A Tale Of Doings

by Philip Quense

  “That’s the point. Be warned the CEO expects you to highlight the negative and downplay the positive.”

  “True Management 101.”

  “His office takes etiquette very seriously. Negative first. Then you can add positives. Makes giving you humiliating feedback to drive efficiency easier on his team.”

  “Great. This will take some creative thinking.”

  “The report should include an updated objective, list of wins, and list of blunders. Specialty initiatives are required to submit detailed summaries of testing and trials. Lave Labs is always required to send in detailed updates.”

  “That’s a lot of info. I’m not sure I can gather all of that before the end of business today.” David despaired. “Do you think the headquarters will want a report? It feels as if we’ve only just begun, and the CEO himself helped launch this project. Don’t we have leeway?”

  “The CEO’s staff requires an update, all right. They include these reports in their presentation to the CEO himself.” Manda smiled in a reassuring manner but giggled. “You thought being a manager was easy?”

  “I assumed easier.” David pointed back to the room with the dead human being. “Being a manager with you-know-who managers is wearing me out. Will you help me compile this update for the CEO, Manda?”

  “Hmmm.” She waited for something: effort.

  “Please, Manda, dear?” He put emphasis on the “dear.”

  “No worries. The Lave Labs computers attempt to compile the information into a weekly report for you to tweak and then submit.”

  “That’s a great use of technology.”

  “You and I will have to add the update on behavior and an executive description. We can then fine-tune the defaults and send all the compiled info. You might want to add highlights noting events such as conflict with the opposing managers so that your rivals don’t twist your activities into a negative review on you.”

  “Makes sense.” He was grateful for her support.

  “The summary report is sitting in your in-box. Your Selfie should make you aware of the deadline from now on. All you must do is review and tweak the report. Put your signature on it. And send it to headquarters.”

  “By the stock, your team here makes this job easy.”

  “I wouldn’t go that far,” Manda said.

  “We will go far.” He was elated. He walked past a projection screen with a replay of CEO Saul’s recent motivational speech to the Nnectonian world. “Do you think our project here deserves the CEO’s attention, Manda?”

  “You’re still new to Lave Labs, sir,” she said.

  “Meaning?” he asked.

  “Pet project, if you will. We’re the CEO’s favorite division. Often the staff and the projects are handpicked by the CEO himself. He’s got several principal agents who purchase employees and place us here specifically.”

  David stopped walking. The clear white hallway dully reflected their glowing blue tattoos. David reached out and touched Manda’s arm. “I noticed your arm tattoo is larger than most Nnect brands.”

  Manda stood still, rotated her full chest, and tugged on her shirt above her tattoo arm. The shirt slid up, exposing more of her back. Gray scar lines, dimmed and muted, spread out like receding ice tentacles underneath the vibrant blue brand.

  “Whhhaaaht…” Fascinated, David couldn’t help his curious fingers. He touched the beautiful woman’s arm, and his fingers traced the gray cords along her back, trying to guess what they could mean. “Manda, are those what I think they are?”

  “Yes, these are.” A tear rolled down her cheek. This was the second time in one day that David witnessed a strong person’s eyes fill with tears. He usually wasn’t sentimental, and it was awkward. Nevertheless, the tears tore him up inside. He didn’t know how to respond, so he shifted back and forth on his feet until she regained her composure.

  David felt good about being kind to Tara earlier. He had helped Tara euthanize her dad. Even though he didn’t have a father himself, he could empathize with Tara based on his experience watching Storyworld. He’d learned about death and families as a viewer. He could comprehend that it would be hard to hit the terminate button herself. So David had kindly terminated her dad for her. He felt good about helping her.

  David wanted to be kind to Manda too. He didn’t hold back the words. “Orns stains?” The stains—they looked like tentacles of death—were leftover marks from another owner. David’s fingers found the contours of the stains and moved along Manda’s back. “Hand selected, you said? How did you come from Orns to Nnect? Usually it happens the other way around, I had imagined. I thought the stain rumors were false. Just negative gossip. Right?”

