Technical Advances (New Day Sparks #1)

Chapter 1

BENJI

Holy shit. Holy fucking shit repeated like a mantra in my brain.

I should have been nervous, anticipating questions and rehearsing answers while I awaited my interview, but as I sat in the surprisingly low-key front office of the human resources department at New Day Technologies, all I could think was holy shit. Holy fucking shit.

I had earned my doctorate in robotics and automation after completing my dissertation a few weeks earlier, and I had started applying for positions before that, sending out over a dozen resumes.

But the only one I really cared about, the only one I wanted to get noticed, was the one I’d sent to New Day Technologies.

My graduation ceremony had still been a few weeks away when I’d received an email about setting up an interview.

Maybe it was the kind-looking receptionist at the desk across from me who’d sent it.

I smiled her way before my head swiveled around the room, taking in the wood-paneled walls as my fingers tapped out a pattern on my thigh.

Holy fucking shit.

I tried to distract myself, remembering the conversation I’d had with my dad the day I’d scheduled the interview.

“Hey, kiddo. I just booked my flight for your graduation! Can’t wait to see you.”

“Yeah, Dad, me too.” We discussed flight times and logistics, arguing again about whether Dad was going to stay with me or in a hotel. He won that one, insisting that he wasn’t going to have me sleep on the couch on graduation day, and that he would be perfectly fine by himself at a hotel.

“How’s the job search going? Do you think you’ll have one lined up before graduation? Because if you don’t, you know you can always come home even if it’s just for the summer, to regroup, or save money, or whatever.”

Dad’s voice trailed off. He’d lived alone since I’d started college, and part of me really wished my life would take me back to Arizona, so he wouldn’t be by himself. But I knew where I wanted to work, and New Day Tech most certainly did not have an office in my hometown.

Dad may have been alone and anxious about both of our futures, but I knew he only wanted the best for me. I wanted the best for him, too, and maybe, without worrying about me constantly, he’d be able to find something, or even someone, new to occupy his time.

I kept telling myself that staying in Boston, or moving to New York or Silicon Valley, could be a positive move for both of us.

Any of those cities would give me a decent shot at finding a job in my field, but the truth was I wanted to stay right where I was, in Boston, the international home of New Day Technologies.

“I’ve sent out a bunch of resumes, Dad, but the dream would be New Day Tech.

And they’ve already called me for an interview!

They’re doing some amazing work. Anson Day got his doctorate at MIT just like me, which maybe gives me a leg up, but he’s built such a successful company that I can’t imagine he’s personally paying attention to entry level … ”

“Did you say Anson Day?” my dad interrupted.

“Yeah, Dad, Anson Day. You know, the leader in robotics and mechanical tech? Oh, and the leader in non-mechanical tech. I heard New Day is buying a British software company that’s working on ethical AI, with a focus on medical research!

And rumor has it, New Day is working on advanced synthetics, which means a project like my dissertation would be the perfect match for them!

“I don’t know for sure that they’re working on a project similar to mine.

I mean, I could see something like that being kept super top secret, but one of my professors said he really thought I would be a good fit for New Day.

I may be reading between the lines, but, hell, even if I’m just writing code for their automated vending machines or the software that British company is working on, I’d be thrilled to work at New Day. ”

“Oh, wait! Is New Day Tech the company that makes those fancy vending machines?”

“Yeah, Dad.” I chuckled. “The ones you always say are creepy and futuristic. They have them at Flagstaff Airport, so don’t get too freaked out when you pass by one. Every time I fly home, I want to take one apart to check it out! They’re so cool.

“That means you do know about New Day? So you must know about the owner, Anson Day, right, Dad? He’s pretty famous in the tech world and …”

I stopped myself from mentioning that I’d had a picture of Anson Day as the background on my computer when I was a kid, and that Anson Day was one of the few out gay tech moguls. Instead, I admitted, “I’ve been a pretty big fan of his since, like … well, for a long time.”

