Данный рассказ к сфере никакого отношения не имеет. Его предыстория такова: в универе у нас был такой предмет - "Creative Writing". Суть его заключалось в том, что мы писали всякие рассказики на английском, на разные темы, и в сумме надо было набрать, если не ошибаюсь, 15 страниц текста 12 шрифта 1,5 промежуток. У меня листов катастрофически не хватало, а так как можно было и вольные рассказы в таких случаях сдавать, я это и сделал - написал сие произведение
В общем, кто знает английский, тому флаг в руки
“The personal identification number is correct – you are
now welcome to enter the room.”
Time: 241 in the morning
Date: day 134 in Jupiter, year 108 n. o.
- Whoosh!
The automatic doors with photo elements above the entrance opened in front of him with a bit of delay, just as usually. He did not seem to recognize this immediately, so he stared at the open way into the building for a glimpse of a second, and only then, as if being awakened by a man, who came by from behind, entered the hall of the first floor. Joe, that is the name, looked around. He did not notice any changes in the hall; in fact, it actually was the same as the previous day.
The hall was quite large, as IT-companies like
Softomatica usually don’t grudge money on nice, roomy and beautiful headquarters. The floor of the hall was made of pure marble, in different colours; in the very middle of it a large emblem of the company was inlayed with mosaic, about 10 meters in diameter. A palm tree stood near the window, which looked out onto the highway. Right in front of the entrance, on the opposite side of the hall, an enormous white statue of Bill Gates was rising for a height of 14 meters.
Yes, it was exactly thanks to this guy the whole IT industry has been created and thus it was thanks to this guy Joe got his first job exactly in this company a year ago, just after leaving college. It was a steady job, with a fixed salary, not very high, though, but with a separate office, on the 34th floor, with no other people around bothering him. He did not quite like what he was doing, nevertheless Joe was fully satisfied with his job, as to his thoughts there should never be hesitation whether to choose something clearly seen and reliable, even though not so desirable, or something interesting, but vague
Every day (except Saturdays and Sundays) he got up at 64 in the morning in order to perform all his usual activities – tooth cleaning, morning work-out, shower and breakfast, which usually consisted of one chicken pill, two potato tablets and a glass of fresh water extract.
After that he put on his gray suit, took his rain shield and communication combine, and went out into the street to wait for a regular bus – #142DR in his case -, as he did not have his personal car yet. The bus - consisting of several coaches, using air-cushion, powered by solar batteries, to move around - came at 153, in fact quite loaded with people, as many were going to work at about the same time. Although there was almost absolutely no place in the bus, and the Sun was shining brightly, it wasn’t hot and stuffy inside, as the air-conditioners were turned on for a temperature of A4S. It is hard to imagine how actually proud Joe was at the moment – he knew that all the equipment of that bus, as well as the other buses of that company, were equipped with software
Softomatica produces.
Time: 242 in the morning
Date: day 134 in Jupiter, year 108 n. o.
Joe hesitated for a moment and then made his way to one of the elevators. There were about 50 more people waiting for it to come, but it is a normal number for these nuclear-powered high-speed elevators, which are capable of transporting even more passengers at the same time.
In a couple of quantiseconds the elevator was there and the doors opened. Whole of the crowd floated into it, accompanied by mumbling and chattering about current stock rates, prospects of the new product to come in 2 cycles’ time, professionalism and competence of the new executive director, and many other useful (until a certain point) talks. Anyway, Joe was fully concentrated on his job. Today he had a lot of things to do – sign loads of documents, contracts, agreements, and other things “needed to sustain the profitability of the company”, as Joe used to say himself. Not very hard things though.
The elevator stopped on the 34th floor. Joe and a couple of other people came out. OK, now got to get to room 3486. Joe took the ID-card out of his pocket and inserted it into the greedy-looking mouth of the electronic sensor on the wall near the door. “Please, would you be so kind to enter your personal identification number!” said a female voice from a small speaker near the sensor. 3, 7, 6, a, b, 0. “The personal identification number is correct – you are now welcome to enter the room,” the same voice continued, as the door opened in front of Joe.
