Tech Support Please

Posted on Wed Feb 8th, 2023 @ 1:15pm by Duke Drake & Sakura Tanikawa

921 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: 1. Year One
Location: Dr. Duke's Office
Timeline: Friday August 28, 1992

Dr. Duke looked over Tanikawa's file once more to refresh his memory, before calling the woman into his office. He had just finished his third meeting that morning and was ready for the next. He was glad to add another female to the mix, that way Rebecca wouldn't feel as alone. With a deep breath he opened his office door and spoke in that clinical no-nonsense tone that doctors are notorious for, "Miss Tanikawa please."

As summoned, the new tech studies teacher entered the headmaster’s office. Head down, she gave a polite bow to her new boss. “Sakura Tanikawa, as requested.” She hoped formality wouldn’t be required but it was a good place to start. Easier to correct downward than upward.

The Doctor returned the formal Japanese and said
"Ohayo Konnichiwa," it was the only phrase he knew in Japanese but it meant Hello and good morning respectfully. "Miss Tanikawa, please have a seat, there is no need to be so formal next time," he said with a smile to put her at ease.

She returned the smile. "Thank you," she said, before taking the offered seat. "And thank you for inviting me to teach here. I appreciate the opportunity."

"Your information was passed along to me, with some pretty high recommendations. It seems like you've done pretty well with all things technical, at least enough to catch the eyes of my friends. Anyhow you are here because we think you'll be a great fit to our mission here, and I believe you have something you can offer the children who will be training here."

"I think so too," Sakura replied. It felt good to know that some of her former employers thought well enough of her to recommend her, even if they didn't want to keep her themselves. "What sort of equipment will we have? Can I see my classroom?"

"Yes your classroom is upstairs, we will go on the grand tour after lunch, but we have the best computers we could get as well as some tools. I have a requisition form on your desk in the computer lab, make a list of needs and then wants. I will do my best to get as much as possible. In the meantime lunch will be served shortly, and then we will have a group meeting so everyone can meet and chat."

Sakura nodded. "I'll go through what we have and see what more I need or want." She sat quietly for a second before proceeding. "Do you mind if I ask who recommended me?"

"It was an ER at Baptist Health in Pensacola, Florida. She said you were there to assist with a system upgrade. While you were in the ER their EKG machine quit while they were trying to monitor a young boy who got hit in the chest by a baseball. She watched to see how you would fix it, but all you did was wiggle cables and it magically worked. Afterwards Nurse Mary Beth Reynolds told me of her suspicions that you were a mutant. Based on her recommendation of your ability and the way you comforted the boy while you were in there made it seem like you'd be a perfect fit here," Drake explained.

That hadn’t even long ago, but it hadn’t been something she’d thought much about since that day. She’d been sent there with a small group from IBM. A whole new computer system for patient records. She’d been setting up a new machine at a nurse’s station in the ER when it happened. The boy was in a lot of pain, and scared, and the nurses’ panic at the non-functional EKG machine didn’t help. It didn’t matter that she might lose everything. So she helped. She fixed the EKG machine, making it look like it had just been loose wires. Then she stayed with the boy, who hadn’t seen a woman with purple hair before. She made him smile and, once or twice when the nurses weren’t looking, she made funny pictures appear on the screen. Everyone had calmed, and she went back to work on the computers.

Three weeks later, her evaluation period at Microsoft had ended, and she’d been let go, as they often did. And a week later, she’d gotten the call about the Ridgehaven school.

She dabbed her eyes. “It’s nice to know when we make a difference.”

"That's my goal here, to make a difference. Please don't contact Nurse Reynolds, I don't want her link to us known at this time. If anything happened to her I'd never forgive myself." What he didn't voice was the fact that they were former lovers in college but had grown apart.
"Do you have any questions for me about the school here or our goals?" Dr. Duke asked.

Sakura shook her head. “Your invitation letter was very clear. I’m sure I will have more questions later, after orientation, but for now I can’t think of anything. And I won’t contact Nurse Reynolds.” She actually laughed despite herself. “It’s all so overwhelming right now. I can’t wait to meet the others. I’ve already made a good friend in Rebecca.”

"Excellent, go grab lunch and we will meet upstairs for a group meeting. If there's nothing else it was great meeting you, and I look forward to working with you," the Doctor said before standing and shaking her hand.

#The End

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