Ch 14: The problem child
According to the logbooks of history, the first thing built in the city was a bunker. Mostly a comedic attempt at one, made by someone whose knowledge of tools was limited to a silver spoon and a car remote. The room they built was tiny, with a low roof and wooden walls, while dirt and sand poured through cracks.
Over the years, parts of it were stripped and rebuilt back, cracks were covered, and new wall materials were added to it; a tradition that every CEO who held the number 1 spot upheld. The latest version was now over 5 meters tall, with thick, reinforced walls, external soundproof, and resistant to all kinds of explosive attacks. A little hideout, escape and safehouse from the bustling inner city.
The only downside was that high-pitched sounds would easily reverberate and seem louder than their already increased volume. An unknown flaw that was discovered today when for the first time in a long time, Elina forwent any fears she had, and her yelling freed itself from its shackles;
CEO Elina – “ What the actual hell was that, Zude? Did you…ugh….I mean… does your C.T.D. not know about the first round?…wha…what the fuck? Respond to me you-”
Alvara leaned in to whisper some advice- “ Call him metallic shit-spoon.”
-” Met-metalic spoon!” The mousy CEO was lost for words, as all the problems the attack caused were too much for her to even count. The issue was serious enough for the other CEOs to take her side on the matter and to chastise the embarrassed metal man.
– “ That attack might seriously hamper the ratings, Zude, what is your patient thinking?”, asked Ekapol firmly.” We do that after the first round.”
Zude had an arched head, with bits of metal extending to his sides to mimic a royal cowl. While he was sinking in his chair, the cowl got stuck into the arms, dangling him awkwardly between a total dive under the table and staying in his chair. Only for him was to let out a cry of defeat and wallow in self-pity.
CEO Zude -” That was so embarrassing. I’m sorry everyone! I truly am, especially to you Elina”, he responded while clenching his hands together, trying to calm himself down. “ I knew that the boy was a bit unstable, but I never thought he would actually be this dumb.”
-” I-I-I don’t care, just do something about him! It’s clear that your contestant is too deranged. Can’t…”, asked an exasperated Elina, but she was surprised to find only pitiful eyes in response.
-“ Elina, we understand, but stop embarrassing yourself with your lack of knowledge. Zude, explain…now!”, commanded Milla to both of them.
Zude -” Soooo… you know how I’ve been hiring exclusively from that cult, The Coupling Society, and how it seemed good for business ?”, to which the table collectively groaned. “ Well, they apparently threatened that they’ll use their religious rights to…decrease morale and efficiency. And while they are-”
-” Brainwashed inbreeds?”, asked Alvara.
-“ Very pushy to get some…materials”, shrugged Ekapol.
-“ Irresponsable, weird, but very shrewd ”, suggested Robert.
– “ The weirdest sex-pests who also give the most asinine moral judgments?”, completed Priya, who everyone thought was sleeping in her private virtual pod.
-” Well I like them”, added in passing Samuel.
CEO Zude -” Yes, all of those. Well, for years now they’ve been trying very ‘subtlety’ to help them get more representation in games. And yes, I explained to their leader what happens to the contestants, but they would still pester me about it. Said they wanted to just dip their toes.
Robert- “ What, so you caved in-”
“Of course I cave in”, Zude replied meekly, wearing the expression of a man that went through two wars and came back a wreck who drunkenly tells his story to whatever soul listens to him.
Zude- “ Anyway, so you know how they have special members? The ones raised for “natural breeding””, to which he, Elina and Ekapol retched in unison. Robert, Alvara and the old guard rolled their eyes, while Priya barely paid any mind to them.
Mila- “ Yes, yes, uneducated and whatever. Underlevelers are the same way, what’s your point?”
Zude-” Well, I recently found out that among those there’s a very small number of a few categorized as genetically ‘clean and original’, who are spoiled beyond belief”.
-” As in…biologicaly pure? No enhancements, no prosthetics?…And they sent us one of those to the Playground?”, asked a calmer Elina.
