Qamar Al-Zaman

Chapter Three

Qamar was now twenty-four years old. For the past six years, he had not been able to find any work, and his hopes for a happy life were shrinking. His only way to get money was to plead with the bank to loan him some, and one of his pleas was going on today, "I want you to loan me money to try a new treatment, for the migraine operation I had did not improve my condition."

"We told you over and over that we won't loan you anything and that you have to find a job to support yourself and pay off your debts."

"I looked for work everywhere and was rejected before I was even given the opportunity to prove myself."

"Well, have you tried looking for work in electronics assembly factories or in the construction of sports stadiums?"

"No, the workplaces you are talking about belong to the gray-eyed people."

"No, the owners of these places are actually spectral-eyed people."

"But everyone working there is gray-eyed and I hate them and I don't want to interact with them."

"Who said that you need to interact with them? Just focus on your work and forget about them."

"But why are gray-eyed people allowed to work there in the first place?"

"Because their wages are cheap, and that is better for production."

Qamar knew that doing construction work for sports stadiums was dangerous and its salary and working hours were not any different from those in the factories. And so, the next day, Qamar chose to look for work in electronics assembly factories.

At the factory, Qamar met the factory owner, Mr. Baqaa, who actually had spectral eyes as Qamar had been told at the bank. Mr. Baqaa agreed to hire Qamar. He explained the work duties to Qamar, saying, "Your job is to assemble smartphone parts. You will work twelve hours per day. As for the wage, the first six months will be an unpaid internship. After that, your wage will be ten dinars a month. If you do not like these terms, you can refuse. There are thousands of others who wish for an opportunity like this.

"Ah, and before I forget, this is a form stating that you won't end your life in the factory. You have to sign it like the rest of the workers, for when a worker ends his life in the factory, this leaves a negative impact on the rest of the workers and therefore lowers their productivity. This waste is in addition to the time spent carrying the body and cleaning the place after it. And here we are in the midst of fierce competition, and we can't afford anything that would weaken our production."

When Qamar signed all the papers, the factory director called on one of the workers to escort Qamar to the workplace. On the way there, The First Man welcomed Qamar, but Qamar looked at him with contempt, The First Man said then, "Well, it seems that you do not want to talk. Anyways, we have now reached the sector where you will be working. The workers here will show you how they assemble phone parts. And don't worry if you do not get it the first time; you will find them repeating the exact same actions countless times. We spend our whole lives here repeating the exact same actions."

The First Man then asked the workers in that sector to treat Qamar well, and then he left.

***

Six months passed in the factory and Qamar never spoke to any of his coworkers. One day, The Second Man tried to open a dialogue with Qamar by offering him a red pill. The First Man happened to be there, and as soon as he saw that, he came and hit The Second Man's hand, throwing away the pill. The First Man then said to The Second Man, "Do not give him things that will hurt him."

The Second Man then said, "That pill brings great pleasure. And even if he does not want to take it, he can trade it around. Everyone here wants it."

As they were talking, another worker jumped over to the fallen red pill, took it, and ran away quickly.