Title:           Mistakes Happen - Chapter 1
Author:          TheSilentLurker
Pastebin link:   http://pastebin.com/1tLThLGg
First Edit:      Wednesday 13th of March 2013 04:36:44 PM CDT
Last Edit:       Wednesday 13th of March 2013 04:36:44 PM CDT

You rise from your bed, the urge to escape the sun’s rays overpowering your need for sleep. You really shouldn’t have stayed up so late, browsing the internet and chatting away on irc. But that was yesterday, and today is as good a day as any to get your shit together. That’s what you tell yourself every day. You are Anonymous, and today is the first day of the rest of your life.
 
You curse the American education system for sucking you dry, leaving you with tons of debt and no proper education to speak of. “No child left behind, my ass!” you yell, as you slam your fist on the table, causing your glass of orange juice to fall off and shatter on impact.
 
Just great, as if crippling debt and a minimum wage job weren’t bad enough, now your orange juice is gone, soaked into the only carpet you liked. “It was an ugly carpet, anyway, fuck it!” you try to reassure yourself, but you know – just as well as anyone else – that you’re slowly but surely spiralling into depression. If this keeps up, you’re sure to crack sometime soon, and you pray to God you don’t do anything stupid when you do so.
 
You somehow manage to abandon this train of thought, instead focusing on the job interview you will be doing today. Yes, today is going to be the day you finally get a job, get some money, pay off your debts, and get your shit together! Today is the day, Anonymous! You look at time, and don’t like what you see. “Oh bloody hell, I’m going to be late!”
 
You barely manage to put on the suit you’re borrowing from a friend – bless Jake’s soul - and start to sprint. “How the hell did I forget? Stupid, stupid Anon! Now I’m never going to get that job!” Your legs are threatening to give out and your lungs feel like they’re on fire, but a sudden burst of determination causes you to push your limits and ignore the warnings your body just gave you. There’s no way you’re letting this job go, not after Jake finally managed to get you a job interview!
 
The next thing you remember is standing in front of a building, the offices of GeneTech, to be precise. You don’t think too much of the lack of memory, though, you’ve spaced out like this before, it’s no big deal. You straighten your tie before going inside, trying to look as confident as possible.
 
You swagger up to the receptionist, a determined look on your face “Good morning, you must be the receptionist! Would you mind telling me where a man can apply for a job, here?”
 
You can’t help but look offended as she snorts “A job? What, you believe in the tooth fairy, too? This is a recession, boy! I’m not going to stop you from trying, but don’t come crying when the boss throws you out on the street, yeah?”
 
You frown and wait for her to point you in the right direction. When she finally remembers she hasn’t answered your question yet, she sighs and points to the hallway “Fourth door on the left, knock once, wait for Mr. Blue to open the door and whatever you do, don’t make eye contact.”
 
You steel yourself as you hear her say those words, taking every point of advice and making sure not to forget a single thing. This Mr. Blue has to be a big deal if you aren’t even allowed to make eye contact!
You make your way up to the fourth door, every step you take feels like an eternity.
 
Your heart is just about ready to explode, your eyes darting from one wall to the other. You whisper to yourself “Alright Anon, you can do this. Stay polite, be efficient, don’t make eye contact, you’re not screwing this one up. Not today.”
 
You take a deep breath, knock at the door and shift your gaze towards the ground, determined not to make eye contact. This turns out to be a bad idea, as the man who opens the door is by far the smallest person you’ve ever seen. Standing at a mere five feet, you end up looking him straight in the eyes. Stunned by this unexpected development, it takes you a few seconds to snap out of it and break eye contact. You manage to stammer out a quick apology and wait for the man to say something.
 
“What’s wrong, boy? You look like you’ve seen a ghost! Haha!” he shouts, not controlling his voice in any way, seemingly unaffected by the awkward moment. He pauses for a bit and chuckles “Let me guess, Penny did her thing and told you not to make eye contact and all that, am I correct?”
 
You nod your head “Y-yes sir, I’m sorry, I didn’t expect you to be so small...” You mentally slap yourself and try not to break into tears. “I’m sorry, sir, I didn’t mean to say that, it just slipped out! I just really don’t want to lose this opportunity, as I have no job and no future if I don’t get a job soon!”
 
The man smiles and gestures for you to calm down “Don’t worry, boy, this happens rather often, believe me. Oh, and don’t worry about what Penny said, she’s just doing her job.”
 
He closes his eyes and takes a deep breath “But where are my manners? I haven’t even introduced myself! My name is Mr. Blue, James Blue, CEO of GeneTech, but I’m sure you already knew that.”
 
You shake his hand and introduce yourself “A-Anon, Anon Y. Mous,s- sir,” while trying to keep your composure. You don’t know whether to laugh or cry, a myriad of emotions washing over you. You know for sure that you just blew you chances,you just insulted the CEO, for goodness’ sake! You briefly consider walking away right here, right now, but if you don’t try, you’ll never know for sure.
 
You look at the room as Mr. Blue sits down in his chair, which is raised somewhat to compensate for his height. Your eyes get drawn to the rug on the floor, and you can’t help but comment on it, taking any opportunity to break the awkward silence. “Nice rug, it really ties the room together, Mr Blue.”
 
He chuckles and motions for you to take a seat “Thank you, please, take a seat.”
 
You sit down in a comfy, leather chair and are instantly overwhelmed by a feeling of dread, if you don’t get this job, your life might as well be over! You open your mouth to speak, but no words come out. You start to sweat as an awkward silence once again permeates the room. You’re not a religious person, but you silently thank the powers that be as Mr. Blue starts to speak.
 
