The DOOR

Bruno uncrumpled his brown bag of lunch and dumped it all onto the uneven wooden table that served as his base of operations here in the sub-basement at RocketCorp. He held out his thick hairy hand to stop the apple from rolling onto the floor, and decided to eat it first. The flicker of a computer screen kept a soft glow of WoW in the background, while a cheap grimy radio pushed out a steady stream of old country hits to help him pass the night. Between bites, his chubby fingers would reach out and furiously click the buttons on his laptop, then he would settle back and munch and muse.

There was little else for Bruno to do down here. RocketCorp, his employer, had four sub-basements under the facility, and each one was manned by one employee security guard around the clock. In all, there were twelve employees and one sub who worked the lowest levels, and they could not tell you what each other even looked like to save their own lives. Bruno had a vague notion of what the other two guys in his area looked like, but they met in passing, and being antisocial, Bruno avoided eye contact. He just wanted to be left alone so he could play his video game, earn his paycheck and then go home and continue to play his video game. It was the perfect job for a loner like him.

Bruno was finished with his lunch and like he did every night, he crumpled it up into a ball, and took aim at the waste receptacle.

"He shoots, he..Damn!!" Bruno erupted. He missed. "What the..."

In the six years Bruno had worked at RocketCorp he had never missed a shot. He was a former high school baller, he knew what a good shot felt like. That bag should have went in!

It was then he felt the breeze, warm and stale like the sub basement itself, and he followed it to the DOOR. It was cracked, and Bruno was confused.That was the only door in his area that RocketCorp had deemed OFF LIMITS, and it was supposed to remain locked all the time, no exceptions.

Standing in place beside the DOOR, Bruno wondered what to do. Should he just close it and sit out his time, or should he report it, and risk being written up or worse, fired? Thinking of the Guild Raid he had here in 45 minutes decided his fate.

Bruno casually closed the DOOR and lumbered back to his chair, and his laptop, and he forgot all about the DOOR once the Raid began. So into the Raid Bruno was that he did not see the little red light flashing on his radio, because his radio was turned to mute at the moment and shoved behind his laptop. Odds said there would be no need for it, in his entire six years at RocketCorp Bruno had never even heard it crackle, nor had he had need to use it. When Bruno Raided he was 100 percent into the game, and nothing could rip him away from the victory.

Nothing except a power failure.


This was the second thing that had been a first here at RocketCorp.

Sitting in the stone darkness, he noticed for the first time, the blinking radio. He grabbed it, and turned up the volume. It was silent. He depressed the button, and spoke, the radio went straight to security a floor above.

"Security. Do you copy. It is Bruno, sector three, subsection c. We have a power outage. Do you copy. Over."

He sat in the warm stale darkness, and shivered despite the warmth. The fetid breeze that drifted lazily past Bruno's nostrils told him the DOOR was open again. Damn, twice in one night. Something was wrong, Bruno thought. He tried security again, and again, silence. He wondered if the other basement slugs were experiencing the same thing, or if it were just him.

He felt in the darkness for his lantern, and when he found it, he turned it on, it lit up a good area around him. He sat the lantern on his desk, and turned his head towards the DOOR. In the soft glow of the room, he could see, the DOOR was cracked.

"Bruno? Come in, this is security, Over."

Bruno fumbled for the radio but spooked, he knocked it and his water from lunch onto the floor, the radio landing in the water and sizzling. Bruno groaned. Now he had no way of contacting anyone!

Yes you do, he chided himself, the lappie has a few minutes of power when unplugged.

He brought up the home screen and pulled up the in house email directory. Taking no chances, he cc'd the entire list, hoping someone would come help him out of this creep fest.

"If you receive this message it is Bruno, sector three, subsection c. We have a power outage and..." He paused, a fear gripping him. Then he continued. "the DOOR is cracked. Please advise on procedure. Over. Bruno." He licked his suddenly dry lips, and he blanched as he watched his trembling finger hit send. A second after he did so, his laptop went black. He hoped with the slow connection the message had made it.

"Oh, My GOD!" he cried out in the silence. Horrified that he had suddenly turned into a raging scaredy cat, he took a deep breath, and holding the lamp on his lap, turned it off. He needed to think, and he would conserve the battery while doing so.

Thinking that he should close the DOOR, Bruno arose, and flicked the lantern back on. He approached the DOOR, but as soon as he gripped it to close it, it violently swung open, knocking the lantern to the ground, and shattering the bulb. Bruno's arm was bruised and sore, and in anger, he rushed through the DOOR and down a long metal catwalk. The sound of the DOOR slamming behind him disipated the anger, and it was replaced by stark fear. He gripped the railing of the catwalk, and glanced down. As his eyes adjusted to the darkness, he began to make out moving shapes, hideous, below him. They all seemd to be working, slaving at something, digging madly with shovels, pushing furiously wheelbarrels full of glowing neon rocks, shuffling hurriedly from point A to point B, in military like precision. He could not stop watching, it was like a tale out of a bad sci fi movie.

"Oh, Bruno, you just had to open the DOOR, didn't you?" Came a soft, gentle voice. It was Mr. Black, CEO and owner of RocketCorp. The handsome old man approached Bruno, and put one soft hand upon his shoulder. His face contorted from a soft smile to pity to contempt to love, and Bruno began to shake. "Oh, Bruno who could blame you? You resisted for six long years. Anyway, working so closely next to Ground Zero so to speak, " Mr. Black nodded his head towards the hideously mutated slaves below, then continued, "well, six yers is pushing the limits. You haven't looked in a mirror lately, have you Bruno?" Mr. Black's black eyes glistened with pity, and his other hand slowly came from behind his back, holding a mirror. Bruno screamed when he saw the reflection, he was hideous!!

