After finally settling on some heavy metal – the most distracting thing I could handle without actually being too distracted – I turned to my screen.

I did an initial assessment of the script, trying to understand its purpose. It was in Python, the scripting language I was the most comfortable with.

From what I could gather, Kelex had developed an app designed to overpower pre-existing operating systems, to make it more suited for various handicaps. Those OS, having several updates a year, required Kelex's apps to follow and adapt constantly. This was for the last iPhone update, and from what I could read, Apple had changed things regarding the calls and messages, rendering the current Kelex app obsolete.

Once I reached the end of the script, I dug in, encouraged by System of a Down's Toxicity. I changed a few lines, corrected a few mistakes, and did my best to clean the script and add comments, to make it easier to follow. Brian was a messy coder.

I managed to stay as focused as possible, distracted from my new boss's presence by loud notes and melodies raging into my ears. However, every now and then, he would lean forward to observe more attentively what I was typing. Every time he came closer, my body froze as I tried to keep going. At some point, he accidentally touched me, and the electrifying contact made me jolt, my fingers missing a few letters on the keyboard.

I hadn't been with anyone in a while, and while I was fine with it, my body seemed to have other plans. Those greedy hormones... Having this infuriating man making me feel so on edge every day of the incoming week was out of the question.

Shaking those thoughts out of my head, I decided to focus on my task. Right now, I had something to prove. For the next sixty minutes, minus some, I was an emissary for all the women in this world. This arrogant and misogynistic ass needed to be shown that we were as good and as worthy as men.

Working as fast as I could, often glimpsing at the time on my screen, I focused on my task. I could do it. I had to make it work.

As usual when working like this, time altered, going faster than it should feel like. Every time I checked the clock, it had a few more minutes than I was willing to accept, but I wasn't Hiro Nakamura, and I couldn't make time stop or slow down.

I was typing the last command when Mr. Coleman reached for my headphones and pushed it away so I could hear. "Time's up, Andrea," he announced. Shit, him saying my name definitely did unholy things to me.

After pressing enter, I moved away from the keyboard, almost out of breath. An hour had flown by in what had felt like ten minutes. Looking around, I noticed the guys standing behind us, also curious.

I looked at my screen, hoping I had succeeded. There hadn't been enough time to do the final sweep check, but I didn't think I'd missed anything. Please, I prayed in my head, let me have this one at least. Impatiently, I turned to the boss, waiting for his comment. Without moving his eyes from my screen, his mouth bent downward, as if impressed. I rejoiced internally, but a little too early, alas.

"Not bad," he conceded. "But it won't work as it is."

Making my chair roll a few inches away, he came closer and settled the keyboard in front of him. I observed him, the screen reflecting on his glasses, as he scrolled up into the script. When he found what he was looking for, he clicked and typed a few words. Intrigued, I ripped my eyes away from his profile to look at the screen and winced. I had forgotten a reference, and as he'd said, the script wouldn't have worked. Goddamnit. Three extra minutes and I would have found it.

Behind me, the guys let out disappointed "oohs," as the ginger gave the bearded man a one-dollar bill. Had they bet on my failure? I didn't have time to ask them, the boss returning his attention back to me.

"It was still quite impressive, though. We'll have to run some tests, but I don't see why it wouldn't work. I guess I misjudged you. Welcome to the dream team, Andrea," he said, removing his glasses and slipping them back on his collar. Kal-El was back.

Oh, God... Someone was definitely masturbating tonight. And that someone was me.

"Andy," I corrected him, ignoring the sudden burst of heat. He looked at me, his expression blank, but didn't comment.

He stood up looking at the guys surrounding us. "Have you met the team yet?"

"No, not really."

"This is Steven," he explained, pointing at the older, bearded guy who extended his hand to shake mine. "When I'm not here, he's the one in charge with Oliver," the boss continued, gesturing toward the red-haired guy. We shook hands too, and his friendly smile was positively charming.

Brian was then introduced. He had Asian heritage, southeast Asia if I had to guess. He was wearing a blue shirt with Captain America's sigil. Yay! Avengers, assemble! "Your coding is so aggressive, we would have never thought you looked like..." he explained as we shook hands, this sentence trailing off as he thought of a relevant comparison.

"Dora the Explorer!" Mason exclaimed. All of them suddenly let out a resounding "Aaah", as if they'd been looking for the resemblance.

I held back a laugh, not wanting to encourage their teasing yet. Between my haircut – a curly short bob with bangs – my half Mexicanness, my backpack, and the fact that I was as small as Lady Gaga without the ability to wear 10 inch heels, I didn't doubt I'd looked exactly like Dora the Explorer upon arriving.

"That would be Mason, and the last one is Joseph." Lifting his hands so Joseph could follow, the boss then addressed them both. "You two will update Andrea on your current project. She'll help you close it until we can find her her own task. Brian," he continued, turning to the Captain America guy, "this was messy. Keep in mind that any one of us may have to dig into your work, so keep it organized."

He took a moment to make sure he hadn't forgotten anything, and his steely eyes fell on me. "You can call me Alexander, or Lex, since everyone seems to take this liberty."

I nodded, feeling somehow strange to be on a first name – even nickname – basis with a man so important, but I guessed this was the way this company operated. Satisfied with his work here, he made his way toward the exit.

As he reached the door, he turned back to us. "Steven, you still owe me ten bucks."

Before my new colleague could contest the statement, Alexander left the room, leaving us alone. I stared at the door, wondering what the hell was his deal.

Once they were sure the boss was out of hearing range, the redheaded guy – Oliver, was it? – spun my chair around. "That was amazing! You've got some mad skills, Dora!"

