Author's Notes:
Operation Straxidex
- Aidan Maxwell -
Inspired by the universe of Frictional Games SOMA™
The air was so damp you could feel the ocean's moisture engulfing Pathos-2. The room was dimly lit by the light of the sea and the orange florescent lamps. Just over the large entrance and imprinted on to the cold, grey concrete walls were the words 'Site Lambda'. The silence was only broken by the screech of another one of WAU’s newly formed disfigured monstrosities. The creak of the rusty, metal pipes covering the ceiling like a jagged blanket completed the decrepit ambiance. Everyone stayed silent as they waited for the last board member to join the meeting. After one and a half minutes, Pathos-2's new chairman Tumbrel took a seat at the top of the oval table. As he cleared his throat the other five members fixed their posture from a slouching, slothful sink to a forced ramrod pose. Tumbrel spoke in a working-class accent that was as tactless and crude as his attire. "So lads, how's it hangin'? I have a pla-"
"You, my good sir, are unfit to be the chairman of this station!" interrupted Storm, the vice-president of Pathos-2, "Don't come in here with such a cavalier attitude! Out, you baggage! You tallow face!" Storm was passed over by Tumbrel to be the new chairman of the board. However, due to the fact that the WAU, their only power source, had been infected, each member now has a finite amount of time before they were finally drained of their power. Due to those implications, they had to get someone 'younger' to keep the company afloat for as long as possible. Tumbrel was the youngest they could find. This fact still grated on Storm’s psyche.
"Now hold on a minute you tosser!" barked Tumbrel, “You have no right to say that, yeah? I'm the chairman now of your little play session, ye know what I mean?" Storm slammed his hand down so roughly that the entire table shook, knocking over Tumbrel's coffee in the process. It spilled all over his sickly pale body and was beginning to stick like paint plastered on a brick wall. "Now, I'm tryin' not to get angry, but can you stop your little temper tantrum over there and start listenin' to what I have to say, righ’?" Storm reluctantly sank back into his leather chair and sarcastically mumbled, "And what is that, Tumbrel?" Tumbrel picked up his empty coffee mug and stood it upright on the table. He cleared his throat yet again wondering if he should see a doctor about it.
"The station has been," he paused, "under the weather recently." The board members all nodded accordingly, except for Storm who was still sulking and sinking in his chair. "We all know that the WAU got battered by a filing cabinet..." An awkward silenced seeped through the blue tinted room. "…In your language, the WAU was poisoned by some robot guy and we’re all infected. So, it’s not lookin’ good for us, mates." Tumbrel is now feeling uncomfortable in front of the world’s privileged 1%. Julia, another board member put up her hand. Tumbrel nodded accordingly. She spoke in a cheerful and sunny Boston accent, "But Mr. Tumbrel sir, if we're all going to die, shouldn't we start by cataloging all the ages and lives of the board members?"
Tumbrel scratched his chin thinking to himself. "Everybody who's been with this company since we started say 'I'." The entire group collectively answered “I”. The members began muttering to each other franticly. Pathos-2 had been in development since the 1960's. The year now was now 2104. Why were they still alive? The WAU couldn't have kept them alive for so many years, could it?
Tumbrel shushed them, "So I’ve been thinkin’, now that the WAU is in bits, we can set up some local settlements around the station. In my opinion, it would be freakin’ unethical for just us to decide the fate of hundreds of entities. We could start separate democracies in separate sites instead of havin’ one selective group govern the fate of everything on this station from freakin’ Lambda! It’s not like we can’t communicate with these other WAU creations. What’s the big deal with enjoyin’ life literally while you ca-?”
Storm quickly stood upright. "Is this pillock really saying that instead of saving lives, our lives by the way, by reviving the WAU, you want us to go out and have fun?!" Storm put his hands on his temples and began to massage them. Tumbrel shot him a look, "The poison has already been put in to the WAU, we’re already infected mate! Look, I don't want to give ye’s a lecture 'cause I don't want to bore you to death but..." Just then Storm collapsed onto the floor with a flop. His cyan tinted eyes faded to black and he stopped twitching. Everyone had gasped except Tumbrel. The members started blaming him for Storm's death, stating that there is no evidence of this 'WAU power drainage' and that what he is saying was a load of dingo's kidneys.
Clearing his throat for a third time he stood up from his chair and walked outside. "Hey! Where do you think you're going, sunshine?!" Spat out one of the board members. Tumbrel kept on walking down the dark hallway away from the room. Julia briskly followed him trying to see what all the fuss was about. Even when the room was out of sight, the member's could still be heard arguing among each other in indistinguishable groans and Shakespearean insults.
Julia found Tumbrel in his office looking at his files. "Uh, Mr. Tumbrel sir?" whispered Julia softly, "What are you doing? The board members are like mental patients back there!" Tumbrel sighed. He shuffled some papers away and pulled out a grey envelope with 'Operation Straxidex: if all else fails' in big, bold letters. It was heavily creased but still retained its stiff, rectangular shape. He slid the envelope to her. "Hand this over to the members; I'll be back in a sec, thanks." She smiled sweetly and swiftly walked back to the board room. As Mr. Tumbrel heard the resounding sighs of relief in the background, he packed up his things and locked the office.
The plans were guaranteed to be accepted. The board will now have full control over Pathos-2, until the WAU’s power is completely drained.
And as he disconnected himself from the WAU he realized what a waste of time it would be to try to change people for the better.
“I’ve lived far too long anyway…”
The End
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