Part 16 – Severance Packages

When I came to, I was on a cold marble floor. My head lifted slowly, and I groaned from the heavy bruise there. I surveyed these new surroundings as best I could, before I realized by the giant blue [+] logo on the floor. I was now in the CareCorp headquarters!

I gasped. Sitting there in front of me was a parked ‘Hulk’, rimmed in gold. It had shining silver-plated rims and beautiful polish, completely wasted by mining dirt for hours at a time rather than anything worthwhile. It was my corporate CEO. It was the Most Secure One, and I was now in his 1.0 sec domain.

A shudder came. “I can explain…” I mumbled, looking up and rubbing my head. A figure vaguely visible behind the tinted windows lifted a hand. The loudspeakers boomed.

“Silence!” commanded the speakers. “For the crime of losing company mining equipment, and for first degree risk taking… I sentence you to a lifetime of concrete mining!” echoed the terrible voice.

I gasped. “No!” I cried out, as two security guards started dragging me away into a neighboring room. “But why? Why can’t I go into high risk areas?” I cried, as the voice followed into a white steel room. There was blood splattered on a metal table there, and I shook at the sight of the lettering above the table and brutal looking surgical tools.

Menacing Sign

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CareCorp Spine Removal System: Mine Safely, Carebears!

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They were going to remove my spine, so that I would be too afraid to make real money or have actual fun! A fate worse than death, but better than being lobotomized like those creepy untalkative asian robots. Held against the table, it looked like the end. I closed my eyes and let my mind drift away, ‘logging off’ to try not and think about what was going to happen…

…and when I opened my eyes moments later, I realized something very odd. I was in the hallway, and not in that horrible room! Somehow, when I spaced out, I had made a daring and uncatchable escape! It was time to run and find a new employer it seemed. I fled.

Still, crashing through the halls gave me an idea. Why not get a bit of a severance package from my dear CareCorp employers? I turned a corner to the Corp’s storage warehouse, and looted with a most innocent smile. Perhaps someday, I would return and show that hulk-driving jerk where he could stick his concrete ore…

…

Before I knew it, I had escaped from that awful place, driving in a Badger truck full of my theft. I was free! Now once more my own boss, I wondered what to do.

My first decision was to drive back to familiar, if crowded Jita Avenue. It was a good market at least, despite the chaos. Slowing down in the crowds of cars about, I used the time suck in traffic to sort my newfound gains. First was a pleasant blue sheet, which I read carefully in one hand. It was a blueprint of some kind. I decided to ask the plentiful (and loud) natives for some information.

I leaned out of the window, and lifted the blue sheet.

“Hello Citizens of Jita! May I ask if anyone knows what this ‘Cerberus BPO’ is for?”

Shifting eyes settled upon me from all directions. I sensed the thirst for blood and human flesh, and began to wonder if I should have stayed in the relative safety of 0.4…

(…to be continued)