In his small room quite a few simple furniture could be found – a table with built-in communication center, brightness control and a few hot keys, such as “Coffee”, “Office-cleaner”, “Head of managing department”, “Head of accounting department”, other heads of bla-bla departments, and a big red “Boss – do not bother except in case the world is dying”-button under a plastic cover with a code lock; a black chair with leather arms; a hall-stand; and an on-wall screen. No windows, by the way. It was obvious, as the room actually did not have a wall, which was an outer wall of the building itself. Quite depressing sometimes, as a feeling of being locked inside a box is not always a very pleasant one. Still, Joe was used to it, so it was impressively rare when he felt any inconveniencies concerning that.
He came near the table, sat down in the chair and turned on the communication center to scan the news. “Gay parade in Amsterdam,” he read. “These people definitely need a good doctor,” he told himself once again. He was always afraid of such people. Why? He could never tell. Perhaps, it was because they were somewhat different from the thing considered to be common and usual, something outside this world. Besides, it was even abusing for him to recognize that in the eyes of these people he was just an object, just someone they would like to… But it’s not the point, sorry.
Time: 156 in the afternoon
Date: day 134 in Jupiter, year 108 n. o.
This time he had finished earlier than usually, so a wide smile was covering half of his face. Nevertheless, Joe felt somewhat tired.
It was time for dinner now, and he had to chose, whether to go to the headquarters cafeteria on the 20th floor, to order the dinner to the room or to go home and eat something there (but nothing he wanted was present in the food depositary). He chose the second option, so the dinner was served to him in 20 minutes by automatic food supply machine, which had a food distributing network all over the building. He ordered Pepperoni pizza extract this time - sometimes he liked to eat something chilly. He waited, as the extract slowly melted in his mouth. He took some coke with it, and started to gather his case to go home at last.
Time: 87 in the evening
Date: day 134 in Jupiter, year 108 n. o.
Home, sweet home. At least now he could get some rest from his work. All these contracts, agreements, papers… Who needs them anyway?
He took of his clothes and had a shower. After that he came into his bedroom and pressed a “Have a nap”-button on the wall. A square-shaped bed appeared from the floor, right beside the place Joe was standing. Alarm clock for 64 in the morning… Tomorrow’s Sevday, so the weekend already started the day after tomorrow. This felt quite good and reassuring, so Joe was falling asleep in a happy mood…
Time: Hell knows
Date: About the same thing as time
…I walked along the corridor. Strangely enough. There were no lamps, just… white light, pouring from the walls, the floor, the ceiling. Sometimes you just want to bury your head in the sand, and that’s exactly the way I felt at the moment. Knowing nothing, expecting everything… Doors, doors, doors all around me. I did not know what’s behind them. Perhaps, I didn’t even want to know. I was dripping with cold sweat; I was as limp as rags. Why
me?.. What have I done wrong in my life? I was always working like a dog, not sparing myself. And now I am
here, thrashing around like a fish on the ice. What should I do? Should I continue going forward or should I open some door? As if I was the stray lamb in the middle of the forest. You go further and further because it’s easier. You get cold feet, when you come nearer to a door. You don’t know what’s behind it. No one knows. Anyway, there is no one around to ask. So you go further along the corridor. It
is easier. At least you are already confident – it’s a long one, as you cannot see the end. Thus, you… know the future, you can predict it… at least till the moment you see the end. But it’s a long corridor. Probably, there is no end. Who knows… By the way, what is happening? A very unpleasant feeling, as if someone breathes down my neck… all the time… Where the heck am I? Maybe, I am in heaven?.. No, no, it’s impossible, don’t pull my leg! This is not the way they pictured it. Where are the angels?.. Where is the Paradise?.. I don’t see them. No, it can’t be true! Butterflies in my stomach… Oh, come on, keep your chin up, and that lump in the throat – swallow it! Go on, open a door, try your luck! But what if there will be… another corridor?.. What will I do then?.. I certainly don’t wish anybody to be in my skin! This can make you go crazy. Me too… Some abnormal situation, you cannot explain anything… Maybe, I’ve already gone crazy, these are just my illusions? No, I do not want to believe in
that.
Have got to find the way out. Somehow… Anyhow…
- What the?..
- Whoosh!
The automatic doors with photo elements above the entrance opened in front of him with a bit of delay.
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