V Returns
V came striding into the StuffedZoo warehouse tanner than ever and wearing a broad- toothed smile, “How you doing?” he says generally to the 3-4 people hanging out in the office.
They all look up from their work and respond with a non-committal, “Fine.” Then quickly re-engage with their separate activities almost as if the interruption had never happened.
V was already past them and didn’t seem to notice. He was looking for Finn and Karl and hoping to find out about his next assignment. As he passed through the Advanced Stuffed Animal Identification And Re-Interpretation Lab (ASAIR for short) he bumped into Jen.
“Excuse me!” he said apologetically as he helped her pick up a stack of papers that took an involuntary trip to the floor. “I’m V.” he said smiling at her.
Jen smiled back introducing herself, “I’m Jen. I’m in charge of the ASAIR Lab. I know who you are. Finn told us that he hired you a few weeks ago. However, most of the real information has come from Karl. I understand that we had to lure you away from a life at sea?” says Jen with an absolutely straight face.
V is flustered at first. Who is this Jen? Is she joking with me? What has Karl been saying?
Jen, thoroughly enjoying his confusion, maintains her serious expression as long as she can before bursting into a cascade of laughter, “We heard about the ride to the island. Tough luck. I get seasick too.”
“What is the ASAIR Lab?” V asks trying to get back on solid ground.
“ASAIR stands for Advanced Stuffed Animal Identification and Re-Interpretation Lab. We have 2 main roles. We work with Finn on the algorithms the stuffocator uses to translate an animal into a stuffed animal. Then we help describe the stuffed animal to our customers to help them make the difficult choice between all of the animals in our fantastic stuffed animal collection.” Jen explains.
“Sounds like a critical part of the operation.” V says taking in Jen’s explanation.
Jen replies, “I love it! I get to use all of my creativity and I’m one of the first people to see a freshly stuffocated animal…Cool huh?”
Just as V is agreeing with Jen, Finn walks into the room, “Great to see you back V! How was your little break? I know someone that’s hopping crazy to see you.”
“The break was great. Where’s Karl?” V asks.
“Let’s go find her.” says Finn as he heads down an aisle filled with stuffed animals on either side with V following.
Sponsored by: www.StuffedZoo.com
