The Death-Watch

4

I started the day with my usual walk to work. The familiarity of it helped calm my mind from the thoughts of Friday night. The sight of those people dead, and no one caring at all, it shook me. It shook me right down into my very core.

“Floor 3, you know the drill.” came the brusque voice from the same tired supervisor as always. I must have had someone watching over my shoulder because I was rising faster in the company in just a month than I had in all of the past years I had been here.

I met with Jameson, as always, at the doors for the elevator but, much to my pleasant surprise, I found Charlotte waiting there as well. She was chatting animatedly with Jameson and as she saw me, she gave me a little smile that set my mind at ease and made me forget about the events of our date.

“What are you two talking about then?” I asked tepidly. I was hoping it wasn’t me because Jameson, although not a close friend, knew a lot of things I’d rather Charlotte didn’t yet.

“Oh, we’re just talking about how great Father Karl is. Did you know at Charlotte’s last job they had a priest that actually neglected them? It’s difficult to imagine and utterly disgusting, don’t you think?” Jameson spat out, loathing burning in his eyes.

“Oh, right yes, how could you stand it?” I asked, not really caring. It seemed more like a blessing to me, not having to pile into a hot room filled to bursting with sweaty bodies for an hour or more every day.

“I managed, but anyway, do you want to go out again tonight?” Charlotte asked me, much to Jameson’s surprise. “I heard about this great place not far from here. We could go after work if you want?”

I couldn’t help but grin inwardly at the stunned stare Jameson was giving her, as if she had opened her mouth and angels had come out; a look of sheer incomprehension and bafflement.

“Yeah sure, sounds like a plan.”

By this point Jameson had gone an unhealthy white with shock but I’m sure I could see a flash of jealousy in his eyes, a look that gave me a huge amount of pleasure. God might say not to take pleasure in another man’s suffering but at that moment in time Jameson’s face was the second most beautiful piece of art I could have ever dreamed of.

The elevator arrived and we all piled in pressing our respective buttons. Jameson was on floor 6 and gave me yet another death stare as I pressed the button for floor 3 but we both watched, almost in awe, as Charlotte pressed the button for the Archives.

At the bottom of the floor list was a word, a simple word that struck a range of emotions into the hearts of those who heard it. For some it was fear as the floor was said to contain every secret ever hidden by the powers that be. Others were filled with awe at the possibility of holy relics being hidden beneath our vey feet.  Others were filled with trepidation at the possibility of violent prisoners being held in stasis beneath our feet, immune to the effects of their death switches. Only those that ventured there knew and they were sworn to secrecy, on penalty of death.

The elevator descended whilst we made idle chat about nothing significant. Throughout our descent Jameson gave me a look that could curdle milk and it only made my day better. For years I’d had to put up with his smug superiority but now I was rising.

I reached my floor and bid the others farewell before heading to the nearby archway leading into a small space with a total of 10 desks, each piled high with paperwork to be handled.

As I worked I pondered the significance of which floor I worked on, on why it mattered to us all. I had to do the same job on every floor, I had the same sort of people around me and I had the same hours. The only difference was trust. The lower levels only exposed you to common knowledge problems, things that needn’t be kept a secret. But the higher levels, the higher levels fed you secrets that could bring down the empire. It was all about trust and everyone strived to be trusted enough to achieve first floor status.