The others nodded in agreement, and I let out a soft laugh. The tension was finally gone, and I gave him a slightly disapproving frown. It's not that I minded the nickname, I simply hoped that it wouldn't stick for the rest of my time there.

"Brian, how long have we been telling you to fix your ratchet code?" Mason asked.

Brian looked down, embarrassed. "I know... I'm sorry you had to deal with this on your first day, Andy."

"It's ok. I guess I didn't do too bad."

"Not too bad? Girl, you smashed it!" Mason insisted. He had a very distinctive southern accent that I couldn't quite pinpoint.

"Yeah! When I started here, Lex took three weeks to finally welcome me into the team," Brian recalled. "You managed to do it in an hour."

I couldn't help but smile at the revelation. That missing reference wasn't as bad as I'd feared, after all. I looked at the door Alexander had disappeared behind, my mind drifting back to the disagreeable man.

"Is he always this... intense?" I asked the guys, signing for Joseph.

They all nodded.

"He has a crazy IQ, and it gives him that no-nonsense brain," Oliver explained. "He is always three steps ahead and doesn't care about the conventions. That's why he barely ever says hello, thanks, please, goodbye..."

"It's not that he's a dick, though," Mason pointed out. "It's just that his brain ain't working like ours."

"But he can definitely be a dick." Joseph's silent intervention made me chuckle. I nodded, still mindlessly looking where our boss had left.

"Don't worry," Oliver said, making me look away from the door. "You'll get used to it. Has Dakota given you a tour of the place?"

"Just some quick notes as we came here."

"Okay, I think we can take ten minutes so I can show you around." He gallantly moved to the side and gestured toward the door, encouraging me to lead.

He guided me around the floor, explaining the different departments in the open space. Not everyone was in yet, but seeing the number of desks made me realize the company might be larger than I'd expected.

"How many people work here?" I asked.

"On this floor, seventy-one, I think. Seventy-two, now that you are here. Upstairs is management and R&D, they are a little under sixty." Oliver bumped fists with a man who passed by us and returned his attention back to me. "From recent estimations, those numbers should double within a year."

I nodded, impressed. For a company that was under eight years old, they sure were successful. I still couldn't believe how lucky I was to be here.

Walking by his side, my earlier anxiety faded. He showed me around and introduced me to a few people. Everyone was very warm and approachable. The average age seemed to be a little under thirty, and I enjoyed the fact that the company was so dynamic. Oliver explained to me I would probably have to go upstairs to HR this afternoon, to sign all the papers, then gave me some indications as to where the office was located.

Eventually, he led me to a room where tables, lounge chairs, couches, and a TV were displayed. It was rather large with a ping-pong table, a foosball one, an old arcade game, vending machines... I admired the room with a grin from ear to ear, already knowing I would love working here. This was heaven compared to the pitiful excuse of a break room I'd been working with before – a chair and a microwave in a revamped broom closet. A few people were sitting around with their laptops and a mug next to them.

"This is the leisure room, as well as the lunchroom," Oliver explained. "Or at least, that's what they call it. To us, it's the Arena of Doom. This is the place where you settle a beef with one of the nerds. Dart, foosball, ping-pong... you name it." He came closer to me, as if he wanted to confide a secret to me. "Ping-pong would be Steven and Joseph's weakness. For Brian it's foosball, and Mason is awful at darts."

I let out a silent laugh, amused by his playfulness. "But what is your weakness?"

"I don't have one, silly woman. I'm the final boss, nearly impossible to beat."

This time, I chuckled, shaking my head. "I've always been great at destroying those. So be careful who you call silly, you imprudent man."

We were interrupted by a woman who came up to us, holding a cup of fresh coffee. She was wearing a T-shirt printed with a Wonder Woman logo, and I smiled at it, glad to find a second comic book lover. She had a beautiful afro, and her gleaming skin was a light shade of brown. She was pretty and was giving out a very kind, very gentle vibe.

"This is Tamika, Tammy," Oliver introduced while signing. "She works with R&D." Turning to her, he introduced me. "This is Andrea, Andy, she is with the dev team." Tammy smiled at me, her upper lip lifting, showing me her perfect set of white teeth.

We both extended our hands at the same time. Hers was remarkably soft and utterly feminine. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Tammy," I then said while signing the words. "I feel like we're going to get along," I continued before pointing at her top.

She grinned and nodded at my Hulk shirt. "You should know DC makes a better first impression," she struggled to sign, still holding her cup of coffee.

"I know," I admitted, defeated. "I have a thing for fellow nerds, so Banner is my Achilles' heel." She let out a small chuckle and left after saluting us both.

"It's awesome that you know sign language," noted Oliver, as he guided me to our next destination. "It's not exactly a requirement, but almost everyone does in the company. There are seven people with a hearing handicap working here, and we took the habit of signing whenever they are around. How did you learn it?"

"My older brother was born completely deaf. As a result, I know American and Mexican sign language."

"You learned Mexican too?"

"Yes. Tyler wanted to show our mom that her side mattered as much as our father's, so he insisted we spoke both languages, as any mixed family would."

Oli gave me a genuine smile. "That's so cool of him. I love the idea."

"Me too."

My affection for my brother was one of the reasons I was so invested in this new job. I wanted to be among the team who would help to make this world a more comfortable place for people like him. Tyler was also the reason I was familiar with the apps Kelex had developed. They were geniuses in action, and I was honored to be a part of it.

I told him more about my brother as he showed me the rest of Kelex's offices. I couldn't help but think that my life would change entirely. I would spend some amazing moments with this company.

At least I would, if I managed to remain diplomatic enough to not be fired by my obnoxious boss.