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"One day Alice came to a fork in the road and saw a Chesire cat in a tree.
'Which road do I take?' she asked.
'Where do you want to go?' was his response.
'I don't know', Alice answered.
'Then', said the cat, 'it doesn't matter.' "
6 Months Later...
Alex sat at his desk, not doing much. He monitored system readouts from the Rabbit, and unfortunately, they were as nominal as always. With a sigh, he leaned back in his chair waiting for the phone to ring. It was lonely and somewhat depressing at the Sierra Nevada facility since everyone left. There was literally no one still employed by Arc except himself, a janitor that was older than dirt, and an out of shape security guard that was asleep in the security room more often than not. Dr. Carroll didn't really count due to the fact he was the owner, and he wasn't at the facility too often. He had business to attend to: "managing Arc's assets" is what he called it. But that was just a euphemism for slowly selling their subsidiaries and patents. Carroll was pooling all the companies money to the White Rabbit Project. Alex knew that what they had sitting in the lower levels was groundbreaking; it would completely shatter the current understanding of physics, but that is only if it was what they thought it was...
Finally fed up with waiting, Alex decided to go raid the kitchen, but just as he walked into the hallway the phone rang. Alex raced back into the room, nearly slipping as he rounded the desk he picked up the receiver.
"Yes, Hello, who is this?"
[...]
"And you're calling about the Job offer?"
[...]
"Excellent, we will... ho... hold on; I am not at liberty to discuss the details of the job over the phone. We will fly you to our Sierra Nevada Facility, and then Dr. Carroll will explain."
[...]
"Yes, Fly. Are you still at the same residence we mailed the letter to?"
[...]
Great, then you can expect the helicopter on Wednesday. Oh, and pack light, the helicopter has a weight limit."
Hanging up the phone, Alex got up with a smile, but the phone started ringing again. A similar ensued, only to be followed in quick succession by six more. "Boy! I guess we timed the letters perfectly." With a satisfied smirk, Alex waited for another call, and when it didn't come, he picked up the phone and made a call of his own.
"Yes, Dr. Carroll?"
"This is Alex, I just got the calls, eight have signed up. They're flying in on Wednesday."
"Thank you, Sir."
That Wednesday, eight people stood outside of their homes and apartments probably feeling a mixture of confusion and excitement. True to Alex's word, a sleek helicopter appeared over the horizon and landed just in front of you. Looking inside, you saw a few other people, probably other people who were curious about the job offer too, but one thing that you noticed for sure, there was no pilot. Autonomous vehicles were becoming more and more common, but some people still had qualms about a computer taking their life in its hands. Regardless of your personal take on the issue, you climbed aboard and were rocketed towards California at speeds that would have been impossible just a few decades before.
The trip was smooth and pleasant for the most part and you got a beautiful view of the sun setting over the western horizon, but as you approached the mountains, you start to notice dark clouds bristling with lightning. Ignorant to the anxiety a sight like that might inspire in humans, the helicopter's computer continued unaltered on its flight path until the buffeting winds caused it to react. Rain pelted the cockpit window, and the wind screamed over the rotor blades. Flashing lightning brought the quick report of thunder. The light from the landing pad could be barely made out through the sheets of angry rain.
With a heavy thump, the aircraft touched down and clamps extended from the ground to lock it in place against the wind. An individual in a white poncho made a mad dash from the door of the main building to the pad and opened the door of the helicopter. "I'm sorry about the storm; we thought we could get you in before it hit. Come on, let's get inside." Alex hurried them out of the helicopter, and rushed back to the door and swiped a keycard. The locked clicked, and Alex head the door for them to run inside.
They were in some kind of lobby but the lights were dimmed so much that the lighting lit the room in terrifying bursts. A large glass wall to the left gave a brilliant view of a valley, and hallways branched off straight ahead, and to the right. It was decorated in a modernist style with lots of pristine whites, greys, and blacks with some red furniture to catch the eye. It looked clean and sleek; very befitting of a company on the cutting edge of science. It did seem peculiarly empty, no one other than Alex was in sight.