Ch 3: How to resign in 10k simple steps
After 14 exceptionally average hours of their final shift, Siete is called into the office of their L low-base manager. A spry woman for her visibly covered-up and modded age, who usually exudes normal dispositions of sternness and competency required for her job. Except for today. Today she had to oversee a resignation, something akin to first-contact to many in her position. She received a scripted “song and dance” for when an employee leaves the workforce, but it was obvious she wasn’t properly trained on it. Didn’t even have the time to properly go over it beforehand, it was quite remarkable by how flustered she was by it.
While each Brand tries to portray itself with a flair of novelty, they do share some policies, among which was managerial conduct. All L to S level executives have to portray themselves as tough, dependent, and filled with confidence, and, for occasions like these, their manuals do mention that they have to:
-” Appear compassionate, but never leave room for it to intervene when it’s required to terminate.”
Unfortunately for her, though, this entire alien process plus the little time allowed to execute it was getting to the manager.” At least she is trying her hardest”, Siete’s mind tended to compliment everyone, even outside of the working hour. Afterthought or a simple oversight of the training program. It made the suffocating feeling of listening to the cheesy speech much more sweaty.
(luckily such glands were removed during the cloning process, can’t serve customers with a stained shirt.)
The sheepish demeanor of the superior wasn’t helping either, the slurred words and tongue twisters adding minutes to the seconds. Unfortunately for Siete, the droning about platitudes of dreams of the future, rising from the ashes, etc. was also mandatory policy.
At some point, Siete felt as if they would zone out and fall asleep mid-speech, so in an effort to stay awake, they used a trick they learned while dealing with endlessly talkative customers: Divert and focus attention to a personal passion, which in this case meant an enhanced part, i.e the prosthetic hands of the manager.
The marketing said that each Brand product was unique because of a specific function or part and the like, but after thousands of complaints, Siete kinda got the jist that most, let’s say artificial fingers are basically the same, no matter who made them. The internal wiring was basically similar, only the out shells set them apart.
Their manager had second-hand merchandise, from either a pawn shop or a back alley, probably doing some backhand dealings for them. On the regular market, that type of prosthetic cost about three years of the manager’s gross pay.
The hands were polished and cared for, noticeable by the glints of light that were blinding Siete when the silver palms were waved around. Even so, the scratches and signs of weariness on the lower palm couldn’t be properly covered. Another giveaway of how old it was how, on multiple occasions, the manager avoided raising their index finger. “It still is an older model though, probably even older than her”, Siete thought.
The manager ended the scripted speech a minute later and took another five to find a resignation form in their database. Knowing that it might take a while, she pointed towards the instant coffee flavored maker and waved to Siete to use it if they wanted a drink.
-“I can’t believe that you’re going to do this Siete”, the manager muttered a bit resignedly, after scribbling for a while, “but I imagine it must be quite an honor to be allowed to take part. I don’t know if this has happened before, but I believe you are the first C.E to volunteer for the race, dear. Correct?”
-“Oh, really? I never really looked into it, to be honest. I actually thought I would be rejected, but it was a pleasant surprise to see that I was allowed to become a patient. All I am hoping for is to get some cute and useful augments. And continue living afterward. Emphasis on cute though, otherwise I don’t see the point in doing it otherwise”, they replied half joking, trying to shift the conversation in another direction.
-“ I hope so as well. They have been a must since…always, I guess. Annnd quite pricey sometimes. It might cost you…well…a hand or two to get something useful in return”, the manager sighed a bit while slowly rubbing the right palm on top of the other hand. ” Well, it was a pleasant surprise to be working with you, C.E 74, now known as Siete Chehar, these last years have been easier thanks to your hard work. I hope that your replacement is constructed as well as you were”. Siete flinched a bit while keeping the polite smile, but the manager didn’t notice it. “Good luck and try to make, uhm, your people proud. You are quite an inspiration for C.Es all over the world.”
