“It’s a fairly new material. EFTE. A polymer, and it lets almost all the outdoor light in. Something like 95 percent.”

“I’ve heard of it. Europe, right?”

“That’s right. They use it for Project Eden in England. Same material makes the Minnesota Vikings stadium roof. Great stuff.”

From where she stood the framework looked no thicker than a spider’s web. “What holds it in place?”

“Itself. Air pressure, with some cables. That’s so it won’t collapse.” He sounded every bit as excited as she felt. “I’ll bet Google was never like this.”

“Not even.”

* * *

Google. Big G. Joni worked there since she was 20, one of the few without a college degree. She eventually caught the attention of the upstart ASPIS, and they wooed her for three months before she said yes. Just in time, too. In five years she watched Google hit the skids. Ad revenue dried up. Search engine traffic dwindled to a fraction of what it once was, and fewer were using its apps or cloud storage. ASPIS was eating Google’s lunch.

Five years ago ASPIS was just another of about a million who-cares startups, but from the gate it went after Google’s greatest weakness. Its whole suite of Web services was built around security and privacy, attacking Google’s ad-driven model. ASPIS started with an encoded email system, then moved on to equally tight cloud storage. A don’t-track-me search engine leveled the odds. Google users who were tired of getting those creepy targeted ads every time they clicked a mouse flocked to the new kid on the block. When Google shifted into a bunker mentality, Joni knew she had to be a part of this exciting new company. This futuristic campus was just icing.

* * *

“Want to see the labs?” Kevin asked.

“Sure.” Joni and her dog had no problem keeping up with Kevin, even with his long legs.

“Not much to see on this side. This is just the kiddie pool.”

“The what?”

“A joke. But you will live and work here for the next three months. You clear that, you go to the big dome. It’s a whole lot nicer.”

“Nicer than this?” There’s no way, she thought.

“Everybody in this building is what we call a prospect. A probationary employee. Well, except for some of the supervisors.”

“You told me about the probationary period.”

“It’s pretty tough. I think something like 25 percent clear it. But to even get this far you have to be about something. We try to get the best we can.”

“Okay.” Joni thought about this. For sure saying goodbye to Google was a roll of the dice, but for a chance to work at ASPIS you take the bet. Besides, she knew she could find work anywhere with her reputation in online security. One of the best, they told her. She closed her eyes and fired off a quick prayer. Whatever happens happens, and I’m okay with it.

ASPIS promised her $25,000 for the three-month probationary period. Less than what she was making at Google, but they would throw in an on-site apartment. Once she made permanent status her salary would double, making it $200,000 per year. Considering she lived a simple life and had no debts, the money wasn’t an issue.

“How was your trip out here?” Kevin asked. “South Carolina, wasn’t it?”

“Charleston,” Joni said. “The trip was fun. I’ve never been further than Atlanta.”

“I thought you sounded southern.”

“Does it stick out that much?” Joni thought of some of her friends who said they had to lose their southern accents if they wished to find work Up North. She never bothered.

“Some. So what do you think of Arizona?”

“It’s hot enough. I think I’m going to be indoors a lot.” The cross-country drive reminded her how easily redheads burn. No doubt the Arizona sun wouldn’t be too kind to her.

“I’m from out this way,” Kevin said. “Tuba City.”

“Tuba what?”

“Northern Arizona. It’s on two different time zones, depending on whether you’re on the Navajo reservation or the white man’s land. I’m from the Navajo side.”

“Is that what you are?” She thought he looked Native American with the black hair and eyes so dark you couldn’t tell iris from pupil. But rather than features that looked like they were carved by licks of a hatchet, his face was round and slightly flattish. Almost like a pie pan.

“Half.” He led her through an open doorway, like the kind you see at a shopping mall. “Here’s one of the labs.”

* * *

Joni liked what she saw. A well-lit open area, computer stations on high and low tables. Lots of conversation. No doubt they were hard at work, but the surroundings seemed relaxed.

“So this is where I’ll be working.”

“One of these labs for three months. We continue vetting and see if you’re a good fit.”

“You don’t sound like a human resources guy.”

“I help out. I mostly write technical documentation and handle media relations. Basically a well-paid flack that does everything.”

Joni laughed. “A generalist, huh?”

“Here, everybody is. Keeps us flexible. Besides, we don’t have a human resources department.”

“So that’s why you interviewed me.”

“Because I do it well. I used to be a newspaperman.”

“Really?”

“I’m here now, even though I don’t know beans about computers. Want to continue the tour?”

“Sure.”

They left the lab and almost bumped into a short, thick, goateed man hustling down the corridor. Joni recognized him right away.

“Mr. Nicolaides.”

***

Joni couldn’t believe she was actually talking to Stefan Nicolaides himself. The visionary genius who founded ASPIS and built this wonderful dome. Right up there with Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, and Larry Page in the tech pantheon.

“Miss McLean?”

“You know me?”

He laughed. A good laugh; it sounded sincere. “I have followed your career for several years. Welcome to ASPIS.”

“Thank you, Mr. Nicolaides.”

“It’s Stefan. And you are Joni.” He took her hand, Old World style. Joni noticed his flawless English had traces of a Mediterranean accent. The black curly hair, goatee, and liquid brown eyes made her guess he was Greek.

“Thank you, Mr. Stefan. I’m honored.”

That laugh again, “I am told you are one of the top five online security experts in the country. Not the top five percent, the top five.

