Theo walked into the elevator doors of the lobby of the 2,722 foot tower. he pressed the button labeled penthouse, readying himself for a two-minute elevator ride. But, to his surprise, the glass elevator rocketed upwards at an astonishing speed, causing his fear of heights to kick in, forcing him to grab the railing.
Less than thirty seconds later, he stepped out of the elevator into a small lobby. It was a sliver of a circle, with an oak partition wall with large double doors on one side. Next to the double doors, there was a desk, where a woman with blue glasses sat. Theo walked over to the desk, and opened his mouth to speak.
"Office Drone, I presume?", she noted, before Theo could even introduce himself.
"Ah, yes. Well, I'm here for--"
"Go right on in. Don't keep him waiting, the CEO is a very busy and impatient man," she said, and looked back down at her keyboard.
Theo walked into the large office, which took up the rest of the circular shape. The CEO sat in his tall, black leather chair, smartly dressed as ever. His microphone coiled around his left ear like a snake, the cables hidden behind his freshly gelled hair. He had a rather curious unkempt streak of yellow poking out the front of his slicked-back hairdo, which he had clearly tried to hide multiple times, however, to no avail.
"Theo J. Narrator? Is that who I'm speaking to?", he joked. "I'm just kidding. of course it is! If it weren't, you'd be fired by now! Anyways, welcome to the company, Office Drone!" He smiled warmly. "Just so you know, not just anybody here gets to meet me on their first day. Actually, most people never meet me! Hah! You're just that important, Office Drone!"
Mr. Narrator's insanely cheerful demeanor freaked Theo out for multiple reasons. First of all, it reminded him of his old boss. Secondly, and he could tell this easily because he had a knack for reading body language, he was obviously holding back some kind of immeasurable rage. The way his long, thin fingers gripped the countertop, completely taut, was an easy tell.
"Important? But there are hundreds-- thousands of people working here! This is turning out like a special and powerful protagonist trope!", Theo pointed out, concerned for the sake of the story. He fidgeted with the apparatus on his ear, which had just sent some kind of slightly painful jolt through his body.
"Ah, Drone, you're not the protagonist here. I mean, you're not the protagonist. That's me. You are, however, a protagonist. Slightly more important than the others," he said, trying to make Theo feel better. "And, don't worry, it won't be an annoying special and powerful protagonist trope." He looked at a random corner of the room, as if looking at the camera in a movie. Theo looked in the same direction, and the same jolt of pain shocked his arms and legs. He couldn't help but notice that the CEO was not wearing an ear clip.
"Drone? You there?"
"Yes, yes I am. Just... contemplating."
"Contemplating what?" The CEO asked, suspicious. "How immeasurably important you are to this company? Because you, my friend, are indeed VERY important."
"Me?", Theo asked, curious.
"You don't have to repeat everything I say, Theo," said the CEO, slightly annoyed. "You are the new Officer Of Story Management! You, my friend, get to write a simple, yet detailed story."
"...why? Oh— sorry."
"No, no. That's a perfectly valid question," he said, standing up. "Come on over, Drone." Theo walked over to the other side of the table, now realizing how big the height difference between them really was. Mr. Narrator gestures out the window. "We have our reasons, and they are mainly private, but I can tell you this: You can tell a mouse to escape a maze, but that won't necessarily mean it'll follow your directions. Drone, have you ever read a choose your own adventure book?"
"Yes, I remember those from when I was a child... hah, I can remember that my favorite one was—"
"Journey under the sea, we're the same person, remember? Anyways, I need you to write one. But there's a twist: all of the endings are bad, except for one, which the reader is guided towards."
"That's very dark, I don't know if I can bring myself to- "
"So, you're incapable of doing it? Very well, then...", He said, using Theo's inflated ego against him.
"No, no, no. I'll do it."
"Great! How fast can you write it?", Mr. Narrator asked, clenching his hands. His smile was looking extremely forced now.
"Two months. Any requests for plot or...", Theo trailed off.
"I will send you an email with building schematics, rooms, et cetera, in around ten minutes," the CEO said. He was starting to sweat. "You— you're dismissed. You can go now." He started to talk really fast.
"But sir—"
"ASK ME ANY OTHER QUESTIONS IN AN EMAIL OKAY BYE!!!", he yelled quickly, and Theo was pushed by an invisible force out the doors of the office, which slammed loudly behind him. He heard the click of a lock. He shrugged it off and walked back to his office, eager to start writing.
YOU ARE READING
Theocorp - A Stanley Parable AU
Science FictionWhen 45-year-old Theodore Narrator gets fired from his job as Employee 528 at a large company, he is at a loss for words. His life is already going down the gutter, and this feels like it will be the straw to break the camel's back. But one fateful...
