ACCIDENT

What's more disturbing was this new sensation I was feeling. Oh, shoot, I need to use the restroom. I need to pee. Mentally I'm scratching my head while being aware of all the layers I was wearing. It's gonna be troublesome removing everything first and donning everything again afterward.

My buddy and I continued to traverse the assembly line. I kept quiet but I can't help fidgeting. Oh my God, this is such a challenge. I could still hold it in!

No, I can't anymore.

"Joe, is there a restroom inside the assembly line?" I said helplessly. What a hassle.

"Yeah, we passed by it a while ago. It's near the entrance."

"I'll go to the restroom first," I said.

"Okay, I'll wait for you here."

I didn't have problems in reaching the restroom. The real problem was the shedding off the bunny suit. Apparently, I had to remove all, starting from the boots. There were hooks near the inside of the door to hang the clothes.

Huh. I sighed.

I heard someone laugh. "You're new here, aren't you? It's a struggle from the start but you'll get the hang of it." She laughed again. "After a few times, you'll even be able to wear it in a span of no more than a minute."

I only smiled and excused myself and proceeded towards the direction of the cubicles. Woah. A minute? Is it really possible or was she bluffing? Well, I could wait for a few more months to find it out for myself.

After I relieved myself I faced the inevitable battle. I sighed. I really hoped I get the hang of it. Such hassle, really. That was what I was thinking while gearing up again. I looked like a ninja. We all looked like ninjas. Or a medical practitioner in an area where there's a virus outbreak. We were completely covered from head to foot.

Oh, I forgot to mention, we also wore gloves. Anyway, it wasn't that important.

I noticed I was becoming more forgetful by the day. Perhaps it's the consequence of too much studying before? Nah...

When I rejoined Joe, we continued our tour. "This is the kitting area. This is where you get the materials that you will need. If it's not here most probably it's in warehouse or cold storage yet. We'll go there afterward."

I only nodded once in a while. I was trying to memorize the location of each station. I hoped at that moment that I wouldn't get lost when I'm left alone to fend for myself. It was like a maze inside the assembly line. The rectangular machinery had lots of units that were identical and were lined beside each other in columns and rows. The windows were designed the same - as were the doors. There were yellow, blue, and red lines along the long and winding whitewashed corridors. To top it all, all human beings present wore the same white with big green checkered-patterned hooded overalls and boots. It was as if I was in another world. I was in utter bewilderment.

"Hey... Focus!" Joe said to me when he caught me staring at my new environment. Apparently, the work wasn't that easy either. The company spent such a fortune on all these props. I could only guess that the expectations of each employee are high. Maybe high is even such an understatement.

Joe and I went out of the assembly line. Consequently, we removed our bunny suits and boots (and gloves) as well. We were back to wearing our own casual clothes. Our individuality was back. The only remaining uniform in us was the special shoes, and the lanyard slung along our necks, which carried our identification cards, and locker keys. The lanyard was quite the most important accessory in the plant. The company did well in making it so. It was because we needed the ID to enter the premises. It recorded our time in and out once we swiped it. We could stop the company's shuttle buses just by waving it. It was also our meal ticket during mealtimes, regardless if it's breakfast, lunch, or dinner. It was like an atm machine with a balance every month, and it's up to the employee how to budget the monthly allocation for meals. Just like in the time in and out, we only needed to swipe the ID to pay for our meals.

I was thinking about the wonders of the ID while we were climbing down the stairs towards the basement. Sometimes, admittedly, I could be absent-minded. Just like now.

The warehouse and the cold storage were located in the basement. Sounds logical since the two were also connected to the gates, and to the outside world where trucks dismount their cargoes. It was this place where the newly delivered raw materials were received.

There was nothing much to see in the warehouse. It was the usual stock room. However, cold storage was different. Before going in, we were instructed to change shoes again. There were special shoes again for the cold storage. They also lent us this super big and heavy hooded coat.

Actually, the shoes that they lent me were also bigger than my size. But that's fine. There weren't lots of sizes since the visits usually only took a short while for the company to even invest in the wardrobe.

Joe pressed a button along the sides of this wall, and then the wall ascended towards the roof. It wasn't a wall, rather a door.

We stepped in. He explained this and that for a while. I wasn't really listening. I was studying my surroundings. The cold air on my face as I moved inside the storage was quite refreshing. I turned around slowly and observed every corner in that cold storage.

And then...

I saw the automatic door go down. I panicked. I didn't know what was happening. All I know was that I didn't want to get trapped inside the cold storage.

And so I ran towards the closing door and slid myself onto the slit that soon closed, and touched the ground.

It was quite the adrenaline rush. I was palpitating and my heart was drumming so loudly. At least I'm on the outside of the cold storage.

That's when I realized, Joe wasn't with me.