WELCOME TO THE FAMILY!
A Tomorrowland Light & Power Co. New Associate Orientation Packet — "Your First Day, Tomorrow's Way!"
A MESSAGE FROM YOUR ADMINISTRATOR
Welcome to the team! At Tomorrowland Light & Power Co., we believe that every great rotation begins with great people — and we're so glad you're here to help write the next chapter of our story.
Yours in Light & Power,
N. Litened, Administrator
A BRIEF HISTORY OF LIGHT
In the spring of Rotation Zero, as we proudly call it around the office — Tomorrowland was little more than a promise. A gleaming skyline of half-finished towers. A Plaza without its centerpiece. A city full of citizens waiting, quite literally, in the dark.
Then came THE GREAT ILLUMINATION.
As the story is told (and told, and told again — ask anyone in Maintenance!), a small team of dreamers, engineers, and everyday Tomorrowlanders worked through the night, powered by little more than good caf, good company, and the unshakable belief that the future was worth staying up for. When the sun rose the next morning, so did the lights — every window, every transit line, every star atop Rocket Tower Plaza, all at once, all together.
It is from this single shining Rotation Zero that Tomorrowland Light & Power Co. was born. Not as a company, first — but as a PROMISE: that no citizen of Tomorrowland would ever again wait in the dark.
We've been keeping that promise for [REDACTION PENDING — SEE STYLE GUIDE] rotations now. And we couldn't have done it without people just like you.
DID YOU KNOW?
The Grand Chronopolis Cog — the magnificent ornamental gear assembly at the heart of Rocket Tower Plaza — was hand-fitted, piece by piece, during the original Rotation Zero construction! Every one of its components has been in continuous operation ever since, a daily reminder of the craftsmanship that built our city. (Maintenance Tip: if a tour guide tells you it's never needed servicing — that's because it hasn't!™)
OUR COMPANY PILLARS
At Tomorrowland Light & Power Co., everything we do is guided by our Six Pillars — the values that have lit our way since Rotation Zero.
PILLAR ONE: PEOPLE ARE OUR POWER!
--
Isla folded up the pamphlet and tucked it away in her satchel. "That's enough of that." she muttered to herself standing up to leave the New Hire Training Room. It was a wide sterile space, made up of modular tables that could be reconfigured to fit any event. A portrait of the Administrator hung directly behind the speaker at the lectern, symbolism that appeared to be lost on the happy-go-lucky training team.
This is pretty much what she thought corporate Tomorrowland would be like. Although it really wasn't corporate per se, it was a Public Utility folded into the Tomorrowland Government with a nuanced relationship to the office of the Premier and some nonsense about the Chamber of Commerce. The trainers had reviewed all of this in the morning session, but anyone who grew up in Tomorrowland already knew it. Really none of this was new. The Rotation Zero story had been told over and over again. It always felt like part of the story was missing but it was so old no one knew what.
Out in the hallway she passed the tiny Field Agent of the Month photos and then some awards that appeared to be to the company from the company. She was looking for the office of the 'League of Planets Liaison Team', which sounded made up. As did her title of 'Communication Strategist'. It was a job.
The door to the office was down near the complimentary fruit stand so that would be a plus.
1 PIECE OF FRUIT PER ROTATION PER TEAM MEMBER
"Oh." she said out loud taking her hand off a glorp-berry.
"Whoa!" A paper starplane flew out the office door and barely missed clipping her new ID badge.
"Not again, Stro!" came a voice from inside the office.
"Sorry! Could you bring that back here for us?" asked another.
"...sure?" Isla said, grabbing the paper craft from the polished floor.
Isla walked into the small office and examined her new home. Three consoles, a number of tablets unorganized across the desks, and a wallboard monitoring something. A League of Planets banner hung slightly crooked on the far wall.