“I read your application, Anon. I can call you Anon, right?” You nod, and Mr. Blue continues “I’ll be blunt, Anon, I honestly don’t see why we would hire you over anyone else. You don’t have any experience in the fields of Genetic manipulation or Nanobot technology, and you don’t have any qualifications that separate you from the rest of  the applicants. Is there any reason why we would hire you over an experienced engineer?”
 
You close your eyes, hiding the tears that are welling up in your eyes. Your voice cracks, and you feel as if your life is over. “I-I don’t know, sir. Honestly, I know I’m a deadbeat, good-for-nothing piece of manure, but I promise that, if you hire me, I’ll do anything you ask of me without question. I just can’t afford to lose out on this job, Mr. Blue. If I don’t get a job, my life is over! I’ll do anything to survive, Mr. Blue, anything!”
 
The man on whose shoulders your fate now rests gives you a dark, brooding look. “Anything, you say? I may have something for you, but it would mean breaking off contact with every single person you know, possibly never seeing them again. And even if you ever saw any of them again, you wouldn’t recognize them. If you decide to take the job, we will make sure you’ll never feel hunger or become homeless for the rest of your life, and whatever happens, you will be taken care of by people who care about you. Feel free to take as much time as you want to think this over, I understand that this is  a bit overwhelming.”
 
What you do next takes Mr. Blue completely by surprise. You don’t waste a single moment and look him straight in the eye with a fierce determination. “I’ll take the job. Jake told me that GeneTech had the job for me, and I believe him!”
 
This time, the tables are turned, Mr. Blue opens his mouth to speak, but can’t quite find the right words to express what he’s feeling. For the first time in weeks, you feel like you have the upper hand. “Mr. Blue, when I told you my life might as well be over if I don’t get this job, I wasn’t exaggerating. I have no job, no income, and all but one of my friends – my good pal Jake – have abandoned me or have more important things to do in their lives. I have nothing to look forward to when I get home, nobody to comfort me and tell me it’s going to be alright when things are bad. I don’t even have enough money to eat thrice a day, for Celestia’s sake!”
 
You slap your forehead when you realize what you just said, you made a reference to a bloody cartoon horse in the most important job interview of your life, for goodness’ sake! Your lip trembles and you get out of your chair, just about ready to turn around and walk away, when you hear Mr. Blue chuckling “Celestia, you say? Jake wasn’t lying when he said you’d love the job.”
 
You freeze. This man, this CEO of one of the largest companies in America, knows about Celestia? And he considers this a good thing? How could that be? These are questions you need to know the answer to, and the only way you’re going to get those answers is by staying here.
 
It takes you all of your willpower to slowly turn around and sit back down in the chair, facing Mr. Blue “H-how...how? How is me watching my little pony a good thing? I don’t understand.”
 
Your heart starts beating faster as you hear a click, did he just lock the door? Oh no, what is he going to do to you?! “M-Mr. Blue?”
 
He laughs again, in that particular way only he can “Please, call me James! No need for formalities under us pony fans, right?”
 
Your jaw threatens to dislocate and drop to the floor. No way, Mr. Blue – no, James – is a brony, too? But how in the hell did a grown man like him stumble acro-
Your mind takes some time to realize how dumb that train of thought was. He probably stumbled upon it on Reddit, 4chan, or any website where you socialize with others, just like you did.
 
During this little brain-freeze, James Blue, CEO of GeneTech, fourth wealthiest man on this side of the equator and little person, apparently started talking to you again.
 
“So I obviously wanted to know more about this strange new show, and that’s when my brother told me about 4chan! You ever been to 4chan, Anon?”
 
At the mention of 4chan, your mind snaps back to reality “I have, sir, I mean...I have, James.” You get a strange feeling in your chest, a comforting feeling you haven’t felt in years, could this be...hope?
 
James’ face suddenly becomes very stoic again “There’s a catch though, Anon. I can only give you more information about this...job...if I can make absolutely sure you’re not going to tell anyone who isn’t part of the team. The only ways I can do this are to either get you in the science and nanotech department, or if you become an associate worker for the project. And I don’t think that first one is an option.”
 
A small sliver of doubt still lingers in your mind, but you don’t have much choice if you want to live. Besides, you don’t think a man like James has it in him to do terrible things to you, he just doesn’t seem like the type to do so.
 
“Fine, I’ll work as an associate worker in your project. I guess I’ll just call Jake to say I took your offer, and that I won’t be seeing him anytime soon, okay? I owe him at least that much!”
 
The small, classy gentleman before you straightens his tie and gives you the most genuine smile you’ve ever had the pleasure of seeing “My boy, Jake is the project leader on the nanobot department, didn’t he tell you? You’ll be seeing plenty of him, oh yes!”
 
You never thought that one day, you’d be hugging a midget in a suit for giving you a job, but here you are, doing exactly that! “Thank you Mr. Blue, you’re a godsend! I promise I’ll do everything I can to help out in this project!”
 
The object of your affection lets out a boisterous laugh “Whoa, calm down, buddy! We still need to get the paperwork in order, and we still need to add you to the worker’s database! While waiting for that last one, why don’t we get to know each other a bit better, as pony fans?”
 
You can’t believe this is happening, but soon enough, you’re talking about the show, the fandom, and everything related to it. Half an hour later, Mr. Blue asks the one question you really didn’t want to hear.
“So, Anon, what do you think about...Original Characters? You ever make one yourself?”
 
You give James a wry smile and sigh “I have...but it’s a long story.”