LEGENDARY LOVERS

FRIENDS

Day 2 at Riaxx Tech felt less scary than Day 1.

Naya wore the same black trousers. Different shirt. Light blue this time. Same blazer. Same sneakers. She told herself it was about efficiency. Seli called it her "intern uniform."

The subway was the same. The security guard remembered her badge. "Floor 12," he said and waved her through.

She got to her desk at 8:50am. Ten minutes early. Mr. Reyes wasn’t in yet. The office was quiet except for the hum of monitors and someone’s playlist leaking from headphones.

She was opening her laptop when someone dropped into the chair next to her.

"Morning," a voice said. "You’re the new intern."

Naya looked up.

Girl. Maybe 23. Curly hair in a puff. Big glasses. Riaxx Tech hoodie and jeans. Name tag: *Mira Sing - QA Engineer.*

"Yeah," Naya said. "Naya. Engineering intern."

Mira grinned. "I know. I saw your name on the intern list. You sit here now, so we’re desk neighbors. I’m Mira. I break things for a living."

Naya blinked. "Break things?"

"QA," Mira said, like it explained everything. "Quality Assurance. My job is to find all the ways your code can die. It’s fun. You look terrified."

"I’m not terrified," Naya said. Then: "Okay, maybe a little."

Mira laughed. It was loud and real. "Good. First day I cried in the bathroom. You’ll be fine. Want coffee? The good machine is on 11. The one on 12 tastes like regret."

Naya hesitated. Then she closed her laptop. "Sure."

They took the stairs. Two floors. Mira talked the whole time.

"So rule one: don’t take the elevator at 9am. Rule two: the CTO brings donuts on Fridays if the dashboard doesn’t crash. Rule three: ZL, that’s Zyane Lamps, only comes down here when something is on fire."

"ZL?" Naya asked.

"CEO. He’s... intense. But he built this place from nothing, so we let him be intense. You’ll see him in all-hands. Don’t make eye contact unless he makes eye contact first. Intern pro tip."

Naya nodded and tried to remember all of it.

They got coffee. Black for Mira. Tea for Naya.

"Tea?" Mira said. "Respect. I tried once and it made me sleepy. You code on tea?"

"And water," Naya said.

"Even better. You’ll last longer than me."

Back at their desks, Mira immediately started clicking through test cases. She narrated everything.

"This button is stupid. Who designed this? Oh, it was me 6 months ago. Never mind."

Naya found herself smiling.

At 11am, Mr. Reyes walked past. "Mira. Bug bash at 2."

"Got it boss," Mira called. Then to Naya, quieter: "You should come. It’s where we all try to break the new build. It’s chaotic. You’ll learn a lot."

"Can interns come?"

"If I say yes, they can," Mira said. "Consider yourself invited."

---

Lunch was at 12:30. Naya was about to eat at her desk again when Mira tapped her shoulder.

"Don’t do that. Come sit with us."

"Us?"

The break room was full. Long tables. People with laptops and takeout.

Mira led her to a table in the corner. Three other people. One guy was already waving.

"Naya, this is my people," Mira said. "That’s Dev. He’s backend and thinks he’s funny. That’s Priya, she does product and will ask you 20 questions about user flow. And this grumpy one is Luis. DevOps. He keeps the servers alive."

Dev, 25, beanie, immediately pushed a container of noodles toward her. "You’re the intern. Sit. I brought too much. You look like you forget to eat."

Naya sat. "I don’t—"

"You do," Dev said. "It’s in your face. I’m Dev. You can call me Dev. Don’t call me Devan. My mom calls me Devan."

Priya smiled. She had a notebook and three pens. "Naya, right? What are you working on? Documentation?"

"Yeah. And learning the tools."

"Cool. If you ever want to see how product thinks, I can walk you through it. No pressure. Also, Mira talks a lot. Sorry."

"I don’t," Mira said. "I’m efficient."

Luis didn’t say much. He just nodded at Naya and went back to his laptop. But when someone bumped his chair, he shifted so Naya had more space.

They talked. About the worst bugs. About the coffee machine. About how the AC on floor 12 was always too cold.

For the first time since Monday, Naya didn’t feel like the new person.

At 1:55pm Mira stood up. "Bug bash. You coming?"

Naya looked at her screen. She had nothing urgent. "Yeah."

The bug bash was in a big room with a projector. 15 people. Laptops open. Someone had ordered pizza.

The goal was simple: try to break the new dashboard build before it went live. Find a bug, get a point. Most points wins a gift card.

Naya didn’t win. But she found one bug. A dropdown that didn’t work on mobile.

"Nice catch," Dev said from across the room. "That would’ve been bad."

Mira high-fived her. "See? You’re one of us now."

After, they all walked back to floor 12 together. Talking. Complaining. Laughing.

At 5:30pm, people started leaving.

"You good to head out?" Mira asked Naya.

"Yeah," Naya said. She packed up slower than usual. She didn’t want to leave yet.

On the elevator down, Mira bumped her shoulder. "You did good today. For real. First week is the worst. It gets better."

"Thanks," Naya said.

Outside, the city was golden. Naya took the subway home.

Her phone buzzed when she got to her room.

Mira: Welcome to the team, Chen. Bug bash MVP next week ;)

Dev: +1 to what she said. Also bring snacks next time.

Priya: Lmk if you want that product walkthrough!

Naya stared at the messages and smiled.

She had come to Riaxx Tech to get experience.

She didn’t expect to get friends.

She set her alarm for 6:00. 6:05. 6:10.