THE MOMENT
"Why do we make laser grids like these?" Mateo asked. He was freshly certified and assisting Lou in finishing up an installation for his first job. Watching, and handing over tools didn't require a lot of thinking and he searched for questions to make conversation with the older man.
"What do you mean?" Lou asked as he tightened each screw for a final time. They Stood in a narrow, mirror-polished hallway affixing laser emitters to both sides of the walls.
"I mean instead of a messy random arrangement of lasers that a nimble intruder might be able to jump through...," Mateo pointed out the assortment of emitters lining the length of the hall in random spots. "...why not a simple grid wall with no gaps large enough to allow a person to pass through?"
"Newbies...," Lou shook his head with a chuckle as he took a few steps toward the exit and started tightening the next set. Mateo followed close behind carrying the toolbox. They were essentially done, all the emitters worked when powered on and the Lou's process was to tighten everything on the way out. As he raised the screwdriver, he used it to gesture at the security door behind them.
"Do you know what's in there?" he asked.
"No, why would I?" Mateo shook his head. He was genuinely puzzled by the question. He didn't even know that house existed until he joined Lou that day. But, the older man had started the process a few days before and Mateo thought Lou might know. "What are they guarding?" he asked.
"No idea," Lou shrugged with a smirk. "That's the point. We work for Sharp Security. We aren't guarding anything, our job is to install," he said.
"But, wouldn't it be better for business if we offered better security?" Mateo asked.
"How do you know we didn't?" Lou chuckled and moved on to the next set.
"What? Because we're still installing a messy grid," he answered. Mateo wasn't trying to be antagonistic, he was trying to understand. And, luckily, Lou had enough experience to see his curiosity for what it was.
"Uhuh," Lou nodded. "I know I wasn't in that sales call. I just showed up and got orders, same as you. We don't know what packages were offered, or what the clients refused; our job is to install," he reiterated.
"But... why wouldn't they get the best, most impenetrable system?" Mateo asked.
"Could be lots of reasons," Lou shrugged. "People have different perspectives; and, maybe this is all they need for whatever is behind that door. Or maybe it was just all they could afford, we're not the sales team. So, we don't know."
"Yeah, I guess...," Mateo nodded. He finally glimpsed enough of Lou's point to start considering it. "...I just think with Sharp Development's resources we could be offering better systems even as a low-priced baseline." He spent a few days getting multiverse-oriented before actually being given a job. Sharp Development, the owners of Sharp Security, was a multiversal corporation and Mateo had seen things in the last few days that he never even dreamed about.
"Yeah, probably," Lou nodded with a smirk as he gave Mateo the screwdriver to put away. They were done now and headed toward the door. "But, if we gave everyone impenetrable systems... they wouldn't hire Sharp Security every few years for an upgrade."