"You must be the new one." spoke a large, sponge-looking being. "My name is Stroz but just call me Stro. Welcome aboard." Stro lifted a small cup of caf to where its mouth appeared to be. It grew slightly larger as the caf soaked in.
"And I'm Phoebe, technically the leader of the Liaison office."
"You're technically a pain in my butt." jousted Stro taking the paper starplane back from her.
"Nice to meet you both! I'm Isla. Your presentation this morning to the new hire group was great, Phoebe."
"Oh, that was probably Mac from Grid Operations. She loves to talk."
"I'm so sorry, Phoebe!" Isla blushed. "You just..I couldn't..uh."
"It's okay. No one can tell the Gaar apart except for the Gaar. Happens all the time." Phoebe patted the empty desk chair. "Let's get to work."
It turns out the League of Planets Liaison Team was largely made up. Some decree by some sub-body required all public utilities across the League had to issue communications for 'transparency'. About what wasn't clear and why was also not clear. It was this team's job to figure that out and report it directly to the Administrator.
"So you're telling me our SMART bands are constantly recording everything we say and do?" Isla asked, staring in disbelief at the console screen.
"Yep." said Stro covering his SMART band up. "and this hunk of junk spits out a summary of events to us to review the footage and write up for the dumb blog."
"Hopefully it never listens in on this office." Phoebe whispered staring at the Century III Transmission Engine.
"Wild." conceded Isla.
"If I could I would smash this thing right up, but I guess it's job security." Stro announced as he slapped the Transmission Engine. It let out a mournful beep.
"Hey, that's not very 'breeding positivity' of you. I think threatening company property also goes against some of the pillars." Isla pointed out.
Phoebe laughed. "Newbie, that orientation packet doesn't mean a lot outside of the new hire room."
"Yeah I know. This isn't my first rodeo." Isla said sliding the packet underneath a tablet on her desk.
"Oh? Where were you at before Light & Power?" asked Phoebe.
"I spent the past two summers bussing tables at Aunty Gravity's."
Stro rapidly squeezed some caf out of his mouth into the air and laughed.
"Kid, bussing tables and the corporate jungle are two different animals." Phoebe said as Stro absorbed the caf back up. "How did you get this job anyway?"
Isla held for a moment.
"Bussing tables was one thing. What Aunty told me about Light & Power is another." she said.
This caused Stro and Phoebe to both slowly look her way.
"What did she tell you?" Phoebe asked.
"I don't care if it's true or not I just want to see her break stuff." Stro exclaimed as he and Isla made their way down the hallway.
Phoebe had closed their office door and flipped the sign to 'We stepped out. The energy was off!'
"I'd really prefer it if we thought of an alternative method to test this theory out on the way" Phoebe suggested catching up to the first two.
The trip to the Hall of History was quicker than Phoebe would have liked.
"There it is." Isla slowed, walking up to the Rotation Zero display. She picked a photo frame up off of the wall.
"Well, it is certainly sealed shut. Perhaps we can use a..." Phoebe left her thought unfinished as Isla threw the frame onto the ground, cracking the glass.
"Nice!" grinned Stro. "Open it up!"
Isla carefully picked up the frame and flipped it over as her teammates stood watching on either side of her. Carefully removing a piece of glass she slid out the photo.
"It's true." Isla said followed by the three standing in silence, only the sound of an analog clock ticking behind them. The picture displayed four humans in the center of an empty Rocket Tower Plaza. It looked as if they were standing in front of the area where the Grand Chronopolis sits today. Each person held what appeared to be their antiquated version of plasma shovels today.
The most distinct feature of the photo, and confirmed what Aunty had told Isla, was that it was ripped in half. The frame had very carefully concealed the fact that this was an incomplete picture of the start of the Great Illumination.
"Hey!" a member of the security team had noticed the smashed glass and three Liaisons not at their station.
Isla took off first, holding tight to the photo. Stro, caught up in the moment was quick to follow. Phoebe held for a moment appearing to be seeking a reasonable solution. "Sorry!" she said as she took off after the others.
