T-5 to Employee #3,357,921’s Liquidation
Three: Hey Free
Free: Hellooooooo
Three: You seem in a good mood!
Free: Yup. Yup Yup! So how’d you make that program?
Three: Well…
Free: Come on tell me, it might get me more interested in CorpoCode!
Three: I don’t know, it seems kind of late for that…
Free: Pleeeeaaassseeeeee
Three: Alright. You know how Vid-Jail sucks right? Lol, of course you do. Well, some jealous prick…
Free: Who? Who was the jealous prick?
Three: Not important. So…
Free: Important, definitely absolutely important, how am I supposed to relax into storytime without a proper name for the antagonist?
Three: He wasn’t the an… well fine. You remember Yarn?
Free: ….? Oh, Yawn! That rat-bastard! Yeah, whatever happened to him?
Three: Am I allowed to finish the story now? We don’t have all day here Free.
Free: Yeah yeah, continue
Three: With your permission… ThreeMe.img
Free scrambled to tap on the image file. It was of Three with his pupils rotated up, nearly to the back of his skull. At the corner of the image was his middle finger half crept into the frame.
Free: LOL, is that what the Supe office looks like? That rig looks nice.
Three: You wouldn’t believe the cushioning on here it’s insane. That alone was worth the promotion. I don’t think I could ever go back to those rock-rigs again. You poor drones…
Free: >:^O
Three: Outrageous I know, not nearly as outrageous as the absolute comfort in which I spend my days. It would be too much for you.
Free: Try me! Those taters… drool.img
Free: You tried clicking it didn’t you? >:-)
Three: dammit Free…
Free: SO… are you actually going to tell me that story?
Three: Infuriating. Yes. Well, maybe. I’m feeling a bit undecided now. The momentum is gone.
Free: Noooo how am I supposed to focus without Three StoryTime?!
Three: I mean, what do I get for spending my time on the story, I could be spending this time on truly enjoyable activities like fixing that stack…
Free: What do you get the Corpo-Boy who has everything?
Three: Hmmmmm if only there was something…
Free: I promise to pay absolute attention to whatever CorpoCode you want to teach me afterwards.
Three: Hmmmm, deal. If you promise.
Free: I, Free, do so promise to not get super bored and actually pay attention to your super boring CorpoCode lecture. superSerious.img
Three clicked it, it was a picture of Three with an overly stern face and four fingers raised up next to her head and her thumb was tucked in tight. A ridiculous person’s version of taking an oath.
Three: Dork. Fine. So it was a piece of code that my great-great-grandfather or someone way back had made, that’s actually the basis of what we’re chatting in right now. Anyway, my grandfather made the precursor program when they first introduced Vid-Jail. Apparently, he used to get sent there all the time. When I got sent there they had added some new Compliance-Tracking things, mostly eye-tracking goodies, so I modified it a bit. Most of the stuff they have you write in there is super basic anyway. It might not get everything perfect but you only need a 98% accuracy to finish the lesson so even the program can handle it.
Free: That’s not the story you were telling me! What about Yawn!
This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
Three: Oh now you want TWO stories? Yawn pinched my work too many times and I sideloaded a… heavily modified version of that program into his tablet.
Free: That’s when he was stuck in Vid-jail for an entire day! He missed his shift… didn’t he get liquidated for that?
Three: Trust me he had done plenty of things to be liquidated well before that, and actually no he didn’t, he got transferred and later got fried during a hack.
That wasn’t the full story but it was technically correct. The best kind of correct.
Free: Well that story was a bit of a letdown. I swear it’s having us do mostly free work.
Three: Nah, as a Supe I have access to nearly all the training material anyway. Although the “Code in Practice” section at the end…
Free: *spits blood in disgust* it’s free work! I knew it!
Three: lol technically yes it is… So anyway… now with that super exciting story out of the way…
Free: It’s lesson time isn’t it? scaredFree.me
Three: lol yeah, I’ve been trying to lock you down on this for a while… Corporate DataStream and Packet Manipulation in Ad-Hoc Environments!
Free: You’re evil. Pure, unadulterated, evil.
Three: Yeah yeah, tell it to the Sea. So anyways… SolveThis.prblm
Free: Dear sweet Synth-Steak… gone before I knew ye
Three: You’ll never get one of those with that attitude.
Her stomach grumbled and she started working.
“Hey Tenney, thanks for coming in.”
Tenney bowed genially.
Before him were three Supervisors, a Senior in the middle and flanking them to either side was another Supervisor.
One of them was Three. Tenney held off a scowl. The Senior Supervisor did not. Tenney swallowed through the sand in his throat.
Three asked with a warm smile, “So. How are you liking the role? Do you think you are fitting in well?”
