The factory incident

The drafty air blew on my face from across the room. A familiar sharp sound rang nonstop outside my door. I stretched and dragged myself out of bed, hoping to see who It was. Peeking through the window, I saw Mikens — one of the section overseers working under me. His perpetually starched suit was mostly crumpled in everywhere, slicked-back hair still refusing to settle in a few places. Seeing him at such an ungodly hour meant something was wrong, and he wouldn’t leave until it was dealt with.
I sighed and opened the door.

“Enid, we need your help at the production plants. It’s urgent.”

“Oh, good morning to you too, Mikey. What’s so Important that you had to come to my door this late?”

He straightened his glasses.
“Someone fell into the machine.”

What?

Everything after that blurred. I rushed to the factory in a daze, with Mikens struggling to keep up. From the little I pieced together, little noises were heard from the factory, until they became blood-curdling screams that pierced through the night, with more sounds of crushing.

The front of the factory was chaos. Yellow lines blocking the entrance. Reporters swarming every official they could find. The intense lights of police and paramedic vehicles flashed everywhere. The few workers who lived nearby stood gathered around the entrance, trying to peek inside.
They wanted answers — and so did I.

I approached the nearest official looking person.
“Excuse me,” I said. “My name’s Enid. Enid Ariston. I’m the general manager for this factory, can I know—”

He cut me off quickly. “I’m sorry, Miss Ariston, but our instructions are to seal down the premises for the time being. For any additional information about the incident, you can speak to the Senior Officer in charge.”
He walked away, leaving me with racing thoughts.

Incident?
For all I knew, I could lose my job!

The place I worked — this factory — was a recycling plant. Cycles, the company in charge of an entire chain of factories like this, was one of the biggest in the country. Not only did It sort and distribute plastic, paper, and environmentally hazardous materials, but it was also the largest producer of recyclables and biodegradables in the world. And for the past sixty years, it had held the monopoly under Its head, Soren Verner, entrepreneur extraordinaire.

While his agenda of overtaking and eliminating plastic-based Items sounded noble, those of us at the bottom wished he’d give us a break. You wouldn’t believe how many times I’ve had to explain “extended hours” to the staff. I’m sure they secretly curse me in their sleep. Or maybe it’s just the company-issued products.

The job wasn’t great for any of us. Complaints on complaints, resignations while we were already understaffed… At this point, I should be paid five times what I get. But there aren’t many options for people like me.

Maybe… maybe it was for the best something like this happened. They could transfer me to another district — hopefully somewhere with better living conditions than these company-owned complexes.

With all the noise and commotion, nobody noticed a shadowy figure slip into the building. I looked around, but everyone else was too busy harassing the police over the lockdown, complaining that even medical staff weren’t allowed In.

I considered my options. I could stay here with the police and try to pry Information out of them… or follow the unknown figure and investigate myself.

Before I could decide, one of the officers approached me. He looked like he was in charge, judging by how the others hovered around him.

“Miss Ariston?” he asked. “Constable Sauli. The team Is preparing to move In, but they need someone to direct them to the scene. Would you be willing to cooperate with the investigation team until the case is closed?”

The sudden request confused me, but following them seemed safer than getting arrested.

Soon, a small group of paramedics and officers followed behind me as we moved deeper Inside. But the further we went, the more it bothered me.

Why did they need me?
Why wait for me before going in?

And their demeanor was… wrong. They didn’t seem rushed. They didn’t even seem interested in finding the scene. Every glance i threw back at them was avoided. They watched me warily, from a distance that kept growing, until finally, I looked back and saw that I was alone with the Constable.

My face tightened as he inched closer. I stepped back, but he didn’t care about me.

“Someone important wants to meet you,” he spat. “You should be grateful to be graced with a presence like his. You may be important now, but you’ll come back down like the rest of us soon.”

I recoiled, but he was already walking away.

“What do you mean by that? Where are you going? Hey! Come back! Who are you talking about?!”

I chased him, but he disappeared into the dark.

Then a voice behind me said,
“You’re Enid, aren’t you?”

I whipped around.

Soren. Verner.

What?

It wasn’t difficult to recognize him — every commercial, billboard, and promotional pamphlet in the district had his fair, flawless face plastered on it. Meeting him felt like the posters had stepped out of the walls.

I couldn’t believe my eyes. What was he doing here? Was he connected to the mysterious figure? And why was I involved?

“I wish we could have met under better circumstances,” he said, brushing his coat off. “I’ve heard much about you and your contributions to the Cycles Main Branch. Truly, I applaud your efforts.”
He paused, smiling.
“I believe such devotion warrants… a small promotion. Would that interest you?”

A promotion? Out of nowhere?

“I—this Is all happening so suddenly, I—”

Wait. Was he really Soren Verner? What were the chances he would come to me personally?

He responded almost as If he’d heard my thoughts.
“I apologize. I was too forward. I’m sure you’d want time to consider your options, given how limited our time is…”

Limited?
No — slow down.

“Mr. Verner,” I said, “I just want to know about the ‘incident’ I was called here for.”

“Oh? You want to know what happened?”
He pulled a folded sheet from his pocket.
“Anton Lucas Manfold… forty-six years old, male, currently unemployed? Strange… I’m sure I saw his ID around here.”
He snapped his fingers and pulled a foil-coated card from another pocket.
“Ah. This might jog your memory.”

He dangled the tag in front of my face, his condescending smile dripping with contempt.

I clenched my teeth.
“What do you want from me? I’ll give It to you — just don’t let anyone lose anything.”

HIs smile widened uncontrollably.
“Looking at the number of unregistered staff, forged documents, and potholes in your reports, I’d say you haven’t learned your lesson. All those years in the slammer taught you nothing, hmm?”

“I said; what do you want.”
My voice cracked through the room.

He glanced toward the door behind me, noticing faint voices approaching.

“Calm down. I’m simply telling you what happened down here. We don’t want attention we can’t keep. And we certainly don’t want anything bad getting out about you… do we?”

My hands were numb from how tightly I’d been clenching them. I didn’t know him — but at that moment, I had never hated anyone more.

“You really want to know?” he teased.
“Your dear friend ended up on the wrong side of the machine.”

My eyes widened.
That machine — the reason this factory existed — was a massive mess of gears and mechanisms no one understood. Not even me.The maintenance team never spoke about it outside of work. All we knew was that anything that went in came out “better,” In Verner’s own words.
We used to joke about pushing someone in to see If they’d come out “better.”
The day had finally come.

“Where is he? Is that why you wanted me here? To put this on me? Do whatever you want to me — just tell me where he is.”

“Whatever do you mean?”
He held out a pristine white roll of toilet paper.
“He’s right here.”

I stared at the roll, then back at him, stunned.

I grabbed him by the collar and shook him hard.
“Is this a joke to you? I asked where he is!”

HIs smile only grew.

“I don’t care who you are — tell me where Anton is before I beat the smile off your face an dunto the floor.”

“Your friend fell into the machine, and he came out… better. But if you truly want answers, I suggest you accept the promotion. Understand?”

I reluctantly let him go. He brushed himself off.

“Now that that’s settled, join me at the main office. I need people like you behind me. I’m sure that’s no problem.”

I glared at him, silent.

“No matter how you look at It, it’s better than here,” he said, scanning his factory’s surroundings.
“I’ll give you three days to decide. For now, take your friend.”

He threw the roll into my hands and walked into the darkness.

A few minutes later, another group of emergency officers burst into the room — only to find me standing alone, holding a roll of toilet paper.