Monday, 4/15/2216, Part 1

ChingWei called me first thing in the morning. 

He probably knew I had been agonizing about last Friday. Indeed, agonizing I had been, but over several things. After the news had broken that a new Martian War seemed imminent, K had told you she had to go. She had been very polite, even going so far as to say she might be down to get coffee again, but the vibes were strange. The outing was definitely still a success, considering it happened at all, but it hadn’t exactly gone the way I anticipated. While that certainly did bug me, it was ultimately forgotten. As soon as I got back home and considered the oncoming work week, the anxiety over my employment status hit me like a truck.

I hardly slept Sunday night, having to resort to my real sleep aid plug-in in the end. Of course, it was terrible that I had angered ChingWei, someone who had really looked out for me and the only one of my dad’s friends I had any contact with, but there were greater concerns. I couldn’t live unemployed. Without a job I would lose this apartment. My mom would lose her spot in the care facility. I would lose my insurance. I wouldn’t have spare money for shock. I would lose Ami! I couldn’t live without Ami, I really couldn’t. Needless to say when I felt the call coming in 30 minutes before 9am, I was in my best work clothes, several cups of coffee deep, ready to do anything necessary.

“Hello,” ChingWei said in a gruff but not overly unkind morning voice once the connection was established. His projection was sitting down in his cushioned ratty work chair, dressed for work. I was standing in front of him, trying to look like a diligent worker, but I was fully prepared to get on my knees and beg.

“Hey, uh, h-hello… I’m so so unbelievably sorry sir. I didn’t mean what I said. It was so stupid, and if I could take it back I would, a million times over. If there’s any way to make it up to you please tell me and I’ll do it right away.”

He let me talk before shaking his head. “No, no, I’m sorry too. I shouldn’t have snapped at you like that. I had anger issues for a long time. Downloaded some software to deal with it but— anyway, I shouldn’t have yelled.”

This seemed hopeful, but it was too soon to abandon the remorse offensive. “You were right to yell sir! I don’t know why, I just always had a hard time realizing that my dad’s suicide hurt anyone besides me. I know you were one of his closest friends and it makes perfect sense that you would also be hurt.” That sounded sensical, just like I practiced. I bowed my head, “I’m sorry!”

When I looked up, expecting to see the face of a man who’s hard heart had been softened by a genuine apology, instead I saw ChingWei looking strangely nervous.

“Look, he didn’t… Gabe wasn’t… Well, there are some things you should know about your father. He was a complex man with an interesting story that you were probably too young to remember. By the time you were old enough he had good reason to hide it. It makes sense no one told you, especially with Sam being affected like she was.” My mother’s mental health had declined rapidly after dad’s death. These days it was even difficult to have a conversation with her. Why was he talking about her now though?

Sensing my confusion, ChingWei changed course, “That’s all a conversation for another day. In person. And I’d be glad to have it with you whenever you want, but for now can we put this behind us?”

“Yes, yes of course! Thank you sir!” I didn’t smile, it was too soon to be relieved, but I smiled inside. Crisis averted.

“If you’ve seen the news you probably know it’s gonna get real busy at Caliber. We need all hands on deck, so to speak.”

“I saw. I guess the Big 4 have to stop fighting each other to fight Edison.”

“Fucking idiots.” ChingWei swore. “Would’ve been the easiest thing to avoid, but I guess it’s been long enough since the last one and we have a new crop of politicians eager to cut their teeth.”

“Yeah.” I agree. I don’t really know what to say. “The last one wasn’t so bad though, it might be like that.”

“Maybe… It wasn’t a thing to sneeze at, mind you. Not if you were Vilnius or Kuala Lumpur or Lagos. But I hope you’re right son. I really do. Regardless it means we’ll be filling orders for planet to planet missiles now. No more empty chassis, whatever that was about. When you look at the queue, Jesus… Plex wants just about enough firepower to purge the solar system.”

“It uhhhh, it could be a false alarm, couldn’t it?” I hadn’t paid too much attention to the news, but I’m sure Ami would’ve told me if war had been officially declared.

