'SEE YOU MORNING' 052 The Old Gives Way to the New

After a weekend off, another mission awaited in Kalispell. The work list was lengthy, and Kesiya was not assigned to go along. Li Haojun felt a flicker of disappointment, then grew confused about the arrangement. He later learned it was due to the company's confidentiality rules. Still, the list included interviews for new recruits. He wondered why existing staff were barred for secrecy reasons, yet new hires were allowed on site.
Flying through the air, he could keenly sense winter fading away. Ice and snow across the land were melting in patches, drifting white clouds cast shadows on the ground, and sunlight grew brighter by the day. The breath of spring lingered everywhere.
Seasons changed, and so did the staff. Li Haojun fell into deep thought. The facilities were not newly built, so where had all the former employees gone, and what had happened to them? Lost in his questions, he landed the flying car at Kalispell Airport. He then took another route through the small town beneath the reservoir to look around. Though equipped with schools, shopping malls and hospitals, the town was fully functional yet eerily quiet, with barely anyone on the streets. Were all the residents staying indoors?
He drove along winding roads past the town and reached the factory beside the reservoir. Entering the workshop, he saw the interviewees waiting on benches outside the office. The robot receptionist transmitted relevant data to him as he passed by. Glancing at the candidates, he noticed they were all women of striking beauty. He doubted whether they possessed the required professional skills, for this was neither a beauty pageant nor a customer-facing position that prioritized appearance.
Feeling a little guilty for keeping so many people waiting, Li Haojun greeted them. He briefly pointed out the locations of the restrooms, changing rooms and lounge area offering coffee and breakfast. After telling them to wait a moment, he thanked them and stepped into his office.
He turned on his work devices and sorted out the tasks, starting with the interviews. This was meant to select personal assistants, so thorough selection was essential. No one wanted to tackle tough assignments alongside incompetent teammates. Yet the lineup of attractive applicants dampened his spirits. If they devoted so much effort to their looks, how proficient could they be at their jobs?
The first candidate was Ariana Snyder. She had blonde hair, blue eyes and an oval face with a pointed chin. A local resident with all her education completed locally, she was asked to talk about why she wanted the job and her own strengths.
The second applicant was Aniya Joyce. The candidates were clearly arranged in alphabetical order by given names. Though their names started with the same letter, their appearances differed greatly. She had dark brown hair and eyes, wide-set eyes, sharp facial lines, a small mouth with neat lip lines, reminding Li Haojun suddenly of a mermaid. She was also a local who had received all her education here.
The third was Delilah Flynn, blonde and blue-eyed with an oval face. The image of a Tennessee girl popped into his mind, and the whole scene felt like a royal concubine selection. Checking her background, he found she too was a local graduate. He wondered if talent mobility was really this low around here.
Curious, he went through the rest of the resumes and found every single candidate was a local. He could not help but smile to himself that the town had so many beautiful women. To his surprise, each position had only one applicant. He questioned the point of holding interviews at all. Was he expected to turn these people down and play the villain?
With that thought, he marked approval in the line manager comment section for every remaining candidate and submitted the forms. As expected, the system instantly approved all applications. The interviews were merely a formality; his approval guaranteed employment. He felt a strange sense of power over others' fates.
He then sent instructions to the robot administrator to complete the onboarding procedures. Recalling the first two interviewees, he realized he had not told them when results would be released nor asked them to stay. This was his first time handling such work, and he had not anticipated the current situation. He hurried out of his office and asked.
"Have the first two girls left?" He could not recall their names right away and scanned the crowd for their faces.
"No, I told them to wait over here," answered a young woman with long, soft light brown hair worn naturally loose, without elaborate curls. She had an oval round face, a small mouth, a subtle nose bridge and grey-green eyes, looking youthful and innocent. She reminded Li Haojun of Malaya.
"Hello, may I ask who you are?" Li Haojun asked softly, a little surprised.
"Hello, Ethan. I am Sienna Swain, your administrative assistant."
"Alright, thank you. Please finish your onboarding first and get your access permissions activated. Also, order lunch for everyone. You can consult the administrator or check your work terminal for specific procedures."
"Understood."
The morning passed amid constant comings and goings. The large group of new young employees chased away the quiet gloom hanging over the place among mountains and waters. Still, Li Haojun struggled to adapt to the overwhelming presence of so many beautiful women, so he chose a corner seat during lunch break.
The new colleagues chatted and got to know one another. A few came over to greet him, but most of the young people stayed among their own group, laughing and talking.
"Hello, Ethan. May I sit here?"
The clear voice belonged to Sienna from that morning. Though he preferred not to be disturbed, he agreed, hoping to start their working relationship on good terms.
"Of course, take a seat."
"I am glad to join Aquatic Technology Innovation Company. I will assist you with your work from now on. Please take care of me." Sienna spoke politely and sat down beside him.
"Thank you." Despite her courtesy and friendliness, Li Haojun felt an inexplicable resistance. She seemed to be gradually taking Malaya's place in his heart. He steered the conversation to trivial topics.
"Do you know the others? Thank you for helping keep order this morning."
"It was nothing. I received detailed information about my duties in the notice."
"I noticed you are a local resident and studied here all your life. Many of the new staff are locals too. Is there very little population mobility in this town?"
"That's right. Few outsiders move in, and not many locals choose to leave either."
"Don't young people want to go out and see the world?"
"Not really. Life here is nice. Most people living here have no grand ambitions and are content with their lives."
Her words answered some of Li Haojun's questions, yet they did not explain why outsiders were never hired by the company. He could only guess it was a matter of cost.
The afternoon was set aside for new employee training, which Li Haojun also attended as a new member of the team. The training began with a tour of the premises, clarifying classified areas, clean zones, danger zones, as well as entry qualifications and access rights.
He paid little mind at first, but when the training moved on to company rules and workflows, he noticed the regulations excessively emphasized the absolute authority of supervisors. While certain rules were understandable for technology control and confidentiality, some clauses clearly infringed on employees' rights. With a workforce dominated by women, these rules could easily lead to discrimination and harassment.
Li Haojun watched the training video in silence and observed the reactions of the new recruits. To his surprise, they remained completely calm, showing no confusion or indignation, as if they knew nothing about their legitimate rights. Thinking of the town's stagnant atmosphere and closed community, he wondered what other unexpected things lay ahead.
On the flight back, Li Haojun reviewed the factory's facility documents and production records, trying to familiarize himself with his new responsibilities. Yet frequent work reports from Kesiya kept popping up on his screen, leaving him uneasy. They had always worked side by side before. Now he was assigned new tasks, while she had to retrace their old paths alone. He knew she must be thinking of him far away, just as he was constantly thinking of her.
Their hearts were intertwined, yet they could not meet.