Company - Max Barry [109]
The words tear themselves from her chest. “We're a study.”
“One of the reasons this is good news,” Jones continues, “is you can now access Alpha's project files from any computer in the building. They're on network drive R. Another is you can get a live feed from the cameras without having to visit the level-13 monitoring room. There's sound and everything. I'm told the picture's a little jerky, but still—” This is as far as he gets before Blake drags him out of his chair.
Freddy clicks through drive R. At first he gets nowhere, because everything is organized by project name. Then he finds a directory of employee files, which contains one called CARLSON-F. Inside is a cross-reference of every project Freddy has apparently been involved in. There are five. The first, Project 161, is titled WITHHELD REWARDS AND MOTIVATION. Beneath that, in INSTRUCTIONS, it says: BLOCK ALL PROMOTIONS REGARDLESS OF PERFORMANCE.
It's Gretel's first day back at work. She is feeling a lot better; people aren't hammering the switchboard today. She has a feeling that she might even be able to sneak out for a proper lunch.
The board blinks at her. “Good afternoon, reception.”
“Gretel? It's Holly Vale, from Staff Services. Can you come upstairs?”
“I'm on the phones.”
“I know. But there's something you need to see.”
Elizabeth emerges guiltily from Roger's office. Her body is tensed, ready for the accusation: What have you been doing in there? But it doesn't come. In fact, the department is curiously quiet. She looks up. There's nobody in sight.
She does a double take the first time she passes a cubicle. There are five or six people crammed in there, clumped around a monitor. None are making a sound. Curious and a little bemused, she comes up behind them and stands on tiptoe to peer over their shoulders. She sees the screen. At first it makes no sense. Then it does, and her hand creeps down to her abdomen.
Blake gets Jones by the shirt lapels and shakes. Jones's head bounces against the carpet. “What have you done?”
“Let him go,” Eve says, on her feet.
Blake takes his hands back as if Jones is infectious.
“This is what we're going to do,” Eve says. “We're going to level 13, right now. We'll take it from there.”
Freddy discovers a file for Megan, and inside is her home phone number. He pushes through the crowd of people to get to his phone and dials.
“Hello?”
“Megan? It's Freddy Carlson.” There's a pause, so he adds, “From Zephyr?”
“Oh! Sorry, of course! I just didn't expect to hear from you. What's going on?”
“Well,” Freddy says.
It's a tight squeeze in the elevator, but the entirety of Project Alpha gets into it. In the close quarters, they mostly avoid Jones's eyes, except for Blake, who stares at him with outright hostility, and Tom, who looks plaintive. Halfway up, Tom says, “You haven't really, have you, Jones?”
“Don't be a dick, Tom,” Blake says.
“But why? Jones, why would you do something like that?”
“Because they deserve better,” Jones says. “And because I don't.”
Nobody responds to this. When they reach the monitoring room, they stare at the monitors in utter silence.
Then Eve screams.
It's short and sharp: a sound of pure frustration. Everyone jumps, including Jones. Blake, sounding shaken, says, “Jesus, Eve.”
“Did you think I was kidding?” she yells at Jones. “My God, did you?”
“No, Eve.”
She yanks her cell phone out of her bag. “You watch those monitors. And keep this in mind: this is your fault. I warned you what would happen if you told them. You're doing this.”
Nobody is angry; they're too stunned. “It's a joke,” says an accountant on level 7, but nobody responds. It doesn't feel like a joke. They look at their desks. Their in-boxes, piled high with fruitless tasks. It feels like Zephyr is making sense for the first time.
The voice-mail lights all come on at the same time. A murmur sweeps through the building. Hands reach for phones.
“Hello to all staff from Human Resources