-“Thank you, but I think it would be a bit farfetched for me to…uh inspire anyone. I think that the C.Es are properly performing their jobs, as they were instructed from their formation. While humbled, I don’t think that I’m doing something noteworthy for my kind.”
The manager leans in over her small desk to shake Siete’s thin hands, congratulate them again, and then points them towards the exit with a stretched hand and firm smile.
At first, the clopy kept a normal posture and composure, walking at a regular, light pace. Between the manager’s office and the employee exit, rows and rows of desks, followed by factory lines and production halls, slowly stopped their work to whisper and stare. The rumors traveled fast, especially when someone quits. It wasn’t the tone Siete hoped for, the leave felt like a pitiful parade.
To their surprise, the manual apparently included the staff’s part as well, as some of the employees lazily cheered or pretended to applaud Siete, and so forth. They, in turn, just nodded, smiled back, and waved, slowly increasing the steps into a powerwalk. Little by little, speeding up the pace to then trot through the hallways toward the exit.
Before they could reach it, the door opened to give leeway to a recurring image- a C.E, limping for a health kit. The injured employee was almost a spitting image of Siete, same discolored skin, bald head, and lanky figure, with slightly bigger lips and nose than the clopy.
They hoped on their good foot until inside, then went for the walls for support. After a brief respite, the clone tried to take a few limps forward, until they noticed a pair of feet in front of them. The C.E automatically started a pre-registered greeting.
-“ Hello esteemed collea… Oh, it’s you. Seventy Four, correct?”
-“ Yes”, Siete replied in a quivery, but warm voice. “ It’s my last day here”, they nervously blurted out, quickly realizing how out of nowhere that came from. “ Sorry…Four Two Three. I, uhm, that’s, that’s a nasty limp you got there. Do you need any help with it?”
-“ Well, if you can help me get to a medical dispenser faster, that would be great.”
Siete hurried to their side, put the C.E’s left hand behind their shoulders, and as if caringly moved in sync with their younger clone. “So, was it an accident?”
-“ Yes, a tragic…”, Four Two Three said, forgetting for a moment that they were just talking with another C.E and giving a report about it.“ Actually, a child customer just got their first muscle enhancements for their legs and got a bit rowdy. It’s not that bad though, you should have seen the proud smiles on her parent’s faces when their child actually broke my shin. Nothing that a night’s rest and a Flash med-gel can’t fix, so don’t worry about me. Look at you though, Seven, on your way to get some robotics for yourself, huh? Congratulations. “
Siete let out an embarrassed laugh and understood that their sibling didn’t want to recollect more of the incident, so they went along with the deflection.
-“ Big opportunity, right? I was actually heading to get the signatures of the lower, middle, and mid-middle managers. It’s something else, you know? After 25 years, I believe I am don…I can work for something else in life. And if I prove that it’s not dangerous for C.E to have prosthetics, maybe they will loosen the restrictions for the others.”
Siete then went on droning about what type of parts they might, or hope to get, how they could use them, all while Four just listened in patience, but with a bit of sympathy for them. Even though they were proud of the retiree’s enthusiasm, a recurring thought crossed their mind “oh…that’s such a childish thing to do, especially for someone at that age .”
After the medical help was applied, the two then rested on a nearby bench.” There. You should be able to walk back on your own in a few minutes. Listen, I hate to leave you like this, but I need to hurry, sooo hope you get better by the next 8 hours.”
-“ Sure, no problem, run along. Oh, and before you go, I hear you like to call us clopy, right? You should know, other C.Es have started to use it in secret. It’s a cute nickname, I kinda like it”. They didn’t know if Siete found that info useful or if it made them feel anything, but Four wanted to at least give them some kind of gift. “You should know at least that, Siete. And, if it’s the last time, goodbye”.
Siete felt some type of sting from those words, but they couldn’t understand entirely why. As soon as they got to the exit, on the outside stairs, they took a long break on the empty steps. From there they could just watch the city for a while, sit down and just wait. They had plenty of time now to not be in a rush.