Dream Job

'You Ready?' asked Jenny to his son.

'Yes, mom. Please bless me. I need this one,' said Ben

'You are going to make it. Just don't forgot to smile.'

'Like they will offer me the job based on my smile.'

'Yes. And, remember to drop this sarcasm while giving answers,' said Jenny.

Life was not so much comfortable after the demise of Jenny's Husband. She raised Ben on her own. She put him through college & now Ben was ready to enter the corporate world. 

'Mom, where is my watch?'

Jenny smiled & pointed her finger towards the balcony.

'Tell them that you discovered a comet and NASA named it after you,' said Jenny.

'I am not applying for the astronaut. The job is for the maintenance engineer of a commercial building.'

'You might be the first guy who studied something, loves something, and works on something other than those two.'

'What to do? They take on the people from Ivy League. We were not so well-equipped with money to plunge into those colleges. I will do what is needed. Money helps us survive. It all boils down to it.'

'My boy, you have to look beyond this world to explore the space but you also need to look deep into this world to discover its reality.'

'What?'

'Nothing. Best of luck with the interview.'

'Bye, mom.'

The hope of Jenny left the house to start a corporate world.

That hope returned in just five hours with a smile on lips and an offer letter in hands. The company readily selected such a candidate for that job.

'So, What did they ask?'

'Nothing that your son can't solve.'

'When are you going to join?'

'Next, Monday.'

'Good. Let us visit your grandmother this weekend,' said Jenny.

The only family that both of them had. 

Ben joined the job on Monday after visiting his grandmother in an elderly care facility. 

'Good Morning, Ben. It is your work-station. From here, you will observe and maintain the entire building Air and Fire control. For a week, you will shadow your superior, Mike. He will teach you,' said Ben's Manager, Tom.

That week was the most boring one that Ben could ever recall in his life. He somehow completed the training and was eager to be in charge of the work station. Mike was leaving the town for a better job that also paid better. 

'Excuse me, Tom. Can I suggest something? It is related to the air handling unit,' said Ben standing at the door of the Manger's office.

'Sure. What is it, Ben?'

Ben entered the office and took a seat. 

'The current installation is outdated. If we install this latest model, we can monitor it remotely without any physical presence.'

'We know that. But the current budget doesn't support your hi-tech equipment. Let it be. After some years, the owner of this commercial building might give thought about investing a fortune in this latest model of yours,' suggested Ben's Manager.

The discussion elongated without any fruitful outcome.  

He arrived home after finishing his shift. 

'What happened? Why is your face so dried up?' asked Jenny.

'Nothing Mom. The company is not updating the instruments. With the new models, we can effectively manage the entire building.'

'It is their decision. When you become the owner of some commercial building, use such an updated system.'

'Very funny. Is dinner ready?'

'Yes. I will serve it in a while. Meanwhile, you wash your hands.'

They both ate the dinner, but Ben was still at his workspace,

mentally, figuring out a way to enhance Automation.

For the next month, he kept himself occupied with building a feedback control system that anyone can operate via a remote monitor. There was no need for a physical presence to manage the system. Just a remote device, a smartphone, can serve the purpose of monitoring the entire Automation. 

With intense research and careful coding, he developed a feedback control system that can be easily monitored and operated via a mobile device. 

'Mom, I am hopeful that I might have discovered another comet,' said Ben with confidence to his mom.

'Congratulations. Wait a minute. You were at your job, right?'

'Yes, mom. I have designed a system that does my work. And in that spare time, I use this telescope remotely to explore space.'

'What? A remote system of what?'

'Mom, the system does my work.'

'Then, what do you do?'

'I explore space with our telescope.'

'Does your boss knows?'

'No, that is why I opted for Night Shift.'

'That is wrong. You should inform your superiors about this.'

'No worries, mom. It gives me ample time to work on my hobby.'

'What about your colleague? Don't they know about your system?'

'No. I retract the modifications when my shift ends. That way nobody knows.'

'First thing today evening you will inform your manager.'

'Okay, mom. Now, can I have my breakfast? I am tired. I want to eat and sleep for now.'

They ate, and Ben went to sleep. 

The phone call woke up Ben in the middle of his sleep. A gruesome incident of fire had engulfed the entire first floor of the commercial building. The operator at that time failed to start on the sprinklers. Luckily no one lost their life in this chaos.

The operator said that the system went into some automated state, and he was unable to start the sprinklers manually. The fire alarms were also down. The Automation came alive before hours due to some miscalculation. That was the reason the operator failed to curb the fire. 

Ben reached the manager's office. He explained the entire Automation system to his manager. 

Ben's manager fired Ben on the spot. The daily newspaper published a front-page article on the mad genius. 

Dejected, he went home and told the entire incident to Jenny. Jenny inspired him to carry on despite the challenges. 

To add to the dejection, the international space agency rejected his claim of a comet. It was not a comet, and that was enough to dampen the mood of Ben.

It went on this like for a year. 

Ben couldn't get a job due to his reputation. Hence, he went into the business of manufacturing. A loan and his intelligence helped him build a successful manufacturing business. He infused his creativity in the maintenance products that he developed. He was soon manufacturing the products related to Automation that was always in demand. 

Soon, the national research center awarded Ben the best innovator of the year in the entire nation. He proclaimed it with his intelligence, creativity, and patience cultivated for five years.  

One day, an offer letter arrived from one of the emerging and bold space agency. The owner had personally selected him to be the junior maintenance in charge of the entire residential facility that the space agency will build on Mars. The space agency selected Ben to enter Mars on the second trip and help the construction of that residential facility in an optimized way. 

Here was a job offer that he never dreamt of getting, and that's why he never applied. Now was the chance to explore space from another planet.

Life picked him & he took the job.