11-08-2009, 10:36 AM
Damon exited the back entrance to the gas chamber through a secluded tunnel. The warm, mirthful receptiveness on his face quickly melted into a cold expression of heartlessness. An attendant quickly flanked him, anxiously awaiting any request, her arms juggling a stack of papers. Damon carefully pulled off the white gloves, tossing them aside like discarded tissue paper. The attendant caught them handily on top of her paper stack, afraid of dropping them.
“Burn those,” he instructed icily.
She nodded as she eyed him pulling a fresh pair from his pocket and slipping them on. Suddenly, the bluetooth attached to her ear beeped. She pressed its button and patched through the call.
“Sir,” she said after a moment. “Mr. Drake has just arrived. He’s being escorted to the control room.”
“Damn it, what is he doing here?” Dukes cursed under his breath. He picked up the pace and double-timed to the control room. His assistant managed to keep up, stumbling along even in heels. As soon as he reached the door, however, he shut it behind in her face. Damon entered the room, shooting a quick glance at Audric who gave the host a knowing look.
A man in a sharp, glossy Armani suit stood in the center of the room, and whirled around as soon as he heard Damon’s approaching footsteps. “Damon, so nice to see you again,” the man laughed, raising his arms at the elbows.
“Josh,” Damon nodded cordially, forcing a toothy smile. “This is an unexpected surprise.”
“Yeah, well, I just thought I’d come down here and see how things are going,” Josh Drake said merrily, jamming his hands into his pockets. “You know, being chairman of the board and all.”
Damon continued smiling at the man who was his boss. Although, he didn’t look like any boss you might see running the most powerful company on the planet of Dante. Josh may have dressed in the finest suits around, but the top buttons of his pressed white shirt were undone, half of the shirt tucked beneath his belt while the other half hung out, and his satin yellow tie slouched loosely across his neck. The sleeves of his suit were rolled up halfway, revealing a platinum Rolex strapped tightly to his wrist. Even his dark hair was unaffected, wildly poking out of his scalp in a hundred different directions. The only thing that could have completed the ensemble was five o’clock shadow, which was completely absent on Josh’s clean-shaved jaw.
“Ah yes,” Damon acknowledged. “How is the board doing these days?”
Josh sauntered across the room, a thoughtful look crossing his features. “They’re a little concerned. I told them not to worry about anything, but they absolutely insist.”
Damon considered this carefully, although his face did nothing to betray the twinge of apprehension worming its way into his brain. “Concerned?” he repeated casually.
“Yeah. They’re not entirely sure you’ll be successful,” Josh shrugged, as if he were talking about nothing more important than the weather. He let his gaze curiously rove over the control console and reached out his hand to flick at a bright, shiny switch. Audric’s eyes widened, offended by someone daring to touch his precious instruments, although the rest of his body remained perfectly frozen.
“They have my personal guarantee that everything will go smoothly. I wouldn’t dare disgrace the company name,” Dukes assured.
“Hey, you bankrolled most of this operation personally, didn’t you?” Josh asked suddenly.
The host balked at the question for a moment, before finally answering, “Yes, I did, actually.”
“Wow. That would really suck if you screwed up then, huh?” Josh laughed, like it was a great joke.
Damon’s brow twitched momentarily before he broke into a courtesy laugh.
“I didn’t break this thingy, did I?” Josh questioned towards Audric.
“No…” Audric said slowly, still staring at the soiled switch.
“Oh good,” Mr. Drake said. He walked over to Damon and flung his arm around the host’s shoulder. “You’re too uptight, and so is the board. Oh, the board asked me to hook up a remote signal for your program, though. They want to be able to watch from the Syntex building. Something about watching their investment or…yeah, I don’t really know, I wasn’t paying much attention.”
“Of course. Whatever they’d like,” Damon acquiesced.
“Awesome,” Josh grinned. He gave Damon a hearty slap on the back before going to leave. At the last moment, he turned back around. “Oh, hey! I’ll be back to watch one of these Combat Days. I love watching people be pit against one another,” he added, his eyes lighting up like a kid at Christmas. “I’ll bring a six-pack, ’kay?”
“Looking forward to it, Josh,” the host smiled politely.
Then, Josh was out the door and on his way out of the complex itself. Once again, Damon’s painted smile evaporated, this time into a feral snarl. He pivoted and stalked towards his chair, rubbing his temples gingerly.
“He touched…my console,” Audric said brokenly. Suddenly, he began violently gesturing with both hands towards the switch Josh had flicked. “Nobody touches my console!” he shouted.
“Audric, shut up,” Damon snapped.
The technical supervisor fell silent, if only to grab a disinfectant wipe to compulsively buff out any impurities on the tainted switch.
“That man is too damn happy all of time. How did somebody like him get to run a corporation like Syntex?”
“Have you ever talked shop with the man?” the host replied simply, his demeanor several degrees calmer. “When are we going online?”
