The number of workers lost in total did worry the Hivemind. Some positions were left empty, those around having to pick up the slack. With the faults of humanity, many would fall under stress if forced to work in those conditions. From there, it would only spiral down into larger issues of mismanaged workers and nobody to pick up shifts, resulting in the final steps of the crops being destroyed. That wasn’t something that the Parasite wanted, hence the extreme work surrounding the possible hires.

Having memorised every data sheet from the last five years, a glance was put towards one of the clocks that the Arthur vessel could see. Spotting that close to an hour had passed by, the Kara vessel put into movement. Getting through the building, she was able to glance at a room filled with possible workers. Most of the faces were recognized, the Hivemind having looked through all of the sent files about them. Some had been rejected but most had met its standards regarding physical age and strength.

“If I could get your attention!” The Kara-Vessel half shouted as it entered the waiting room. The small chatter died out as the woman clapped again, nearly a hundred eyes fixed on the vessel. It seemed that a suit and a clipboard was all that were needed, no matter the height of the vessel. “All interviews will be done person-to-person and will take approximately three to five minutes. Expect to answer all questions with ten words or less. The first applicant is Oleg Yeltsin. Please come with me.”

The first applicant of many followed along, going into a small room with a table and two chairs. There was water for the vessel but none for the applicant. With dark walls and a general lack of decorations, it was an extremely stressful position for any human mind.

“Do you think you will be a good fit for this farm?” Kara asked at the perfect pace. That was the starting question of every applicant’s interview, the woman reading through their profile in the meanwhile. Not all of them had been seen before, making the Hivemind extra curious about the new ones. Most of those had been last-minute entrees or people who had simply seen the application on an off-site screen, deciding to meet up without warning. At least most of them had given their name at the desk so the vessel had something to call up.

Most of the people were hired on the spot, given that they were able to live up to the criteria while not having any real issues listed in background checks. And, more often than not, they would be extremely keen on joining if it meant a small bonus at the start at the cost of undergoing a minor operation.

“It is a very minor one,” Kara promised any applicant that seemed worried. “After you have worked with us for a longer duration, or if you will be working in areas that are sensitive to our operation, you will be called in to have a small security chip installed under your skin. It will do just about nothing unless it is activated. When that happens, it will emit your position for a few weeks before running out of battery which then stops the outer layer from protecting the insides, letting the entire device harmlessly be absorbed by the body. It’s a painless operation, though it requires that you undergo local anaesthesia to make sure that no pain is felt. Everything will be covered and dealt with in the surgery room that we have on the farm so there is one reason to worry about possible expenses.”

It was a small miracle that the room was both existing on the farm and entirely unmonitored except by the doctor in charge at the farm. Since the Hivemind had that person as a vessel, the Parasite was free to use the area as it desired, meaning it could operate on any potential vessels that it wanted under the pretence of security.

There were no words that could describe how the Parasite felt about the pieces fitting so well together. Near the end, it had almost fifty possible applicants with nearly all of them agreeing to have the operation done in the near future. The Hivemind didn’t need more than forty new workers, however, so it would have to increase the requirements it had put in place. There were no complaints there, as the Parasite was more than happy to pick and choose. Now it just needed to show the remaining applicants out the door and-

“Sorry if I’m late but I heard there was a job placement here?” a larger man questioned, nearly bulldozing himself through the last few that had gone through the process. Having another vessel glance at the clock, the man in front of Kara was over three hours late to the intended meeting time.

“There was, yes,” Kara confirmed coldly, the other applicants luckily finding their way out of the farm without further instruction. “You are sadly late. If we need your help in the future, please come at the proper time. And if that is all, please excuse me-”

“Just look at my profile at least! I had to find somewhere to print it out, which is the entire reason I'm late. Please!”

The large piece of paper was shoved into the small vessel’s hands, the eyes nearly fixing on the paper instinctually. The Hivemind had been under no ideas about actually reading it through, yet there was one part of the information that was heavily enquired about it.

“You have listed down that you possess Superstrength of an inhuman level,” Kara commented, the Parasite suddenly much more interested. “Is this your description or has this been confirmed officially?”

“No, it’s very real. I paid for the entire check-up last year,” the man by the name of Eric Henson, if the profile was to be trusted, said, scratching the side of his head. “It’s also kinda the reason I got fired at my last job. Clumsy fingers, you know.”

Looking up the name through another vessel, a quick search revealed the man to be connected to a multi-million accident in Sector 17. The man had destroyed an industrial scrapper by falling into it. A machine intended to rip metal into its basic parts had been destroyed because the man had been too tough.

The Hivemind was standing next to a new hire. Bringing them inside with quick speed and into the interviewing room, the vessel ran through the different questions already prepared, saving the last parts at the end.

“Would you be willing to have a security device implemented into your neck?” Kara asked. “We’ve had issues with criminal activity in recent days and-”

“Yeah, sure,” Eric said.

“.. Do you not want to hear the details?” Kara questioned. Such a line of thinking would have been an immediate no on the application but… this was a special occasion.

“If you can find the equipment to break the skin, I’m fine with anything,” Eric said, laughing a little as he said it. “I haven’t been able to land a job for a while and this is kinda the last one I haven’t tried yet. Does this security thing give me a bonus to my pay?”

“Yes…” the Kara vessel said as the Hivemind sped through the process. There would be some pushback from making the powered man join, mainly due to the higher pay. But… if the man was so desperate to gain currency, the Parasite wasn’t sure it needed to make an extra increase in monthly pay for him. Everything had a chance of just working itself out in time. “If that is everything, I think we have a few positions that you might fit in with. When can you start?”

“When do you want me to?” Eric asked back. Checking that the doctor-vessel had an egg ready, the answer was clear.

“Now,” the Hivemind answered.

“Oh, uhm… “ Eric said, pausing in his earlier desire to work. That wasn’t good. The Hivemind needed them. “ Final question. I’ve been running low on energy bars. I know that the proper ones are a bit expensive but would it be possible to get some through the work-contract? I kinda need them if I’m meant to do some heavy-lifting.”

Another quick search showed what the Parasite had been looking for that entire time. There was apparently food specially made for Heroes or powered workers that needed the energy. The actual buying of it wasn’t possible for the public which was the reason that the Hivemind hadn’t seen it before. And since it was required for companies to have workers that required them before being able to buy it, The Hivemind had another reason to hire the man.

“We can have that dealt with without issue,” Kara promised. “We will have the contract ready as soon as the other applicants have been looked through. For now, I would love to see if we have the required tools to get that device inside you or if we need to order something.”

“I can almost assure you it is going to be the latter,” Eric said as the two left the room. The Parasite didn’t count on it. It would require a bit of momentary extraction but having sharp implements was a requirement it could fulfil easily.