Zude -” Well…because of their…” culture”…their rate of snappers is higher than the rest of our citizens. And this guy, my patient, Allan Dumeris, snapped alongside some girl, and became a pair of serial killers in their compound. Which we never knew about because the Society never reported it; they executed the girl and captured Allan on their own. So, to get rid of that man-slaughterer wreck, and test out the R.O.C, they offered him and a C.T.D as well. And…well…”
-” You didn’t stop to think twice and accepted the deal because it was so dirt cheap?”asked Robert, scraping deeply into the temple of his holographic nose. “ I made fun of Elina for being stingy this year, but holy shit Zude, you really took the cake. Having a wild card is one thing, but a psychopath with no understanding of rules or basic anything is on another whole level”.
The others silently agreed with the assessment. With every single criticism he received, Zude once again sank further in his seat, crushed under the shame of the situation. He apologized to Elina again
Zude -” Listen, Allan will probably tank us this year, so you’re definitely going to take over my rank. So enjoy it for now, and all I hope is that your team manages to avoid him and Medusa for the rest of the competition. And my biggest hope is that whoever he attacks next will eliminate him for good. “
The rest were unsatisfied with the nothing that was agreed upon, but neither wanted to skew the game’s system for a single anomaly. They usually tend to correct themselves, anyway, just like Zude said..
It was as if a sour cloud of silent awkwardness rose above them, but they knew that further talks about the subject were of no use. And, as a recognized hater of silence, Ekapol tried to dispel the cloud by changing the subject matter to another thing they hadn’t gone over.
Ekapol -” So, uhm, Robert, Alvara, with no disrespect, was that really your child out there?”.
Surprisingly, neither of them raised their voice or got irritated by the question. They expected the collective to be intrigued by it, but the subject bored them so much they both responded in a lethargic demeanor.
-” Yes. Right?”, replied Alvara. “ We checked the records, and I think we had her, like 20, 21 years ago, can’t really remember. Robert, was she the girl we had through natural means? I can’t pinpoint the moment, I think I had like three others the same way around that time”.
-” We had a girl? I thought you only had boys with me and the rest of the kids were done with the other mates. Is that really my daughter?”, Robert asked with the same mild surprise someone would ask about unforeseen weather.
Alvara -” Can’t remember man, but I believe Milla can confirm since, you know, she helped the little brat enter. Milla, mam, did you…”
-” She’s yours, you dimwits. She demanded to test her genealogy before she would become our representative”, yelled Milla, with the reprise of an old goat.
Alvara -” Oh really, so one of my kids turned out to be somewhat competent? Well, in terms of hacking skills at least, she still needs to learn something about showboating; like timing for example”.
-” And a vaster vocabulary”, completed Robert.
Samuel -” Oh, but that just proves that try as you might to mix oil around with other liquids, part of it never manages to blend in. It still looks and ‘talks’ like oil, eh Robert? Didn’t that little speech of hers remind you of someone’s sanguine outburst, eh ol’ boy?”, asked Samuel with the biggest grin he could summon.
The third ranker wanted to say something in return but knew that whatever comeback he tried would blow back in his face. “Ugh….sure, you can have this one Samuel”.
-” Still, whatever she learned about the C.T.Ds wasn’t from me”, said Milla. “ She probably discovered something when she connected to Sovereign; tsz, I underestimated her abilities, to be honest. But, since she agreed to continue playing, I’m guessing that she hasn’t found the whole truth. Still, we do have a counter against her claims- Samuel, at what stage are we with your plan?”
Samuel -” We are done, madam, we are done! The network is already buzzing with rumors and our bots are posting lots of controversial information about it. You know, these online little talks about the former competitors have always been a bit of a thorn, especially in the sales department, but finally having an occasion to crush them is…so liberating”.
The man appeared very satisfied and pleased with himself, sporting a wide smile, bulging eyes, and blushing cheeks up to the ears. Priya, Robert, and Zude appeared to have been the first ones to catch on to what he meant, each misunderstanding the situation in their own way.
Out of nowhere, Milla started a coughing fit and Samuel immediately tried to signal a medical team to enter, but she stopped him, continuing as if nothing had happened.
Milla -” Well, we could never explain everything the way we wanted, so will ‘confirm’ Syna’s suspicion, while also giving the customers half of the truth. Kinda. And now, finally, we can go back to business as usual”, she said while raising a glass as if victory was already assured. The rest happily followed her example and toasted to: “Getting back to business.”