  “Oh, they’re very real David.” She choked back her tears and stifled the emotion.

  “Sorry, I think.” The words felt strange on his tongue.

  Taking a moment before she was fully composed after her emotional outburst of weakness, Manda joked, “You believed a lot of things weren’t real that are real. You thought there was only one human civilization, but now you know that there are human beings as well as human-doings.” She jested more, and David was glad that she was capable of easing the tension. “You didn’t even know Lave Labs existed. You are certainly the corporate virgin.”

  Was she flirting with him? He said, “OK, OK, I get it. I was out of the loop. Now I’m climbing the ladder and learning about the world. All at once. Will you please fill me in on those gray stains of yours?” He smiled, hoping he seemed compassionate and not just curious. He was feeling more and more comfortable with Manda, and he felt more support from her and his immediate team than he did from his managers.

  Manda’s face twitched as she bitterly recalled her past. “A new Storyworld show was starting when I came of age. Orns isn’t normally allowed a fresh allotment of human stock, but they must have granted the CEOs of the Majors some new perks and in return received a shipment of human stock. However it happened…” She paused, and her blond hair fell over her left eye. Increasing the dramatic sensation of the story, she continued, “I was one of a hundred stock that was purchased fresh out of the Thrive Upbringing Division. At sixteen, I began working in the new show, Medieval Storyworld.”

  “Get out of my company!” David said with unconcealed awe. “What! That’s my favorite club!”

  “You’re not the only one that likes the show.”

  “Manda, I’m part of the most exclusive club that admires, follows, and is dedicated to watching all the Medieval Storyworld episodes.”

  David in his excitement did not realize he was still touching Manda. A noise around the bend in the hallway brought him back to reality. Footsteps. He retracted his arm awkwardly.

  “I didn’t mean to touch you, Productzen Manda. Forgive the intrusion of personal space; I crossed a line.”

  “No freedoms taken,” Manda said in her easy manner. “Long story short, I was on the opening season.”

  She didn’t have time to finish. The footsteps grew louder. A group marched around the corner. A sneer, a grimace, and a condescending laugh accompanied the newcomers. David’s chief managers, Crystal, Greg, and Steven, headed up the pack.

  Before David could compose himself, Crystal said in her assured manner, “We heard about your little stunt in the branding room, Manager David. Having some fun with the slaves?”

  “David, you will report yourself to the nearest QC officer before we’re required to do so.” Grandpa Greg motioned to David’s right arm as he slurred the words.

  “Grandpa, watch your tone. I don’t appreciate the insubordination,” David growled as irritation inspired by self-preservation energized his brand hormones and filled his voice with authority. The two men stood inches from each other, daring the other to say more. The air buzzed with the tension.

  Steven Slayer stopped another confrontation. “Let’s not bicker, children.”

  “More like brats,” Crystal said.

  Slayer said, “Let’s communicate. David has two day
s to report himself as per the Nnectonian Board of Managers Commission Statement 507. Meanwhile, business is business at Lave Labs. I’m sure David-23 has every intention of reporting the entire incident to the CEO.”

  “Of course,” David said in a much-reduced voice. Guilt rushed into his person. The brand always strongly encouraged reporting oneself to the proper authorities.

  Slayer continued smoothly, “Let Manager David sign off on the next testing phase for the products.”

  David thought, What’s Slayer’s game here?

  Slayer made it clear by saying, “I’m sure David will be very compliant with our direction. The direction of the next phase of testing.”

  Shit. They were going to walk all over him now! David gulped.

  Waving a queenly hand, Crystal said, “Yes, that makes sense. Tomorrow begins another glorious day of discovery for Nnect.” Crystal Ice smiled her crafty smile. She sang, “Off the digital town that nobody knows, we’ll take these products home.” She had a melodious voice. The song got raunchy. “I’ll break that dog and work it for that money.”

