The Machine

     "Cecilia Pechman, report to the main office, boss wants y'a."

     The loudspeaker rang across the Dyson sphere factory. My coworkers snickered at my name, all with blind eyes.

     "Go on Cecilia! Show us how much of a man you are! Go talk to the boss!"

     Their fragile masculinity shown ever so bright for all to see. I was always picked on by my coworkers for having a woman's name despite being a man; as far back as I could remember.

     I ignored them and started toward the main office. I can't remember doing anything wrong, why would the boss wanna speak with me? I haven't been up there since a few months ago when Lecter fell into the molding pit and I had to answer a few questions. It was nothing all too uncommon. The large company I worked for, Sphere X, the leading brand in Dyson spheres, could care less about their employees. When one fell, another took its place. The day after Lecter fell I saw another man working the molding pit like nothing had happened.

     I entered the elevator and when it scanned my internal chip the voice activated, "Hello Mr. Pechman, what floor would you like to go to?" It was supposed to sound like a young man's voice but after many years of use, the voice box had fallen into disrepair. It sounded more like an old man with a scratchy voice from too many e-cigs growing up then any young man I've talked to.

     "The main office please." It acknowledged my request and I felt the elevator start it's way up the shaft.

     I reached the top and the doors whirred open. I walked into the office that overlooked the entire factory. A rocket with a fresh load of Dyson spheres launched in the distance.

     "It's beautiful is it not?" The boss watched the rocket lift up into the sky, admiring the engineering, time, and money that that rocket was carrying.

     "Depends on who you ask. Ask the poor man and he'll tell you it's a waste of resources. Ask the rich man and he'll tell you it's an investment." I didn't care for his banter and just wanted to cut to the chase.

     "And you?" The boss turned to me in his chair.

     The question caught me off guard and there was a brief silence, "... It's satisfying to watch all my hard work go somewhere useful." That was the basic feeling at least.

    A soft smile crossed his face, "That's exactly why the Council dropped this off to me directly today." He motioned for me to come closer as he slid a document across his desk.

     I slowly came toward the desk and picked up the document. A heavy feeling washed over me when I saw it had the Council's stamp along with big red letters saying "Confidential" on it. I opened it and it read:

To Cecilia Pechman,

We hope this letter finds you in good health and high spirits. You have been selected to be the new Lamb for the Machine. You have been selected for your exceptional engineering ability and abnormal personality. Please report to the Capitol Building tomorrow. You will receive further instructions there.

-Praise the Machine, the Council

My hands shook and I could feel my heart begin to race.

     "Have whatever belongings you have here packed by the end of the day."

     I nodded and retreated into the elevator. It activated and the scratchy voice spoke, "Hello Mr. Pechman, what floor would you like to go to?" I couldn't answer it quite yet. The Lamb was the person who maintains the Machine. Only one person gets it every generation and the people chosen are chosen for undisclosed reasons. There are only two fates for Lambs, they either commit suicide due to stress or run away and go missing. A lose lose scenario.