The New Guys Always Work Overtime

By David Erik Nelson

Taylor thought he liked his job working in human resources for Just-in-Time Fabrication and Fulfillment. While their competitors kept costs down by outsourcing, Just-in-Time was "100% MADE IN AMERICA" and still competitively priced—because they brought in cheap labor using a time portal. Taylor was perfectly happy training these occasionally quaint temp workers—until he met the latest batch of New Guys.

• Language: English
• Publisher: David Erik Nelson
• Release date: Mar 27, 2014
• ISBN: 9781310996238

David Erik Nelson

David Erik Nelson is an award-winning science fiction and horror author. He lives in Ann Arbor, Michigan with his lovely wife, tolerable children, and aging dog. In addition to writing fiction about time travel, sex robots, haunted dogs, and carnivorous lights, he also writes non-fiction about hogs, guns, cyborg cockroaches, and Miss America. Find him online at www.davideriknelson.com

Book preview

Great bloody shites, one of Monday's New Guys muttered as he pushed through the curtain covering the portal. It's brighter than the Virgin's gleaming arsehole in here!

This was reassuring: Their English was modern enough that they wouldn't have trouble following orientation. And I needed the reassurance, 'cause Monday's New Guys looked pretty scruffy in their caps, vests, and button-up trousers. Their hands were especially bad, each fingernail tipped with a black little crescent of grime. We were gonna have to have the soap talk at the big tub sinks before even trying to hustle them into their disposable paper coveralls, booties, and little white caps. It was possible we'd need to talk some of the older guys into wearing the white latex gloves. I don't know why, but the gloves tended to freak out guys from before, like, 1920.

This was stuff I should have been explaining to Deke, but it was Deke's first day and he seemed sort of freaked out himself. There are a million little details to watch for, but the takeaway is this: We can't have ancient grit and crap floating around in the production room; if any particles wind up between the glass and the LCD, then those tablets can't go to market, and my team gets docked points—which Sharon's team will pick up, over in Quality Assurance. She'd bet me pizza-and-bowling that they'd come out ahead this month. I had no beef with buying Sharon beers and frames, but that would make her third month running, and she was getting cocky about it.

I drew a broad, natural smile across my face. Hey fellas! I called out, clapping my hands a few times; no one snapped to attention, but everyone quieted down and forced themselves to focus my way. Welcome to Just-in-Time Fabrication and Fulfillment! I'm Taylor, and I'm with Human Resources. This, I pointed to Deke, who was behind the New Guys, standing next to the curtain they'd just passed through as they emerged from the portal, which still cracked and popped with the heat of their arrival, is Deke; he's new to HR and basically just shadowing me. This appeared to mean nothing to any of them, including Deke, who was basically as wonder-struck as the New Guys.

"Anyway, my job is to give you a quick orientation and then get you over to the production floor so you can start working. I don't know what you were told by the recruiter on your side, but just to clarify: You'll be working a 12-hour shift today; that's eight hours of regular pay

Reviews for The New Guys Always Work Overtime

[aulsmith · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Naturally American industrialists would find a way to use time travel to make money. But do they really understand the technology? Some interesting twists along the way in the tale of a hapless HR person.