The problem child

The chamber was, according to the logbooks of history, the oldest one in the city, the same one where their predecessors made a contract hundreds of years ago to construct the County and save humanity from the ravages of the sands, metallic winds, and sunless skies. At first, the room was tiny, with a lower roof and wooden walls, but over the years, parts of it were stripped and rebuilt back, cracks were covered, and new wall materials were added to it, up until the current version of the chamber. The current ceiling was now over 5 meters high, with thick, reinforced walls, soundproof, and resistant to any kind of attack. It became their little hideout and safehouse from the outside of the interior of the city.

It had a downside, though, it could reverberate high pitch sounds instantly, and even made it appear louder than humanly possible. This was unknown, though, until today when for the first time in a long time, Elina forgo any fears she had and yelled without personal shackles:

- “ What the actual hell was that, Zude? Did you…ugh….I mean… does your C.T.D not know about the first round…what the…wha? Respond to me you giant, metallic shit-spoon?” She was lost in her words, as all the problems the attack caused were too much for her to even count... The other CEOs took her side on the matter, chastising the embarrassed metal man. 

- “ That attack might seriously hamper the ratings Zude, what is your patient thinking?”, asked firmly Joni.

Before he could sink in his chair and be transported to some weird furniture dimension, he left out a cry of defeat, before wallowing in self-pity.

-” That was so embarrassing. I’m sorry everyone, I truly am, especially to you Elina”, he responded while clenching his hands together, trying to calm himself down. “ I knew he was a massive manchild, but I never thought he would actually be this dumb.”

-” What do I care about that, just do something about him, it’s clear your contestant is too deranged. Can’t…”, asked an exasperated Elina, but she was surprised to find only pity eyes in response. 

-“ Elina, we get it, but don’t embarrass yourself anymore. Zude, explain please”, commanded Milla to both of them.

-” So you know The Coupling Society, that weird cult that survived as a vestige from one of the extinct countries? Well, they are one of my primary clients and, while good for profits, those inbreds are also such…”

-” Major morons?”, asked Alvara.

-“ Creeps around everyone!”, responded Joni.

-“ Ginormous hypocrites?”, suggested Robert.

- “ The weirdest sex-pests who also give the most asinine moral judgments?”, completed Priya, who until then everyone thought was sleeping in her private virtual pod.

-” Well I like them”, mentioned in passing Samuel.

-” Yes, all of those. Well, for years now they’ve been trying with very ‘subtle’ methods to tell us that they should be represented in games. And yes, I explained to their leader what happens to the contestants, but they would still pester me about it. Soooo…this year I cave in”. Zude said while appearing as though he went through two wars and came back a wreck, who drunkenly tells his story to whatever soul would listen to him.

-“ Anyway, so you know how their members are raised only to breed and are not taught anything beyond basic reading and some writing, some basic math and kept at that level for the rest of their life? Well, they also have a few ones they declare genetically ‘clean and original’, who are spoiled beyond belief”.

-” So you're telling us they sent us their biggest man-baby they had in the group?”, asked a more calm Elina.

-” Worse. Because of their…culture….their rate of people snapping is higher than the rest of the citizens. And this guy, Allan Dumeris, snapped at some point with another girl, and they became a pair of serial killers from the Society. Which we never knew about because those morons never told us about it, until they executed the girl and captured Allan. So, besides a man-child man-slaughterer, they also selected and paid for the C.T.D as well. And…well…”

-” You didn’t stop to think twice and accepted the deal because it was so dirt cheap?”, asked Robert while annoyingly scraping the temple of his holographic nose. “ I made fun of Elina for being stingy this year, but holy, Zude, you really took the cake. Having a wild card is one thing, but a psychopath with no understanding of rules or basic anything is on another whole level”. The rest could only agree with the assessment.

With every single criticism he received, Zude once again sank further in his seat, crushed under the shame of the situation. He apologized to Elina again 

-” Listen, Allan will probably tank us this year, so you're definitely going to take over my rank. So enjoy it for now, and all I hope is that your team manages to avoid him and Medusa for the rest of the competition. And my biggest hope is that whomever he attacks next will just eliminate him for good. “

The rest were unsatisfied with his possible outcome, but they also knew that it was the best one for now. It was as if a sour cloud of silent awkwardness rose above them, but they knew that further talks about the subject were of no use. And, as a recognized non-fan of clouds, Joni tried to dispel it by changing the subject matter to another thing they haven't gone over.

-” So, uhm, Robert, Alvara, with no disrespect, was that really your child out there?”.

Surprisingly, none of them raised their voice or seemed provoked by the question. They expected their colleagues to be intrigued by it, but the subject bored them so much they both responded in a lethargic demenor.

-” Yeahh”, Alvara slowly replied. “ I think we had her, like, 20, 21 years ago, can’t really remember. Robert, was she the girl we had through natural means? I can’t really pinpoint the moment, I think I had like three others the same way during those years”.

-” We had a girl? I thought you had only boys with me and the rest of the kids was done with the other mates. Is that really my daughter?”, Robert asked with the same mild surprise someone would ask about unforeseen weather.

-” Can’t remember man, but I believe Milla can confirm since, you know, she helped the little brat enter. Milla, mam, did you…”

-” She’s yours, you dimwits. It was part of her demand to test her genealogy before she would become our representative”, yelled Milla, with the reprise of an old goat.

-” Oh really, so one of my kids actually became somewhat competent? Well, in terms of hacking skills at least, she still needs to learn something about showboating, like timing”.

-” And proper words”, completed Robert.

-” Oh, but that just proves it that if you move oil from one can into another and mix it around with other liquids, part of it would still remain like the oil from where it came from, eh Robert? Didn’t that little speech of hers remind you of someone’s sanguine outburst, eh ol’ boy?”, asked Samuel with the biggest grin he could possibly summon. The third ranker wanted to say something in return but knew that whatever comeback he tried would blow back with more force than exerted. “Ugh….I give you this one Samuel”.

-'' Still, whatever she learned about the C.T.D wasn’t from me”, said Milla. “ She properly learned it somehow from connecting to Sovereign, so I kinda underestimated her abilities, to be honest. But, since she accepted to continue playing, I’m guessing that she never found the whole truth. Regarding that, Samuel, at what stage are we with the preparation?”

-” Oh, that? The network is already buzzing with rumors and stuff, and our bots are posting lots of contriving information about it. You know, these online little talks about the former competitors have always been a bit of a thorn, especially in the sales department, but finally having an occasion to crush them is…so liberating”. 

The man appeared very satisfied and pleased with himself, making the creepiest face a person could do, with a wide smile, bulging eyes, and blushing cheeks up to the ears. Priya, Robert, and Zude appeared to have been the first ones to catch on to what he meant, exclaiming in unison: -“Oh, I get it now.”

Milla coughed a bit, and Samuel immediately tried to signal a medical team to enter, but she stopped him, continuing on as if nothing had happened.

-” Well, we could never explain everything the way we wanted, so will ‘confirm’ Syna’s suspicion, while also giving the customers half of the truth. Kinda. And now, finally, we can go back to business as usual”, she said while raising a glass as if victory was already assured. The rest happily followed her example and toasted to: “Getting back to business as usual”.