  Slayer rested a familiar hand on Crystal’s shapely shoulder and said, “Sign the permissions we need to continue testing, David. I sent the details to your computer.”

  Jim-4000 came up from the back of the group at Crystal’s beckoning and produced a portable computer. The signature tab was open on the projection screen, and without looking at the document, David signed the three or four designated spaces. All the while he glared in anger at Grandpa Greg. The two never backed down. Their eyes were lasers into the other’s soul.

  And then it was over. The intruding group continued walking. Steven Slayer pushed Grandpa Greg down the hallway to move him smoothly past David.

  Manda and David were alone once more. Manda broke the ice and answered David’s original question about her brand stains. “I actually never made it into Medieval Storyworld. I was going to be in the season, and I was part of an advertisement team that produced and filmed all the promos for the show. We were filming scenes for the new show, which went directly to the CEOs of the Major brands. The CEO of Nnect became fascinated with me when he saw me in the promotions. He requested I be brought to Nnect as part of his Orns bonus package for his personal endorsement. And so I ended up in Nnect headquarters as an Orns gift.” She shuddered.

  “What a blessing. To be exposed so young to such magnificence as the CEO. Wow,” David said, shaking his head at the unsolicited opportunities some people had. “Some people get all the luck. Would that fate would bless me with such opportunity.”

  “Blessing,” she declared sadly. She coughed, and her voice strengthened. She didn’t go into any more detail about her time with the CEO.

  “What happened next?” David smiled eagerly, unaware of her suffering. “How’d you get here?”

  “Well, the CEO forgot about me after a month or two. I started organizing paperwork at the headquarters to fill the time. The Lave Labs recruiter noticed my ability to remember patterns and implement complicated calculations.”

  “So you’re good at science?”

  “I have an aptitude for what we do. Yes.”

  “What about Orns? Didn’t they still own you?”

  “Yes, but the Lave Labs recruiter bypassed the system and branded over my old brand. He sent Orns a memo saying that I’d been rendered useless as an Orns gift, and Nnect would find something menial to keep me busy.”

  “Why didn’t you report a breach of policy to a human resource patrol? Didn’t you want to go back to your original brand?”

  “No, I wanted to get away from the CEO and Orns. So going along with the Lave Labs recruiter who selfishly brought me here because his team would benefit from my abilities seemed best.”

  “What a story. I haven’t met any overbearing managers?” David asked, trying to search his memory of the other Lave Lab staff members.

  She answered, “Dunar was fired a week or two after.”

  “Such is work. How’d you learn all the scientific methods that you know now?”

  “When I was shipped down to help in the labs, I was set up as an understudy, since one of the scientists before me had been killed in an accident.”

  “A slave attacked him?”

  “A manager beat him to death.”

  “Bless the wisdom.”

  She ignored his comment. “My aptitude for data management helped me outrival others here. This work is significantly better than the Orns promotional team or the CEO headquarters. The access to knowledge is empowering and interesting.”

  David and Manda shared a knowing look. “I never want to become part of Orns. I will become free, Manda.” He looked at her. “You will too. It’s ‘easy’ if you follow the Nnect heartbeat on your arm.” He smiled at his tattoo lovingly.

  Noise blared. A siren went off down the hallway. They didn’t know what it meant, but the urgency of the siren beckoned them to run toward the center of the labs.

  “Minions, what’s happening?” Ten minutes later, when the two arrived at the command center, David screamed several pitches higher than his normal authoritative tone at the nearest frantic scientist.

  The unlucky scientist’s green-and-brown eyes widened in shock when he stopped to look at his manager. The stunned man pointed at the slave containment homes. The twenty units stood in their standard orderly fashion, except they were all empty. David stared, and it took his mind a moment to register what he was seeing.

  “Where are my slaves?” David screamed in panic and rage. Energy from his brand sped up his heart rate and heightened the intensity of his emotion and blurred his focus. A powerful brand rush, a mix of pain and energy, staggered him from its power.