“God willing, but I doubt it. Plex, Macrohard, Orange, and several minor parties all voted to pass the First Martian War Bill, and Bosawas is only making a show of resisting. Corporate Asset Forfeiture will start soon and Edison has said repeatedly that if property is seized, missiles will launch.” He shook his head. “Demons. Demons in human skin I tell you. They never once think of the lives at stake.”

“Ummmm, yeah.” I had exhausted my commentary on this situation and had no idea what to say. “Well, uh, it’ll be good for us, right? Business-wise?”

ChingWei looked up at me with ice in his glare. Whoops.

“I’m sorry sir, that wasn’t funny.”

“No Kriss, no it was not.” He said. “Agenda’s go out in 10 minutes, get ready for work.”

. . .

The agenda was crazy, and so was the work it outlined. An additional Caliber plant in North Adams, Massachusetts had to be brought online to deal with all the orders, the first time I had seen that happen in all my years of working here. Not that the unprecedented increase in workload had made me what might be called ‘busy’, not in the slightest. ChingWei had to monitor the reopening of the North Adams plant, which I’m sure was a hassle, but all I had to do was approve inventory usage, assign tasks to the relevant machines, and check the finished product against the specifications. Most of this was handled automatically by my NAC and the Caliber Mechanics network, hardly requiring the involvement of my conscious mind. I was certainly impressed by the scale of production we had suddenly jumped to, but that got boring after 20 minutes.

I watched the news instead. Edison MarsCorp’s Board of Governors had issued a statement reiterating their commitment to a multi-faceted military response should their property rights be violated. The analysts swarmed the different broadcasting networks to inform us that this statement implied that Martian sleeper agents would begin striking targets on Earth, both military and corporate. I had heard the original statement 4 or 5 times throughout the day and didn’t hear them say that, but everyone agreed that it seemed credible enough.

“That’s scary.” Ami said over my shoulder, as she tuned in to the broadcast playing on my vision.

“Hmmm, yeah, I guess.”

At 4:28pm I found Aarin Chapeau guest speaking on a Terra News Daily segment.

“The fact is corporate security forces still have their guns pointed at each other, and they will continue to do so up to the last possible minute, why? Because there is an economic disincentive for them to be the first to pull out, the first to blink, so to speak.” He said.

“Interesting.” The host said. “Do you believe this might end up hurting the eventual war effort?”

“No, no I do not, and I’ll tell you why. While they are maintaining their current posturing in these ongoing corporate actions, and I understand, on the brink of war it’s frustrating to see, you just want to shake them. But while they are still posturing there are several signs that the ice is melting. Clashes have been minor for one, globally, this is globally keep in mind, minor clashes, mostly standing off along current lines, and, and this is most crucial, they have been participating in joint raids alongside police against suspected sleeper agents. For example, there was the unionist cell that was, uhhh, dispatched this morning in Toronto. Reports say the raid was conducted by local Peace Officers, of course, but alongside security personnel from Orange, Macrohard, and Bosawas. This simply would not be happening if high level talks were not taking place between these corporate entities, it just wouldn’t be.”

I really do like his delivery. He didn’t sound trustworthy but he did sound smart, which I guess is just as important.

“Don’t forget, you’re meeting Seitaro later.” Ami reminded me.

Oh, right. It’s 5:13pm, I should text him. I haven’t even told him where I live. Whatever. I’ll text him after work. I might be popular right now but I was still anxious about seeing him. He was technically my best friend but it had been years since I’ve seen him now. I wonder how he’s changed.

Autonomous Apartment Management: Unidentified individual requesting entry. Allow this action?

That’s strange, I don’t remember beeping Blaze, and who else would come here?

Select main menu, select household, select cameras, select front door, select exterior, select view. No one is out there. Select interior, select view. No one there either.

Spooky.

Before I can switch to the camera above my apartment door, it slides open unprompted.

“Yoooo, what’s good you wagey nerd? I'm from the government and I’m here to help!”