Part 2: The First Mission

008 arrived in Zurich late in the evening. She made her way from the airport through the bitter cold of December to her hotel in the middle of town, just near the river. She checked in with an alias.
"Your name please madame?" said the man at the front desk, looking bored.
"Alice Green" she replied.
He handed her the card key to her room and she made her way to the elevator. When she was finally inside her room, she dropped her luggage at the foot of her bed and peeled off her cold wet clothes, which had received a dusting of snow on the way in. She opened her handbag and rummaged around for her PDA and a a small black velvet sinch sack, which any other lady would have used as a change purse. She set her PDA on the bed and dumped the contents of the black sack out next to it. There were about a dozen little plastic chips of various colors. Sifting through them, she found the black and orange one, which was a Swiss sim card. She replaced the others and proceded to insert the the little card into her PDA.
The first thing she did was to check her email, and at the top of the list was a frantic message from her mother regarding a certain lamp in her hallway. She laughed and typed a quick response:
"Mother,
You're terribly gullible!
Love, me"
She filtered through some junk mail and messages from the organization. Her mission in Switzerland would be to study and report back on foreign policy strategy and the secretive financial system. The information would be used as a model in the effort to bring America back to a fully free-market capital system, starting with the banking and financial sectors, and to regain a neutral standing in its international relations. Her contacts in the organization had pull in Washington and would try to use their status to fight the recent uprising of various special interest groups that were creating excessive beauraucracy, draining the economy and choking out freedoms in the interest of "security" and "social welfare".
Exhausted from her flight, she resigned to the weight of her eyelids, undressed, and crawled into bed.

My story, Part 1: How It All Began

Once upon a time, there was a beautiful, intelligent young woman. In the interest of protecting her identity, we'll call her 008. 008 spent several years as an apprentice of the greatest minds in the world. When she finally graduated from her apprenticeship, it was time to embark upon some secret missions, primarily focused on protecting the world from corruption and the removal of society's ability to use reason and intellect. Her job was to eliminate the conspirators who used cult leader-inspired antics to control masses of people and remove their ability to think for themselves.

Naturally, her family became curious about what she would do with her life, but she had to focus on preparing herself mentally and physically for her first mission. As they began asking questions about her career objectives, she knew she would have to craft some sort of guise to protect her identity and the nature of her missions.

"I'm going to work in Europe for a newspaper." She told them. "I'll be interviewing CEOs and selling advertising space. It's a great assignment for a leading publication!"

Her family was skeptical. "Which newspaper?" they asked.

"It's published in Asia. They need native English speakers to conduct the interviews." She explained with confidence.

"Are you sure you're not going to work for the CIA or FBI?" Her mother asked, half jokingly.

"Of course I'm sure. Don't be ridiculous."

"Well if you are," her mother stated more seriously, "just move the lamp in the hall to the other end of the table when you leave. I know you can't tell me, but I have to know."

008 laughed easily and went upstairs to pack for her first mission. "I'm leaving first thing in the morning." She called down the stairs behind her. "I'll call you when I'm settled in Oslo."

She hid a revolver among her socks and underwear and packed a pair of motorcycle boots and leather pants. The rest of her gear was more inconspicuous, as she would have to blend into large groups to penetrate the premise of her targets.

She went to sleep and rose before the sun the next morning. Her family was still asleep and would be for another couple of hours. She zipped up her suitcase and lifted the handle to drag it downstairs. As she approached the door, she saw the classic black 1980s BMW parked across the street. Her ride had arrived to take her to a private jet. She set her suitcase next to the door and walked back down the hall to the table. With a smirk, she lifted the lamp and moved it to the other end of the table before turning to collect her bags and slip out into the pre-dawn morning.

Progress and Restlessness

I had a job interview yesterday and another today. Both are for sales jobs, which is good for my competitive nature but perhaps not so great in a sinking economy. Both are paid commissions only, which means if I can't sell one month, I can't pay my rent. Hmm.... not so cool. What is cool is that one of them also offers a company car, crackberry and laptop. Oh to be a high roller once more! Fingers crossed on the next phase of the interview. In the mean time, I'm still looking. My resume is pretty killer, but so is the economy, so it's an intense match! Who will come out on top? Will it be the International Lady of Mystery, with her unparalleled powers of seduction and intellect? Or the American Recession, with its fat government-business bailouts and tumbling stock market? Could be almost as exciting as the Del la Hoya Pacquiao! Well I'll give you a little preview on the winner of this match-up; It's gonna have to be me! Why? Because at the moment, I have my eye on a flight to Central America, where my uncle owns some property. I'm dying for an opportunity to practice my Spanish in a culturally relevant situation again. What do I mean by culturally relevant? I mean sexy, sandy beaches in weather that will make me wonder what the hell I'm doing in Boston!! Mexico was great, but I've got my sights set on a south-bound expansion of my horizons. Ohhhh yeahhhh.

Yearning for My Past Life

After a month and a half of temping, I'm back to the full-time job search. A shady interview today with a company that wouldn't answer any of my questions has scheduled me for a follow up interview tomorrow. After a bit of internet research on the company, I've decided I'll call them first thing in the morning to cancel. I need a stable job, at a strong company, working with intelligent and inspiring people. I've had enough of the shady business. This whole unemployment situation has left me far too much time to think about my life and thus, seriously missing my old life. I was jet-setting around Europe in a business suit and sweet talking CEOs of multinational corporations. Now, I'm sitting in a tiny bedroom in an over-priced apartment, scouring the internet for jobs for which I'm either over-qualified, under-qualified, or just not terribly interested in. My only hope for income is temping with morons I could probably replace if it wasn't for the big fee my agency charges companies for direct hire. I've come to realize that an MBA doesn't necessarily guarantee a strong work ethic, or even a fully functioning independent brain. When people I meet see my resume, they are shocked by my impressive international experience, and yet when I send it to potential employers I get negative responses or no response at all. So what if I don't have 5 years of experience in a certain niche? I have a strong work ethic and a certain level of intellectual curiosity that makes me a quick learner. I've met plenty of morons who look good on paper but ask everyone else in the office to do their work for them because they are "still figuring out those spread sheets" 2 or 3 months into their job. Can someone please take a chance and hire me into a stimulating environment??? I think I'd make a wonderful account manager.