  A group of blue-branded Nnect products slipped out of the room, running for cover, before David could release his wrath upon them. Human stock numbers on a screen behind his head emitted an ethereal halo around him. His brand began to glow in authoritative anger, pumping raw energy and rage into his voice as he sought out an answer. “I’ll say it again. Where are my slaves? Who let my people go?” He glared around the room at the remaining Nnectonians until he fixed his gaze on the closest man. The technician was a head shorter than David, with a thick build and hairy arms. His chest hair poured out the front of his Lave Labs jacket.

  David pointed at the trembling man. “Technician. Tech 89—yes, you, Nnectonian. Tell me where my people have gone.” His voice rang through the command station.

  The man, Justin-89 by his name tag, stuttered, the fear of a layoff freezing him where he stood. David recalled a tutorial about product freeze-ups. He knew that employees would sometimes lock up. David paused as he caught his breath and let the brand’s rage dissipate. He needed info, not a lockup.

  Oddly, he felt what the Mindmonks called compassion. David’s memory flashed back to several times he’d locked up at work. It wasn’t a pleasant experience. David recognized the plight the man was in. Fear. Facing a manager in a just rage or facing QC or facing a personal objectability review or facing failure—it all had a paralyzing effect on David. David understood the fear of being removed from Nnect and sent out to Orns. The fear was real.

  “You have no need to fear me or fear being fired. What is your tag? Justin, is it?” The tension in the room released somewhat.

  With more confidence, the technician stopped his quivering legs by leaning against a desk and said, “Yes, my tag is Justin-89.”

  “You know what happened, Justin? You know where my slaves are?” David looked at the man and encouraged him to respond. David could feel the compassion inside of him growing. He wanted to help this man. But a curious thing happened as David tried to show mercy. His brand meddled, as it always did. The brand-fueled rage. The just anger that he had briefly subdued came back. The need to fix this problem quickly filled him with desperate urgency. The power David wielded as a manager would not be diluted by mercy. David felt rage begin to simmer in his heart again. And David realized something: it was easier to go alon
g with the brand than to fight it. So much easier. He smiled a cruel smile as Justin answered. Justin was giving him information exactly how David wanted. David was in control.

  Justin said, “You, sir, sold our slaves to Orns. We all saw your signature on the sale documents.” The group who hadn’t escaped nodded.

  “Me? Your audacity.” David couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “Sell Nnect’s products?” He’d never do such a treacherous thing. Manda gasped and covered her mouth in surprise behind David. The rage that was simmering underneath his thin veneer of compassion lashed out. David struck Justin hard in the face. Fist knotted. “How dare you accuse me of anything so stupid, unproductive, and ineffective. Do you know who I am? You lowly, insidious technician.”

  He breathed hard and hit the man again. “How dare you insult my competence. You’re like the snake that slithers underfoot, trying to poison the world around him.” He hit the man again. “You serpent, you.”

  “Please,” the victim managed to say between loose teeth falling out of his mouth.

  The release of the rage felt so good. “Those are my slaves. Mine!” Justin fell to his knees, unable to resist the attack of a manager. His face bled from a cut above his left eye and a longer gash under his chin. His eye was already beginning to swell. Justin raised his arm to protect himself from the next blow.

  David paused in disbelief. “How dare you defend yourself!” The technician’s arm lowered. “Do you know who I am?”

  The brand on Justin’s arm encouraged compliance, and the brand on David’s arm encouraged control. And the two responded to their stimulus flawlessly. David paused; his foot was tensed to kick Justin in the face again. “Tell me once more, where have my people gone?”

  Justin whimpered, “The other managers produced documents that showed you’d authorized the sale of all the product to Orns and other Majors. A transport unit just took Grandpa Greg, Crystal Ice, Steven Slayer, and all the slaves to the Orns, Tertain, and Ssential facilities, respectively.”

  Manda reached out and put an arm on David’s shoulder and whispered, “Vestibule.”