Page 79 of Colin Gets Promoted and Dooms the World
Our oracles have forecast an auspicious planetary alignment tomorrow (Monday, June 18th) at 16:43 local time. If the board is unable to resolve this Level 5 event, intervention from Management will follow, resulting in a permanent shuttering of our New York operations and the immediate termination of all employee contracts.
Should we survive, I look forward to welcoming you back to work on Tuesday morning.
Sincerely,
Ms.Crenshaw
Lex stared down at their phone. “Well, shit.”
“What is it?” Amira asked.
“You wanted to know what our colleagues are doing?” I said to her. “The executive board is going to try to bind…uh, I mean, stop these disappearances tomorrow night.”
“Okay. That’s good, right?”
“I’m not sure.” Reading Ms.Crenshaw’s email again, I looked up at the others. “My boss said this morning that Management expects the board to fail.”
Lex frowned. “Why would They order the board to do something that won’t succeed?”
Leaning back, I stared out the window while thoughts chased one another through my brain. “I think Management is up to something,” I said at last.
They both looked at me in expectant silence.
“Think about it. They could have ended all of this days ago. Instead, They’ve sat back and done nothing, even after we were attac—” I stopped and cleared my throat. “Um. Anyhow. I can’t shake the feeling that Managementwantsthe board to fail.”
“That doesn’t make sense,” Lex objected. “What would They gain from doing that?”
“I have no idea. But it’s weird, right?”
“I dunno. Maybe.”
“This company sounds pretty dysfunctional,” Amira observed.
“Among other things,” I agreed. Glancing over at Lex’s backpack, still sitting on the floor, I asked them, “Do we take what we found to Ms.Crenshaw?”
Lex’s eyebrows slowly drew together. “An hour ago, I would have said yes, especially now that we have Amira on board. But you’ve made me suspicious.” They ran both hands along their mohawk as they frowned at the floor. “If Management really is setting up the board to fail, then going to Crenshaw would be a waste of time. Plus, we’d be giving up the one real opportunity we have to end this.”
“So we do this ourselves. The three of us.” I gave them both a smile that fell somewhere between determined and terrified. Neither looked particularly reassured.
“I’m taking a lot on faith here,” Amira said after a lengthy pause. “I believe you when you say you want to stop whatever is happeningout there, but this company you work for, the math you’re asking me to do…” She trailed off, her expression troubled.
“I know it’s a lot,” I said quietly. “And I wish we didn’t have to keep things so mysterious. Please trust me when I say it’s for a good reason, though.”
“I do trust you.” Her gaze moved to Lex and she smiled faintly. “Both of you.”
Lex’s pale features reddened and they took a sudden interest in the sofa’s faded upholstery, smoothing it repeatedly with one hand.
“Okay. Let’s figure out how to—” My phone vibrated again in my hand and I glanced down at the screen. It was Lying Jerkface again. Suddenly irritated beyond all reason, I decided to answer, rising to my feet with a growl and stalking toward my bedroom. “What do you want?” I demanded as I closed the door behind me.
There was a pause before Eric said quietly, “Hi.”
My chest tightened at the sound of his voice. “What do you want, Eric?” I asked again, more roughly this time.
He exhaled. “I need to talk to you. In person. Please.”
“I don’t want to hear another apology. It would just be a lie.”
“Colin.” He stopped abruptly and I heard him draw a deep breath. Then, in a level tone, he said, “I have something that can help against the thing that’s out there. A weapon.”
