Keystrokes and Gunshots, Pt.1
“What’s this?” Matthias scowled, eyeing the folder placed before him. He was in a large office, one that was almost elegant in its minimalism. Furnished with only a few plastic chairs and a large, well made desk, it’s main feature was the window-wall which the surveyor now faced. The golden light of the freshly risen sun streamed through its transparent veneer, obscuring the features of the man on the other side of the stately desk. A large fan whirred in the background, casting a cool breeze upon both of the men as they did their business.
“It’s your next assignment, Matt.” Casually the man opened up the folder and leafed through its contents, pausing at particularly interesting page, filled with colorful graphs that were almost nonsensical due to the direction that Matthias was currently facing. “The Committee wants you to survey the newly acquired Tanta area.”
Matthias’ face twisted into an even more intense scowl, and he said “Didn’t I already request not to be given any of these assignments, Mr. Gibson? Didn’t I already explain that I have no fucking interest in tallying up the plunders of war for the ‘Glorious’ Empire?”
His boss coolly leaned back in his chair, not even registering the swearing after his years of managing under a lax employment policy. He twiddled his pen in his hand, its white and gold imprint glinting in the light of the mid-morning sun. “You know that I’ve heard your complaints, Matt, and that I’ve passed them onto my supervisors. And yes, Marquis Rislane himself even approved them. You were to be assigned the areas that had already been administered to.” The manager paused for a moment, parsing out his words carefully before even daring to utter them. “But…the Marquis seems to have stretched himself thin. You’re the only one remotely close to competent who is available at the moment, and the Committee wants the results for this area immediately.”
“But-“
“-No.”
“I..”
“Listen, it’s quite simple really. Either you do the work, or you lose your job, and quite possibly get charged with a count of ‘Failure to Complete Duty’. It’s your choice.”
Matthias stared blankly at the folder for a moment, before hurriedly swiping it off the table. “Last one,” he said, “After this, I quit.”
Gibson just shrugged, “If you want to, go ahead. No one here will stop you. Oh, sure, things might be a bit harder around here, but after this assignment, we have no legal reason to keep you.”
Matthias stood and grabbed his jacket, sliding it on over his arms as he exited the room. As he stepped through the threshold, his supervisor said, “Matt. We might seem heartless to you, but none of us want to see you dead. Be careful. I’ve heard it’s a shitstorm out in Tanta.”
He barely registered the comment, giving only a slight nod in acknowledgement as he walked out the door.
