As the inspector's words hung in the air, Sarah felt the supervisor's gaze shift from friendly to scrutinizing. She knew that a supervisor who dared to recruit from the Black Port was no saint either.
If she failed this test, Sarah was certain she'd be sent back to the Black Port. Jake, who had likely succeeded in becoming a sorter, wouldn't lift a finger to help her. In fact, having already completed half the process to leave the Black Port, he might not hesitate to silence Sarah, the only one who knew about this, and reclaim the nanocollar around her neck.
Sarah had to pass this test, and pass it well. She was acutely aware that valuable people and worthless ones faced very different fates in this world.
Fully understanding her predicament, Sarah immediately focused on the task at hand. Fortunately, this wasn't an insurmountable challenge for her. When it came to technical matters, skill spoke for itself, and Sarah had plenty of that.
She approached the massive machine before her, standing three times her height. Numerous equipment pipes were intricately connected to it, converging into a thicker conduit that extended into the distance. While not the core of the system, it was clearly a crucial transfer device.
For such a colossal piece of equipment, locating a single screw without blueprints seemed impossible. Even with blueprints, pinpointing one screw among tens of thousands hidden within the machine would be a daunting task.
But this world was different from Sarah's original one. Here, there was nanotech and mental energy.
Sarah walked to the nano-control interface of the machine, skillfully opening the protective cover. Inside was a deep green nano-control chip, indicating a complex nanocircuit.
In this world, nanotechnology complexity automatically displayed different colors, ranging from low to high: white, green, blue, purple, and yellow. The highest-tier yellow nanotech was so brilliant it was often called golden tech.
Using her mental energy, Sarah carefully sensed the machine through the nano-control chip. In this world, nanotech was central to everything. All devices were designed around it, becoming one entity when nano-control was activated. This allowed Sarah to easily detect all existing problems in the machine.
Even with this method, finding the correct location for a single screw was challenging. This machine had been operating for many years, and its issues weren't limited to one or two. Sarah had to filter out hundreds of problems unrelated to the missing screw.
It was no simple task.
As Sarah concentrated on her analysis, the others watched her stare at the nano-control interface with confusion.
"What's she doing?"
"Does she think the screw is in the nano-control interface? She'll be disappointed when she realizes there are no screws in there."
"She just joined NeoTech Industries and she's already about to be fired. Poor thing."
"Sneaking around like that, she's caught the old witch's attention. Bad luck, I guess."
The others muttered among themselves, but the inspector, secretly nicknamed 'old witch', said nothing about Sarah's actions. After observing Sarah for a moment, she turned to the supervisor who had brought Sarah in. "Where did you say you recruited her from?"
The supervisor, feeling the weight of the inspector's scrutiny, inwardly cursed Sarah but quickly replied, "She was recruited from the Qichi district. She came for an assessment today, scored full marks, and passed. I thought she was an exceptional talent, so I hurried to bring her to you, Master Sun..."
The inspector laughed coldly at the supervisor's explanation but said nothing more, turning back to watch Sarah.
By this time, Sarah had quickly eliminated many of the problems fed back by the machine, leaving only about a dozen locations that needed her personal confirmation. She couldn't make a judgment without seeing the situation with her own eyes.
Sarah replaced the protective cover and was about to check the areas of concern when she heard the inspector's voice.
"You understand nanotech?"
Sarah wasn't surprised that this had been exposed. After all, to complete the task, she had to use her nanoengineering abilities. But she didn't want others to associate her with the merchant from West Sector Two of the Black Port. So Sarah turned, smiling somewhat sheepishly at the inspector, but with obvious pride in her voice: "I graduated from Changhe Industrial University."
Sarah neither confirmed nor denied her understanding of nanotech. She wasn't entirely sure what kind of school Changhe Industrial University was, but judging from the attitudes of the cleaning company employees and the supervisor, it seemed to be a prestigious institution she could name-drop.
However, what impressed the cleaning company employees and supervisors clearly didn't impress the inspector. After hearing Sarah's words, she just gave her an inscrutable look without saying anything.