“I don’t know about that.” Joni heard that talk before and she tried not to let it go to her head.

“Let us go have some coffee.”

“Sure.”

* * *

Stefan led the way, bringing them to a stand-up Starbucks. He nodded toward a table and they sat down, Joni still clutching the dog’s leash.

“Sit, Taco. Good boy.”

“Taco,” Kevin said. “That’s funny.”

The three humans ordered the bold blend, and Joni added a blueberry muffin. Fuel food.

“Kevin said it’s only prospects under this dome,” she said when they started on their coffee. “Why is that?”

“An excellent question,” Stefan said. “It is mostly for security reasons. Permanents work on many high-priority projects. That is why we have such a stringent vetting process.”

“I’m told maybe 25 percent of prospects become permanents.”

“Much fewer than that. It is less than 10 percent. Twenty-five percent will make it through the vetting, but most will choose not to continue. We expect much from our permanents.”

“I guess fit is a factor too?”

“Very much so. We are quite meticulous, quite selective. But the system works. We have zero turnover.”

“Zero?”

“Believe it or not. Once someone starts as a permanent, he does not want to leave. By then we know how good he or she is, too. So tell me about your background.”

“Sure. You know about my record in online security. I studied it some years ago, and that became my specialty at Google.”

“What else do you know?”

Joni thought. “I know hardware pretty well. I built my first computer when I was 14, and got my A+ certification at 15.”

“Impressive. Where did you go to college?”

“Trident Technical in Charleston. I went there one year, then started at Google.”

“You do not have a degree?”

“No, sir. Google made an offer directly.”

That smile again, like he was sharing a secret. “I do not have a degree either. Like you, I find doing much more attractive than waiting for permission.”

Joni laughed. “I never thought of it this way.” His smile and those eyes made her feel all squooshy inside.

“So you know hardware. Have you experience with handhelds and tablets?”

“More on the programming side, sir.” Better to be honest.

“What do you know about ASPIS?”

“Quite a lot. I know you’re built around security, and it’s attracting a lot of users.”

“Security is a big part of what we do, yes. But also lightweight programs. Do you remember those old netbooks?”

“I had one. I hate to say it, but it was junk.”

He laughed again. “They were obsolete a decade ago, but you can still run an ASPIS system from one. Quite well, in fact.”

“I know you can run it from a flash drive.”

“Exactly. Our operating system and browser can run on anything that was built in the past 15 years.”

“Sir, I knew about your capabilities, and they’re exciting. That’s why I want to be part of this.”

“Joni, with your credentials, I think you will thrive here. What programming languages do you know?”

“Mostly C++ and Ruby, but also Python and Java. I’m best at C.”

“Excellent. We do not do much with Python or Java, though.”

“I reckon you wouldn’t.” Reckon? She said that to the boss? Just what she needed, to sound like some goober in front of this remarkable man. Think, girl. Think. “C is cleaner and lighter.”

That was pretty lame, she thought.

“Correct.” He seemed to ignore her inadvertent Southernism. Thank God. “Command shell or GUI?”

Good, Joni thought. The conversation is back on comfortable ground. “Command shell.”

“Why?”

“Simpler. Lighter. I don’t like to use more system resources than I have to.”

Stefan smiled. “Mouse or keyboard?”

“Keyboard” Joni was enjoying this now. “It is much faster than clicking on a mouse.”

“Vim or emacs?”

“Vim.” Joni smiled. “Lighter than emacs, and your fingers never have to leave the keyboard.”

Stefan turned serious for a moment. “You will spend most of your three months programming. Some hardware and some beta testing. Our real security work is done by the permanent employees.”

“I understand. Kevin calls this the kiddie pool.”

Stefan gave Kevin an amused look. “He is a character, is he not?”

“He seems to be.”

“I am sure you will have no difficulty making permanent status. Then you will have some fun and be part of something that will change the world.”

* * *

Joni watched Stefan speed-walk down the corridor after taking his leave. “He’s amazing.”

“That he is,” Kevin agreed. “He’s always got something going on. A million ideas.”

“I mean everybody talks about changing the world. But it looks like he’s really doing something.”

“Oh, you haven’t seen the best part of it. See all those buildings above the shops?”

“How could I miss them?”

“Those are the apartments. Fully furnished, and it’s part of your compensation.”

“Wow.”

“Trust me. They’re not big, but they’re pretty fancy.”

Joni looked up. Three floors of apartments, and each one had a balcony facing the outdoors through the dome wall.

“I’m curious. How are we paid?”

“Glad you asked. Do you have an ASPIS Cash account?”

“No sir.”

“You’ll get one when we process you. It’s all direct deposit. We’ll issue you a company ID that doubles as a debit card.”

“So I don’t need cash?”

“Not at all. We have ATMs here, but no one’s sure why. Psychological, I guess.”

“I can’t remember when I last used cash,” Joni said. “I still have a twenty from three months ago. Everything else is electronic.”

“You see?” Kevin paused, staring down the corridor. “Pretty amazing what our world has become.”

They finished their circuit around the Dome and approached the office door again. Kevin held it open for her. “Let’s get you processed.”

“Sure.”

“So what do you think?”

Joni thought for a minute. “I’m just so amazed. I mean, everything’s here.”

“Yes,” Kevin said. “Totally self-contained.”

“There’s almost no reason to leave here.”

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