“Anson Day!” my dad sounded astounded. “And you say you’ve known who this guy is since you were a kid?”

“Yeah, Dad, he …”

“Anson Day?” he said again before I could continue, disbelief shrouding his voice.

“Yes!” I was excited to share more about New Day with my dad, so I blurted out what I said next before I could stop myself.

“He started his company about twenty years ago, but I was about twelve when he first broke through with his revolutionary medical mechanical arm, so around …” Shit. I was usually more careful when bringing up that period in our lives, for both of our sakes.

“Oh, um, yeah, that would have been right around when …” I sighed, my voice wavering. “Sorry, Dad.”

“Don’t be sorry, son. That would have been right around when your mom died.”

“Yeah, Dad. It was right around then,” I said softly, and we both went quiet. I could picture Dad, that sad, faraway look in his eyes. I tried to fight back the tears in my own.

“Ahh, I apologize, kiddo, but I don’t remember hearing about him back then, either from you or on the news or whatever. I would have …” he began but trailed off as if he was genuinely trying to recall something. Instead, he let out a defeated sigh.

“I guess I was a little out of it back then,” he continued. “I know you remember that.” His voice carried an apology I’d hoped Dad and I had long since outgrown. Those years had been hard, but we’d made it through. I tried to nudge the conversation back toward something more positive.

“And now I’m interviewing at New Day Tech!”

Dad heaved a heavy sigh. I could have kicked myself for bringing his mood down. He’d been so excited about his trip. I literally tapped my calf with my other foot and opened my mouth to tell him more about the company. But he got there first, taking the conversation in a surprising direction.

“Anyway, I think I would have remembered you talking about Anson Day, or if I saw his picture or whatever back then because …”

I had kept that picture private at the time. Kicking myself again, I interrupted him.

“So, yeah, Anson Day. I get why you didn’t know about him when I was a kid, but you said his name like it sounded familiar, so you have heard of him, right?

I mean, you know about New Day Technologies.

His work is so innovative and noteworthy that even a general contractor in the middle of Arizona has heard of the famous Anson Day, right? ”

“Well, actually, no, that’s not it. I mean, yeah, I’ve heard of New Day Technologies, their logo is on those vending machines at the airport, after all!

But the thing is, kiddo, that I went to middle school with an Anson Day.

Quiet, shy type. We were in the same grade.

But he moved away after a few years. Our freshman year, I think, maybe?

“Anyway, you know the yellow house a few doors down from us? On the cul-de-sac? The one where … Anyway, he grew up there, or, well, he and his family lived there for a bit. I would walk down the block with him off the bus, and sometimes we would hang out back by the creek.

“They didn’t live there for long, and we never hung out together at school. If I recall, he mostly kept to himself when we were there. His head was always in a book, or I think he spent a lot of time in the computer lab. I don’t think he had many friends.”

“And you were the popular captain of the football team dating the equally popular head cheerleader,” I said distractedly, repeating the family lore I’d heard over the years, having grown up in the same small town where my parents had had a vastly different experience growing up than their nerdy son.

Was it possible that the Anson Day had attended that school as well?

Had my parents gone to school with Anson Day?

Holy shit. Holy fucking shit. I put my dad on speaker, and my fingers flew over my phone as I tried to search for proof that Dad’s errant friend was … Holy fucking shit.

There it was, a throwaway line in an article from a few years back. Day’s family spent some time in Arizona before the teenaged phenom was accepted, at the age of fourteen, into the Robotics Engineering program at Hampstead University.

I’d been fully aware that Anson Day had started college at fourteen; it was something I thought about often as I somewhat impatiently sat through advanced math and science classes that were way below my own skill level, back when I was in high school.

But had he really moved to Hampstead Valley from the yellow house down the block?

That house never had happy memories for me as it housed a family with a kid my age while I was growing up as well.

But not a kid I ever played with off the bus.

I had avoided Elliot like a healthy cell dodges a viral vector.

Holy fucking shit.