“We just have to wait until the players are loaded. Shouldn’t take more than a couple of hours,” Audric answered. He turned around, booting up a launch program to oversee the progress.
Damon merely stared blankly at the display screen, seeing nothing but four different yet empty environments.
“Burn those,” he instructed icily.
She nodded as she eyed him pulling a fresh pair from his pocket and slipping them on. Suddenly, the bluetooth attached to her ear beeped. She pressed its button and patched through the call.
“Sir,” she said after a moment. “Mr. Drake has just arrived. He’s being escorted to the control room.”
“Damn it, what is he doing here?” Dukes cursed under his breath. He picked up the pace and double-timed to the control room. His assistant managed to keep up, stumbling along even in heels. As soon as he reached the door, however, he shut it behind in her face. Damon entered the room, shooting a quick glance at Audric who gave the host a knowing look.
A man in a sharp, glossy Armani suit stood in the center of the room, and whirled around as soon as he heard Damon’s approaching footsteps. “Damon, so nice to see you again,” the man laughed, raising his arms at the elbows.
“Josh,” Damon nodded cordially, forcing a toothy smile. “This is an unexpected surprise.”
“Yeah, well, I just thought I’d come down here and see how things are going,” Josh Drake said merrily, jamming his hands into his pockets. “You know, being chairman of the board and all.”
Damon continued smiling at the man who was his boss. Although, he didn’t look like any boss you might see running the most powerful company on the planet of Dante. Josh may have dressed in the finest suits around, but the top buttons of his pressed white shirt were undone, half of the shirt tucked beneath his belt while the other half hung out, and his satin yellow tie slouched loosely across his neck. The sleeves of his suit were rolled up halfway, revealing a platinum Rolex strapped tightly to his wrist. Even his dark hair was unaffected, wildly poking out of his scalp in a hundred different directions. The only thing that could have completed the ensemble was five o’clock shadow, which was completely absent on Josh’s clean-shaved jaw.
“Ah yes,” Damon acknowledged. “How is the board doing these days?”
Josh sauntered across the room, a thoughtful look crossing his features. “They’re a little concerned. I told them not to worry about anything, but they absolutely insist.”
Damon considered this carefully, although his face did nothing to betray the twinge of apprehension worming its way into his brain. “Concerned?” he repeated casually.
“Yeah. They’re not entirely sure you’ll be successful,” Josh shrugged, as if he were talking about nothing more important than the weather. He let his gaze curiously rove over the control console and reached out his hand to flick at a bright, shiny switch. Audric’s eyes widened, offended by someone daring to touch his precious instruments, although the rest of his body remained perfectly frozen.
“They have my personal guarantee that everything will go smoothly. I wouldn’t dare disgrace the company name,” Dukes assured.
“Hey, you bankrolled most of this operation personally, didn’t you?” Josh asked suddenly.
The host balked at the question for a moment, before finally answering, “Yes, I did, actually.”
“Wow. That would really suck if you screwed up then, huh?” Josh laughed, like it was a great joke.
Damon’s brow twitched momentarily before he broke into a courtesy laugh.
“I didn’t break this thingy, did I?” Josh questioned towards Audric.
“No…” Audric said slowly, still staring at the soiled switch.
“Oh good,” Mr. Drake said. He walked over to Damon and flung his arm around the host’s shoulder. “You’re too uptight, and so is the board. Oh, the board asked me to hook up a remote signal for your program, though. They want to be able to watch from the Syntex building. Something about watching their investment or…yeah, I don’t really know, I wasn’t paying much attention.”
“Of course. Whatever they’d like,” Damon acquiesced.
“Awesome,” Josh grinned. He gave Damon a hearty slap on the back before going to leave. At the last moment, he turned back around. “Oh, hey! I’ll be back to watch one of these Combat Days. I love watching people be pit against one another,” he added, his eyes lighting up like a kid at Christmas. “I’ll bring a six-pack, ’kay?”
“Looking forward to it, Josh,” the host smiled politely.
Then, Josh was out the door and on his way out of the complex itself. Once again, Damon’s painted smile evaporated, this time into a feral snarl. He pivoted and stalked towards his chair, rubbing his temples gingerly.
“He touched…my console,” Audric said brokenly. Suddenly, he began violently gesturing with both hands towards the switch Josh had flicked. “Nobody touches my console!” he shouted.
“Audric, shut up,” Damon snapped.
The technical supervisor fell silent, if only to grab a disinfectant wipe to compulsively buff out any impurities on the tainted switch.
“That man is too damn happy all of time. How did somebody like him get to run a corporation like Syntex?”
“Have you ever talked shop with the man?” the host replied simply, his demeanor several degrees calmer. “When are we going online?”
“We just have to wait until the players are loaded. Shouldn’t take more than a couple of hours,” Audric answered. He turned around, booting up a launch program to oversee the progress.
Damon merely stared blankly at the display screen, seeing nothing but four different yet empty environments.