“Yes Sir. Sirs and Madam. I truly feel appreciative of the opportunity the Corporation has chosen to entrust to me by Promoting me to Assistant Supervisor.”
The three Supervisors nodded and he felt a drop of sweat move down his back.
The next words came from the female supervisor on the other side of the Senior in the middle, “We could not help but notice that the quality of your CorporateCode has varied quite a bit during the last few months as well as the inconsistency with following CorporateDocumentation guidelines. As an Assistant Supervisor, I’m sure I don’t have to tell you how important providing technical documentation is, correct?”
“Of course Madam Supervisor… There has been a slight learning curve but I truly feel more balanced and ready to continue serving the Corporation’s interests, I am confident that it will be more accurately reflected in my next Quarterly Employee Review.”
She didn’t let it go, “Perhaps I misunderstood…”
The back of Tenney’s rigsuit was plastered against his skin now.
“I sincerely hope you are not implying that there would have been some sort of user-error committed in the process of your Quarterly Employee Review, you aren’t, are you? That would be a quite serious allegation.”
Her eyes were hard and unyielding. Dammit, he suspected this situation had to be from Three.
Three looked back at Tenney from staring at the wall, “Madam Supervisor, I am sure the Assistant Supervisor did not mean that, did you?”
“Uh no! No Sir Supervisor I did not.”
Why was Three bailing him out?
Three whirled his two fingers on the side of his tablet before swiping something from his tablet to his fellow Supervisors. The Senior Supervisor glanced down at his tablet briefly and the Madam Supervisor seemed to intently study the information.
“It appears here you have been quite involved in Personnel matters, the ratio of Personnel Complaints and Employee Complaints for your entire CodeSubSection is particularly high, nearly 84% higher than any other group in this Section. Why is that?”
Tenney’s throat had gone from uncomfortably dry to the very edge of nearly swallowing his tongue.
“Ah um, I’m… Esteemed Supervisors, I simply desired to improve the Employees working under me and weed out inefficiencies.”
The Senior Supervisor leaned forward, “Impudent! We should liquidate you as you stand.”
Tenney bowed deeply from the waist and held it. His back started to ache almost immediately.
“My sincerest apologies Honored Senior Supervisor, I meant no disrespect, if I have committed any offense it is my sincerest wish to remedy it.”
He heard the Senior lean back into his seat with a small creak.
“Do you think it is appropriate for an ASSISTANT Supervisor to judge who is fit and who is not to be an Employee of this Corporation? Do you think you are capable of that? Truly?”
Tenney felt his throat closing up.
Three was a bit conflicted here. On one hand, Tenney probably suspected that he was responsible for calling a Supe Review on him. Well, he wasn’t wrong. On the other hand, he’d known him since they were little. He nearly tsked audibly, they’d been friends since they were children. Tenney had always disliked Free but he’d also protected Tenney from being bullied when they were children too.
It was a shame that the kid became a such bully when he was given the opportunity. It’d probably go bad for Tenney soon, Three doubted that the guy would make it past the Clandestine First-Year Annual Review for Assistant Supervisors anyway. He’d either get shipped to another CodeFarm at best or liquidated at worst. Three didn’t really know why he even called this Review, it was pointless anyways. He was feeling protective of Three, that was the only conclusion that made any sense to him. Foolish.
“Senior Supervisor? If I may?”
The Senior Supervisor didn’t break off his glare directed at Tenney but he did nod to allow the request.
“I believe that the overzealous nature of Assistant Supervisor #14,942 was simply that, overzealousness. It is my honest belief that this Review and a Semi-Official Pending-Probationary Reprimand would be sufficient punishment to correct his misguided behavior. I think he still has room to be of use to the Corporation.”
A soft tap-tap-tap rang out through the room. The Senior Supervisor was thinking.
The Senior seemed to reach a decision, “You are lucky that you were raised to Maturity with Supervisor Three, I’ve seen plenty of Assistant Supervisors get liquidated in that very spot in which you are standing right now. And for much less serious offenses. Madam Supervisor if you may recount the Semi-Official Probationary-Reprimand for the Assistant Supervisor as well as elucidate him on his fundamentally lacking understanding of the Corporate Structure.”
“Of course Senior Supervisor. Assistant Supervisor Tenney, your obligations stretch little further than showing your potential for leadership and your ability to handle more rigorous CodeModifications. You are not to deem yourself capable of ‘weeding out’ Employees or taking it upon yourself to file reports, spurious or otherwise unless under the explicit direction of a Supervisor…”
Tenney’s back continued to ache as her voice droned onwards. He felt like he was in a fugue state, blinding pain in his back and a desperate need to listen to every word spoken from the Madam Supervisor’s mouth. She wasn’t quick.
