Irinei Castel walked up to the front door of the office and rapped lightly on the glass with one knuckle. As he waited for a response, he glanced around a little, and idly wondered if the translucent glass window was frosted, or just dirty - by the multitude of fingerprints, it looked as though either or both were likely.

... The corners of his mouth drew down in a frown, and he wiped his finger on his pants.

Still, he hoped this interview would go well. The money he had would only stretch for another four months' rent in his flat, and that was only if he did not want more than one meal a day. He was already considering taking the government food handouts, though thus far, his Castel pride had kept him at home listening to his stomach grumble rather than in the lines with those folks who had already given up on finding work.

Because really, with all the recent changes, one would think that there had to be a job for an electrician somewhere. Irinei, like everyone else, had seen the star ships streaking across the sky for several years now - it was no secret that off-worlders had picked up the Earthlings' radio broadcasts and come to investigate years ago. It just seemed to be slow going, setting up hiring systems for government fliers and military starship surveillance and so on.

Irinei just found it difficult to appreciate the government's thoroughness.

But fortunately, there seemed to be enough private fliers cropping up in the last several months. Ever since the electrician and tinkerer had started seeing private companies' ads in the papers, he had scoured them every day like a hawk looking for a request for his particular skills.

He had already been through several interviews, but with any luck, this would be the one. This would be it, or Irinei would be in line at the end of the week at the place on the corner, waiting like a schoolboy for his government-standard slices of bread.

"Yeah, 's open."

Edwin Torrio didn't even bother to attempt to sound polite at his half-shout in reply to the knock on his office door. The man was more interested in the crisply unfolded piece of paper clutched in his hand, brown fedora tipped back as the tall Earth man leaned back in his chair, scanning the document with a curious intensity. The office he had claimed as his own was a small one, the cheap but sizable desk taking up most of the space and the tall bookcases that lined the side wall leaving just barely enough room for several chairs around the desk (the largest and most comfortable being his, of course), and barely enough room to maneuver within the office.

The lights to the place seemed to be non-functioning, leaving the tiny space to be lit entirely by the grace of the lone window, positioned at Edwin's back. What little it illuminated didn't make much of an impression- the office was a horribly unsorted mess, with stacks of papers and the newfound and increasingly data reel technologies lying in a haphazard mess along the desk and book shelves. Obviously Edwin was not much for a tidy image.

The dark-haired man didn't even so much as glance up or over at the figure who entered, waving vaguely at one of the two cheap chairs on the opposite side of the desk. "Have a seat." No refreshments were offered, though from the look of the place Edwin didn't have space for even a bottle of whiskey. Several more moments passed almost awkwardly as the man skimmed over the paper, before slipping it down and actually focusing on the stranger who had entered his office. He blinked once, the look on his face indicating that this was not the sort of person he was expecting. This cause him to clear his throat and move to straighten his tie, only remembering that he'd removed it as soon as he had entered the office. Dropping his hand, Edwin straightened to look almost professional from his side of the desk.

"Can I help ya?"

The reply from within was a somewhat unexpected one, and Irinei hesitated before opening the door. It felt awkward, letting himself in-

-- The tinkerer snapped his mouth shut, biting back a curse, as his first step into the office fell on an old newspaper, and slid about six inches, causing him to stumble. He attempted to pass this off as quietly as possible when he observed with a shred of relief that the man behind the desk had not taken his eyes off of the current newspaper, and shut the door behind himself before making his way (carefully!) to one of the chairs the gentleman had indicated.

As he sat, Irinei swept his hat off, then took a deep breath and let it out before speaking.

"My name's Irinei castel, and I saw your ad in the papers, looking for a starship wirewatcher?" he began. "I- I've never been in one of the starships before, but I do know a think or two about electricity and keeping lights lit and machines running. I worked at the Wired Wonder Workers until they went under last year, and then I spent a few months at Coffer and Sons Tele-Phone Repair, too, before they went belly-up, too."

The electrician abruptly realized he was crushing the brim of his hat in a white-knuckled grip, and tried to force himself to relax. The boss at Wired Wonder Workers had complimented him on how his introversion made him a focused worker, but since he was no longer working wired wonders, but instead trying to talk his way into a new job, Irinei was reminded that it was still a handicap no matter what anyone told him.

...Oh. Oh, right. he had put an advertisement out for a technician, hadn't he? Edwin had nearly forgotten that little fact. He was going to have to kill Mikey next time he saw the weaselly bastard. Skipping out on him over a big job for some two bit dame. Pah!

Maybe just to get revenge he'd keep this guy around if he performed well. Tilting back in his chair once more, Edwin took the chance to peer over and study... What was his name? Castel? Weird first name too- certainly nothing he'd heard before. The man looked utterly nervous from where he sat, hat crushed in a death grip as he listed off past work experiences. Good companies, both of them. Not good enough to outlast the Depression, though. It was hitting Earth hard these days. On the flip side it made no major dent on the illicit activity markets, and since that was where Edwin had a major hand... Well...