"I ran!" Phoebe whispered between breaths. "Why did I run?"
"To get away from that angry looking guard?" Stro asked as he grew slightly larger, soaking up some of the caf that had spilled in the kitchenette they were held up in. Phoebe squeezed him slightly to reduce his size.
"And that picture... how could that be?" Phoebe asked. Her eyes said she already knew the answer.
"I'll be honest, there was part of me that didn't think it would be real either." Isla offered sympathetically.
"If the picture wasn't true, what else around here is a lie?" Stro spoke quietly.
The trio sat in silence for a moment listening to guards rushing past.
"What about Aunty Gravity? What else did she tell you?" Stro asked.
"The picture was all she mentioned. She said this would begin to illuminate the truth."
"Illuminate... the Great Illumination? I think I know where we need to go next." Phoebe muttered. "In my leadership excellence class they talked about the first Power Palm installed during the Great Illumination still being stored down in our sub-basement."
"That's as good a guess as any." Isla replied getting up.
"Wait!" Stro said sticking out some of his body to hold her back.
A guard was searching right outside the door to the kitchenette. Suddenly, a paper starplane flew past in the hallway. The guard went chasing after it.
"Quick! Let's go!" said a giggling Stro already halfway out the door.
The journey to the sub-basement was largely uneventful thanks to a corner stairwell that wasn't getting much attention. Guards could still be heard patrolling the hallways on each floor.
Every inch of the sub-basement was filled with dusty, rusty pieces of retired equipment and unopened cargo crates.
"There! In quadrant C!" Isla shouted. The trio made their way through the maze of old particle generators and cracked vacuum tubes. They began to inspect the ancient Power Palm.
"I'll check the coconuts." Stro wrapped himself around the trunk of the tree and began to shimmy up. Isla and Phoebe more closely inspected the trunk and palms.
"Phoebe, look at this! There is writing here down near the base of the trunk. It must be Gaarian; can you read it?" Isla said while wiping dust off the area. Stro accidentally dropped a coconut next to her. "Stro!"
"Sorry!" Stro slid back down the trunk.
Phoebe knelt down and began to translate.
"The... Admin... will... know..."
As she attempted to make the words at the end a little clearer the doors to the sub-basement burst open. A plasma beam lit up the dark space and struck the Power Palm.
"These guys really take their job seriously!" Isla shouted. "Let's get out of here!"
Stro began to throw the coconuts from the Power Palm that were now scattered on the ground toward the guards. Phoebe pulled a Leadership Excellence pen from her satchel, clicked it, and slammed it into one of the still functional steam cables. An overwhelming amount of dense steam filled the room and formed a wall between the oncoming guards and the trio.
"Quick - there should be a hyper-lift in quadrant D!" Phoebe yelled pulling the two others with her. Plasma beams continued to fly through the air and provide brief flashes of light in the darkness. The hyper-lift doors opened like a warm invitation to tomorrow as they rushed in.
"What did the rest of it say?" Isla quickly asked pounding the door seal button.
"I didn't see." Phoebe said solemnly. "There was something else too... the writing wasn't Gaarian. It was Martian."
"You speak Martian? When did you learn Martian?" Stro asked as the hyper-lift flew upwards toward the administrative floors.
"That's your takeaway?" Phoebe asked disapprovingly. "I had a few classes at Progress Tech."
Stro scrunched to make an 'oh' face.
"No one has ever mentioned Martians being at the Great Illumination." Isla picked the conversation back up.
"Exactly. I wonder what the Admin knows about this." Phoebe agreed.
The lift came to gentle stop as it reached its destination. With a soft chime the doors opened to reveal a long, gilded hallway. Office doors scattered each side but the destination was two tall doors at the very end.
The Administrator's office.
"Let's find out." Isla said confidently taking her first steps down the hallway.