Unable to gauge the inspector's attitude, Sarah felt something was off. But at this point, she had no other options. Seeing that the inspector had no intention of speaking further, Sarah scratched her head and continued her task of finding the screw's home.
The dozen or so problem areas in Sarah's eyes had varying likelihoods of being the screw's home. She searched from high to low probability, and by the third location, she found other screws with wear similar to the one in her hand.
With steady hands, Sarah put the screw back in place and easily jumped down from the machine.
"I've replaced it!" Sarah announced to the inspector, her eyes shining.
The other maintenance workers looked at Sarah in disbelief. Repairing machines wasn't supposed to be this simple. It had only taken her about twenty minutes. They were all experienced maintenance workers, and if it were really this easy, they wouldn't be constantly berated by the inspector!
With the inspector present, they dared not voice their doubts, but they instinctively followed Sarah's gaze towards the inspector.
The inspector casually acknowledged Sarah with a sound, then turned her gaze to the muttering maintenance workers. She continued her verbal assault on them:
"If the newcomer can do it, why can't you lot, the old NeoTech Industries employees, do anything but tell me it's impossible? Are you just here to collect paychecks and do nothing? The two places the newcomer just checked, find out what problems there are and fix them! Anyone who tells me they couldn't find or fix anything, you're all fired!"
With the inspector's words, the onlookers scattered like startled birds, quickly seeking tools to begin their inspection.
The inspector didn't bother watching these useless individuals. She turned to Sarah and jerked her chin. "You, come with me."
Sarah hadn't wanted to draw so much attention to herself, but it seemed unavoidable now. Well, she thought, a gem will shine no matter where it is.
Following the inspector out, they passed the supervisor, who gave Sarah a covert thumbs-up. Clearly, her contract was now secure.
As they walked, Sarah heard the inspector say, "You know about the two engineers I fired after I came here, right?"
The inspector's question was posed as a statement.
Was this a warning? Sarah was puzzled, but she put on the face of a nervous new employee. "I'll do my best to meet your requirements!"
The inspector chuckled, ignoring Sarah's words and continuing, "Their names were Li Zheng and Cheng Suyin."
Sarah's steps faltered as she slowly looked up at the inspector, who had also stopped and was looking at her intently.
These two names were familiar to Sarah. They were both NeoTech Industries engineers who had previously hired Sarah to impersonate them and repair NeoTech Industries machines on their behalf.
The inspector's mention of them at this moment was telling.
Meeting the inspector's meaningful gaze, Sarah said calmly, "They must have done something unforgivable to upset you."
"Indeed they did," the inspector agreed.
As the tension in the air thickened, Sarah's mind raced. She knew she was walking a tightrope now, her past actions catching up with her. But she also saw an opportunity. If she played this right, she could turn this potential disaster into a stepping stone.
"I assume," Sarah ventured carefully, "that their work was... subpar?"
The inspector's eyes narrowed. "You could say that. But I'm more interested in how you managed to do their jobs so effectively."
Sarah's heart pounded, but she kept her face neutral. "As I said, I'm a graduate of Changhe Industrial. We're trained to handle a variety of situations."
"And yet," the inspector mused, "I find it curious that a fresh graduate would have such... practical experience."
Sarah knew she was cornered. But cornered animals often fight the hardest. She decided to take a risk.
"Inspector," she said, her voice low but firm, "I believe in efficiency and results. If there's a problem, I fix it. If there's a way to improve a system, I find it. My methods may not always be... conventional, but they work. Isn't that what matters most in our line of work?"
The inspector studied Sarah for a long moment, her expression unreadable. Then, to Sarah's surprise, she smiled. It wasn't a warm smile, but it held a glimmer of respect.
"You're either very brave or very foolish, Ms. Hill," the inspector said. "But you're right about one thing. Results do matter. So here's what we're going to do..."
As the inspector laid out her proposal, Sarah realized that her gamble had paid off. She wasn't out of the woods yet, but she had just opened a new path - one that could lead her not just out of the Black Port, but to heights she had never imagined in this new world.
The game was changing, and Sarah was ready to play.