"Now Bruno, don't react like that! Think of this as a promotion! Why, we here at RocketCorp take CARE of our employees. Who else would give you triple your salary and retain you, with such a hideous condition? Why, no other would! You should be grateful, Bruno, why, housing is provided free, and we provide an entire recreational hub for your off hours. We provide all food and libations, and yes, there are women, as hideous as you, but female none the less. Where do you think we get the secret ingredient to power our rockets? Why do you think we are number one in rocket technology? It is thanks to the mineral you hideous ore for us, and unlike society, we have the utmost respect for you, and honor your contribution by allowing you to be the real heartbeat of our company. What say you, Bruno? Will you join the elite down there in the belly of the beast? We would love to have you." Mr. Black lowered the mirror, and saw resignation in Bruno's eyes. Yes, mused the ceo, Bruno was a smart cookie, and he knew this was his only choice.

"Shall you follow me, through this last DOOR, to your new home, Bruno?" offered Mr. Black.

Obediently, Bruno followed Mr. Black through the last DOOR.

Epilogue:

The young loner sat in his rented room, lonely, bored, wishing he connected with society without the use of his computer. But he was not normal, he was a nobody, so he lost himself in the internet, and daydreamed of a better life, wher he could get hired and work a decent job so he could move, for instance. Somewhere more private, renting a room was the pits, his landlord always looked at him sideways.

He pulled up Bruce'sList, and muching on some pretzels, scrolled the ads. One caught his eye. What the heck, he thought, and blasted off his resume. Who knows?

"Like Solitude? Want a job where it's just you, your laptop, your video games, for eight well paid hours? If this sounds like a job for you, contact RocketCorp in the email listed below. We would love to have you on our Team!!"

Enjoyed, starred and flagged.

Any chance of a sequel?

Originally posted by Illegal Alien
Enjoyed, starred and flagged.

Any chance of a sequel?

Thank you! I dont know, havent thought of a sequel. I could try to make the new guy figure it out and somehow stop it, but we all know the little guy never ends up winning in the big picture. Where would you take a sequel? Thanks for reading.

Couldn't stop reading! Great Job and keep up with the writing, you have a natural talent. I actually felt pity myself for Bruno.

Not sure where I'd take it, but seeing as he's got nothing to lose, maybe he could take down the whole organisation as a last desperate act of defiance.
Hmmm! I'm now getting flashes of The Matrix' in my head, so I'll have to think of something else.
Thanks for the great story.
I love reading members' stories. they always take my head for a spin:

Originally posted by Zippidee
Couldn't stop reading! Great Job and keep up with the writing, you have a natural talent. I actually felt pity myself for Bruno.

Ah yes poor Bruno. At least RocketCorp gives him this life, without them he would be shunned from society. Even though but for RocketCorp, Bruno would still just be Bruno. Who knows? Maybe the hideous life isn't so hideous? What if it is a whole new world down there, with leaders and heros, and a thriving social life, that these social outcasts before RocketCorp never experienced? What if they like their elite life? Maybe Mr Black used the correct term, elite.

Or, what if its a trick mirror that plays on ones self worth?

Originally posted by Zippidee
Or, what if its a trick mirror that plays on ones self worth?

Ah, another good avenue! I like it, duplicity within duplicity.

reply to post by hotbakedtater


Very nice!! Yes I believe you have talent. Continue writting because You sure held my attention.

Originally posted by Magantice
reply to post by hotbakedtater

 

Very nice!! Yes I believe you have talent. Continue writting because You sure held my attention.

Well, thank you for the compliment! I try to write every day, I love to write, and wish I had gotten to go to college so I could work at a job writing. Until then, short stories for all on ATS!

Yup! I liked that story!! I could really see you taking this story and turning it into a really interesting novel ))
Good job!!!!!

reply to post by hotbakedtater


Thanks yet again for sharing your talent with us!

While I do not comment on all of your stories, I DO read and star them

keep up the good work hun

~meathead

Thanks for the good story. I liked it.

Thank you all for the kind compliments, I appreciate it. All writers enjoy feedback and readers, of course!

As far as making it a novel, yeah I could see that too, but have been sticking to short stories at the moment.

Wow, uh....do you make your living as a writer? Just wondering, story was OK but noticed many syntax, spelling, punctuation, etc. errors. But hey, I'm no expert and am not suggesting that I could do any better.

Good on you for throwing it out there......

Oh no I don't make a living writing, I just do it for a hobby. I have always just enjoyed story telling, and writing. I do wish I had gone to college so I would not make a bunch of errors, but since I dont submit anywhere or do it for realz, it doesnt matter to me as much. Thanks for reading, if you felt like pointing out the errors for me I would really appreciate it, but dont go out of your way if you dont want to. It might just help me in the future.

I went to the goodwill the other day and found a writer's helper reference book, I was tickled pink.

reply to post by hotbakedtater


Hear Hear on a sequel. I really enjoy your writing- S&F

Originally posted by Lono1
reply to post by hotbakedtater

 

Hear Hear on a sequel. I really enjoy your writing- S&F

Thank you for taking the time to read my story. I appreciate it!

Good. Commendable even.
But i get the sense I'm about 1/3 to 1/2 through chapter one.
Keep up the good work.
Avid reader of all sorts of writings. BTW. And really, it did grab me.
Seems like talent, but i look forward to reading the rest. (although for a short story, the point was made, and i suppose sufficient, leaving the reader to draw their own interpretations/conclusions, which is also the "model" of a good short story.
But still, wishing there were more.

Thanks,
D