Aria imagined her retirement filled with romantic getaways, fine dining and hiking along the local trails. She and Jose planned a move, San Myshuno with its penthouse apartments, easy access to the theatres, but with him and her second love deceased, the future looked empty. The growing demands of her clients tired her, leaving her unable to complete her workouts. Stepping aside, she handed the work to a younger colleague, offering instead to manage the accounts. Watching her children embark on their career, lives independent of her, had she become a spare part, an extra in life’s show?
Jump starting her career in the field of technology, Ziva took advantage of her contacts to secure a position. Her interest and ability in computer programming impressed the management team, unfortunately, this position was with the games department, a skill Ziva lacked. Rylan’s assistance had strings attached, a favour he would call upon when it suited, making Ziva occasionally regret spending all that time studying rather than wasting her teenage years on those same games.
Acquainting herself with current and rival games was the least of her problems. Having a head for numbers and being the sole girl on the team saw her pushed towards the finance part of the team. She argued her case, determined she could be every bit as good as her male counterparts when it came to programming. Gaining recognition meant doing jobs the main team refused, for now, she followed the project expenses through the company. It posed a dilemma, what should she do regarding her most recent discovery; small amounts of money disappeared from larger projects in the department, allegedly done to support smaller side projects. However, things were failing to add up, meaning she was unable to decipher if this was an individual theft or going to one of the companies many other hidden projects. While her moral compass told her to take the problem to the appropriate people, she became concerned that being new in employment this possible exposure may yield unfavourable results. For the time being she dismissed her findings, surprised and perturbed by her supervisor’s sudden happiness and her glowing performance review. Ziva took another look, the supervisor claimed for items that failed to appear in the office, but with no solid proof, Ziva guessed that it was going his own pocket and she regretted her decision.
The money she earned supported the upkeep on the house and her rocket currently taking up a large portion of their garden. Her focus on reaching the stars consumed her free time, collecting metal from the scrapyard, up-cycling other items to develop the rocket. Staring at the rocket, Ziva pined for the days when she sat on her dad’s toolbox, learning the basic skills, the nuts, bolts and piping that held their bathroom together, she smiled, her teenage years had been building her computer, acquainting herself with electrical items thanks to a neighbour. Standing in the garden with a welding torch in hand, she had the guys at the scrapyard to thank, each skill bringing her dream one step closer. The pops, bangs and Ziva’s welding worried Aria, she cringed with every sound. Ziva felt her hobby was a release for the growing tensions at work.
Since her review, her supervisor had increased her workload asking her to perform duties outside her role. He asked Ziva to deal with difficult employees, give project feedback, on top of her day-to-day work commitments. Fresh from school with no real management experience, Ziva was tentative when approaching these situations. Rather than a confrontation, she enquired what problems the project was facing, she praised the team ideas, offered constructive criticism and brainstormed with them. This positive approach and review ensured she climbed the career ladder, leaving some colleagues disgruntled, their rudeness and dismissive attitudes built inside Ziva, releasing itself in a furious bang and the creation of the rocket.
By the Grace of Sim Gods 