Two more hyper-lifts chimed as their doors began to open.
"Do you have any more starplanes, Stro?" Phoebe asked as they turned around to watch a seemingly endless supply of guards exit the lifts.
"No but I have another idea - run, Isla! Phoebe, set off the fire alarm using your electro-whatever powers!" Stro shouted as Isla took off. Phoebe reached up toward the ceiling and turned her hands to fists. The electromagnetic field that surrounded all Gaar became slightly visible as sparks began to emit from her knuckles. One finally connected with a ceiling tile causing a slight ignition and a puff of smoke. A microsecond later alarms began to ring and water began to spray from all over the hallway. Stro grew to a size just big enough to seal the hallway as he absorbed the water rushing down from the sprinklers. Isla had stopped and turned in awe of the sight.
"Go, Isla!" Stro gargled.
Isla finished the sprint down the hallway to the grand doors.
N. Litened, Administrator
marked a brass sign with a single Edison light bulb on top. Isla put her hands on the ornate steel handles and with a breath, pushed the doors open.
The office was large enough for a small seating area to the right and a console facing a window toward Rocket Tower Plaza on the left. Bookshelves lined the walls containing texts and trinkets of all kinds. A live map of the Tomorrowland Power Grid blinked calmly while flanked by Light & Power company banners.
Navin Litened sat at his polished wooden desk composing a note on an analog tablet. He did not look up at the intruder.
"Hello, Dad." Isla spoke.
"Hello, Isla." responded the Administrator.
"I thought putting you in the Liaison's Office would keep you out of trouble. At least for a little while." Litened said while standing up from behind his desk.
Isla walked further into the office and shrugged. "I nearly made it a day." she said.
"How did you learn about the photo?" Litened asked.
"Aunty Gravity told me to track it down when I told her I got the job and was leaving for the summer."
Litened clasped his hands and turned toward the window.
"What is going on here, Dad?" Isla asked approaching the Admin.
He remained silent for a moment. Out in the hall, the alarm bells finally ceased.
"When one becomes Administrator of the Light & Power Company they are given many great responsibilities."
"I've heard this one before." Isla said sarcastically.
"No, Isla. Listen." Navin Litened walked to a bookshelf to the side of his desk and picked up a small, obsidian double terminated obelisk. "It is covered in markings from a lost language. I have no idea what it means. When I took this role I found it in the top desk drawer with a note from the previous Administrator."
"What did the note say?" Isla said carefully examining the obelisk in her hand.
"Repay the debt." Litened let the statement hang in the air. "I've searched all over this office. Across every asset. Read every file. Nothing points to any debt or how to repay it. But I know it is my responsibility."
"And now it is mine too." Isla offered.
"No, Isla. You need to stay away from this. It is too dangerous. You saw how those guards reacted to the photo and the Power Palm." Litened directed.
"Aren't those your guards? Why didn't you tell them stop?" Isla questioned.
"They work for the Tomorrowland Premier; I have no authority over them. And I knew you would make it here. I know you." Litened offered with what was his equivalent of a smile.
"Aren't they going to know I was here? That I know now? I have to help!" she waved the obelisk wildly.
"Go back to the hallway. The vac-bots won't be up for at least another 10 minutes to dry out Stroz. I will turn the emergency locks on my door. No one will be the wiser." Litened said grabbing the obelisk and placing it back on his bookshelf.
"When will we talk about this again?" Isla asked.
"Soon." the Administrator said opening his office doors.
"Well, that is another great Transmission for the blog." Stro proudly rolled back from his desk.
"I don't know, reads a little dry." Isla joked, patting the recently squeezed and vacuumed being on the back.
"Don't." responded Stro.
"Let's try and make your second day a little less eventful, Isla." Phoebe said hopefully.
"Oh it will be. I have a great idea for our next Transmission." Isla smiled and tapped the Transmission Engine with an obsidian obelisk.
The machine beeped.