Stand Against Infinity Read Online Free Page A

Part of the problem or part of the
solution?”
    “Part of the problem,” said a co-worker.
    “Exactly.” The chief supervisor pressed a
button at the terminal and the man screamed as the machine ripped
him apart. H662 jerked his head aside to turn away. He couldn't
help it. There were popping and grinding noises and then it was
over. It only lasted seconds, but it seemed like forever before the
man had died. And then everyone went back to work, walking their
separate ways, unwilling to comment on it further. It was as if it
had never happened.
    All day long, H662 could not get the man’s
screams out of his head or the smell of burning flesh. He tried to
ignore his feelings of horror, but they crept up upon him and he
could not stop it. It was not until later in the day that he
realized a new feeling had replaced it. Anger.
    That afternoon he heard a different scream
from the foreman’s office. He was alarmed, imagining that some
violent person must have broken in to the office and was ransacking
it. Promptly he left his station and ran quickly to the office.
    When he opened the door, he was horrified by
the destruction in the room. A man was tearing pictures from the
wall. He prepared to call security, but before he turned to the
door the man turned around and it was his foreman! His shirt was
soiled and his hair disheveled. He squatted and lifted the front of
his desk to tip it over. As he did so, two large security men
deftly stepped around H662 and approached the foreman from both
sides. They each grabbed an arm and the desk fell back into
place.
    Just behind security, the chief supervisor
stepped into view. “What are you doing, sir?”
    “Dead! He’s dead!” H662 had never heard such
despair in his voice.
    “I realize that, sir,” said the chief
supervisor. And then with a flat passionless voice he said, “I am
sorry for your loss.”
    “Are you! Are you really?” The foreman tried
to shake free, but security had too firm a hold of him.
    “Sir, might I remind you that you are either
part of the solution or part of the problem. Right now when I look
at you I do not see solutions.”
    The foreman screamed, dropped to the floor,
momentarily freeing himself of security. Then he lunged over the
desk at the chief supervisor. He almost got both hands around the
man’s neck when the two men from security grabbed his legs and
pulled back. Once back from the desk, both of them fell on him,
holding him to the ground.
    “There can be no doubt about it now,” said
the chief supervisor. “You are part of the problem.”
    “Me?” yelled the foreman. “Part of the
problem? Am I? Am I really? Who is the problem around here?”
    The chief supervisor signaled to the guards
and they roughly took him away. As the chief supervisor returned to
his duties, H662 stood numb at what he had just witnessed.
     

Chapter 11
    That night, H662 arrived at home late, as he
usually did. It was a sign that he was a productive citizen and he
generally felt good about it. However, tonight he had mixed
feelings. He thought about his foreman as he took the elevator to
the floor of his apartment. As he entered his place, he had to
squint to see since the lights were off. He expected his daughter
to be asleep, but not his wife. She must have turned in early.
    He walked toward the bedroom and opened the
door. His wife lay on her side in the dimness of the room. “Welcome
home,” she said.
    “Thanks.” H662 took a deep breath and
exhaled. He felt tired, so he dressed down for bed. He looked up at
his wife. “I was wondering.”
    “Yes?” she asked
    “Are we close?”
    “Close? We’re married. We’ve had a child
together. Can you get any closer than that?”
    “I mean, like if something were to happen to
me, would it matter to you?” asked H662.
    “Like if you died?”
    “Yes. Like that.”
    “Well, I’d have to find a way to afford the
apartment, and I’d have to raise our daughter on my own.”
    “Sure,” he said.