"Never been in a starship before, huh?" he almost echoed once the other had finished, frowning slightly. On-ship experience was preferred, as this latest undertaking of his was- "I'm not gonna lie. What I need you for is gonna be a risky venture. You good at stress and pressure and, uh, fast decisions?"

He conveniently left out the matter that this was going to involve some heavy mafia dealings, most likely. Guy seemed too straight and on the narrow for reacting well to that kind of stuff. Besides! He was going t o be the wirewatcher; talking was and always had been Edwin's job. Just keep him back and under the hood, right?

"Gun handlin' is preferred too, though not required." Hey, things sometimes got pretty hairy out there. He'd like to have someone watch his back if it came to that. If not... guns were easy enough to learn, he had found out. Point and click. Point and click. Pow pow pow. Just like on the movies about the old frontier.

"Still interested?"

"Stress and pressure?" Irinei had had all sorts of deadlines, and many of the larger machines carried enough current in them to kill a man who was not careful. "Yes, I can handle it," he replied. As long as it was not stress and pressure and fast decisions involving talking to people.

As for it being a risky venture, well ... what wasn't these days? And Irinei had to admit that he listened to his radio all the time at home, taking in the tales of the people who had been on starships before, and, for all that he knew he was a vanilla, straight-laced, high-strung, ordinary nobody, the allure of the unknown brought out a boyish curiosity he had forgotten he possessed.

"I learned to fire a gun when I was a boy," he added, his thoughts returning from the stars to the interview at hand. "Don't have the money for a new model, but if it works like an old one, then I think I can remember how to shoot it...." He trailed off a little, not wondering until the end of the sentence why a gun might be handy when dealing with wires and circuits.

"But," he took another deep breath after a moment. "I am still interested, if you still think I sound like the man you're looking for."

Outer space and radio-story adventure? Or moving out of his apartment in favor of a tent somewhere? Irinei hoped for option number one, even as his far more subdued and decidedly adult side grew more and more nervous.

Edwin's features moved to do passable imitation of scowling thoughtfulness, though really he was pretty much ready to hire the guy as soon as he mentioned as he was replying to the advertisement he had sent out in all the local newspapers. The questions were really superfluous fluff, asked just to be extra sure that this wasn't someone who was going to crack on him in a pinch.

Hey, he wasn't kidding when he said it was risky.

After a few moments of trying to look as if he were in some deep impressive bout of decision-making, Edwin nodded. "All right. Consider yourself hired, Mistah Castel." His face splitting into a broad smile, Edwin leaned forward and offered a hand for shaking. Good-natured deal-sealing and such. "Name's Edwin Torrio, owner of the Lady Metropolis and head of this little excursion."

He allowed the info to register a moment before continuing. "If things go well and we turn a profit, the paying rate is half of whatever profit we get. This venture is looking to earn us a good reward, so I got high hopes for this one." If things didn't go well... did Edwin have to explain that? Best of the worst, they'd just be back at square one. Hopefully things wouldn't turn out worse than that, if it came to a less-than-desirable end.

Withdrawing his hand, Edwin peered curiously at the newfound compatriot. "Any questions for the time being?"

Irinei watched the man across the desk as he considered his credentials, and did his level best not to fidget. After a moment, he let his eyes focus past the man on the view out the slightly dirty window. A few cars sputtered past on the street outside, moving slowly with all the pedestrians and folks on bikes, while an otherworlder's floating car, much more curvy and polished than the ones the humans built, sped by above them all, unimpeded.

A risky venture, but a job nonetheless. The thought of being even in just one of those floating cars was a bit disconcerting (What made them float? How could you be in something without wings that did not touch the ground?), and a starship was an even grander idea still. Although some part of Irinei was still too boyishly excited by the idea of leaving Earth to even really quite care how, precisely, this job would be risky. If it was just the being-in-a-starship part, or if there was something more to it....

He almost jumped a little as the other man hired him on the spot and proceeded to introduce himself as Edwin Torrio. The blonde man gave a vaguely nervous grin in reply, and half-rose from his seat to nod at the introduction and shake Edwin's hand firmly.

The straight-laced part of Irinei (which, admittedly, occupied a considerable part of the man's makeup) nagged that this was a bad idea and that he was likely getting himself involved in some crime or somesuch, and worst of all in space, where no one could hear him scream....

but Hell, a starship wirewatcher? Ten minutes ago, he would have been ready to jump on an offer to take nickels and dimes to wash dishes or something. Irinei probably needed the excitement in his life.

His employer inquired if he had any questions and, after rubbing his upper lip with one slightly quivering finger, Irinei folded his hands and asked with a bit of shyness, "... May I see the ship?" Then hastily added, "So I can get started on familiarizing myself with the circuits and wires and such. Never seen one before, but I know how the circuits and conductors work. It'll be like, ah, living in New York and getting a job all of a sudden as a cabbie in Chicago. Know how to drive, just have to learn the road maps."