9:30 – Admin: Good morning!

9:31 – Admin: You there?

9:31 – Worker: Morning – yeah, sorry was just following up on some emails.

9:31 – Admin: Your profile showed away. Wanted to touch base about your KPI’s.

9:32 – Worker: Think mine are bugged.

9:32 – Admin: It’s unclear what you mean by that. Can you explain?

9:33 – Worker: I don’t think the numbers are right.

9:33 – Admin: Any admissions you make are automatically recorded and added to your sum.

9:34 – Admin: You there?

9:35 – Worker: I mean the requirements

9:36 – Admin: You’re a level 1 A.E., fresh off training; the currently reduced levels are correct but are due to increase at the end of every week until the end of next month.

9:36 – Admin: You’re still expected to performance standards while ramping up to the minimum.

9:37 – Worker: Can we take this to video? I feel like actually talking will help clear things up.

9:37 – Admin: Absolutely.

At the top of Worker’s left monitor a red light blinks on, and beneath, a tired visage, Worker’s sleep-deprived face, fills one square of a pair, the other occupied by a greyed-out ‘A’. “You there?” Worker asks.

“Yes.” Replies a tinned voice.

“You sound a little robot-y. Maybe check your connection? I guess that’s why your camera isn’t on.”

“No. This place is better reserved for visual-aids,” Worker’s KPI chart, measuring the number of applicants admitted to the University, replaces the A; the expected line is a business’ profit projections, constant increase, while the performance line resembles a weak heartbeat on a cardiograph.

“That looks worse than it actually is.”

“You’re achieving less than 10 percent of expected performance.”

“But I’m doing what I should,” Worker opines, “It takes time to read through essays and applications and then I have to think if it’s good for them or us as an organization -” The graph becomes an image of a typical youth, a genderless face with a lit cigarette hanging from scowl.

“Do you recall this from training?” The border lights up with the question.

“Right. Rebellious Randy.”

“And the requirements.” Referenced are branching bits of information, summaries of qualities possessed by the ideal admit. The cigarette representing rebelliousness within reason, sexless androgyny, mass-produced clothing and attitude, commoditized- “All that’s necessary for you is to go down the list. Simple, comparative thinking. You don’t know better than the system that’s been set-up. There is no need to hesitate, or ask questions, or entertain complications.” The picture disappears, the A returns. “You there?”

“Yeah. I get it. I’ll stop making the job harder than it needs to be.” And from this point on, the picture of the cigarette smoker, Rebellious Randy will be the entirety of Worker’s second screen, encompassing everything – without question – that an applicant should be.

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