CHAPTER VIII

Gordon Leatherdon sat in a large leather lounger with buttons on the left armrest and a classic looking ornate phone at his right. At the push of a button Gordon could call for anything he wanted to be brought to him, food, clean water, a massage; anything. The room the lounger was in was -as far as furniture was concerned- pretty bare, it had all the usual gaudy looking gold framed paintings on the wall and cherry wood panels and even the same tasteless carpet in his office but aside from the lounger and a small table for the phone to stand on the room was empty.

The chair faced a giant screen in an ornate brass frame that, when inactive, had a screensaver to make it look like a backlit painting. For today's session Gordon had chosen the finer works of Rembrandt. Dreary looking accountants and other businessmen huddled over tables in rooms not too dissimilar to the one Gordon was seated.

The phone rang quietly with a faint beeping noise and Gordon picked up the receiver.

"Yes? Right, make sure everything is working before we start." said Gordon authoritatively before placing the phone back into it's dock.

Rembrandt's: Christ in the Storm on the Lake  vanished from sight and in it's place shone a grid of nine squares, soon faces started to appear in the squares and eventually the brass frame was filled with a mosaic of people -the meeting had begun.

In the corner of each of the squares above the left eye of each person was something that resembled an oscilloscope, except below it numbers flashed, turning from blue, to green, to red depending on the sounds coming through each individual's  microphone. None of the people knew it, but their voices and faces were constantly being scanned for emotional responses in case one of them were lying. Gordon didn't tolerate failure lightly and trusted people even less.

The program Gordon was using to detect the lies was from the scientist who worked in his technology centre. Here they created everything that was good about Alpha-1 City; the clean air, the processed foods, the radiation containment around the richer parts of the city and the heating system. They also came up with weaponry and survival gear in case anyone had to go outside for research.

Gordon had used most of these advancements to start up The Game as a means of entertaining the masses and keeping everyone under control. He'd use advertising to get people to buy his products at ridiculous prices even going so far as to include them in the programs but furthermore he'd use it to make sure his "Father of Alpha-1" image was maintained.

Gordon ran everything on that channel, the news, the shows and even the weather forecasts everything that the general population saw were nothing more than fabrications invented with only one simple purpose in mind: to make Gordon look good.

It was essential that this illusion was maintained at all times it had gotten to a stage where no-one questioned the motives of Gordon or anyone else in power and the people of Alpha-1 went happily about their daily lives, ignorant to the devious acts this bloody tyrant was committing behind closed doors.

Gordon pressed a button and a voice came out of the intercom that popped out of the right-hand armrest.

"Systems are running, we're good to go, sir." said a distinctly male voice in a very clear and precise manner.

"Very good. Proceed." replied Gordon.

Soon the room was flooded with background chatter from the various feeds. Each person giving a little something to the white noise; a group of workers discussing the latest project here, a computer beeping away there, hundreds of keyboards being tapped on with deft finger-strokes causing a clatter of clicks that reminded Gordon of an army of crabs scuttling across a stone floor. Gordon flipped a toggle switch on his arm rest and soon the background noise faded away as the computer honed in on each recipient's individual voice signature.  

"Meeting recording." said the precise male voice.

Gordon smiled sharply like a man who was holding all the aces. He showed no signs of forgiveness or tolerance to his workers before so it was understandable why they were so nervous. Gordon loved this feeling; the feeling of fear mixed with respect. The feeling of power.

"I've called this meeting to discuss the progress with the various projects you have been asked to take the initiative on, as you all know I'm a man who does not take disappointment lightly but if you've been keeping on track and doing the jobs I've been paying you to do there should be no reason to worry. Francine, how is the new water purifier coming along?"

"Very well, sir." replied Francine, a 32 year old woman who had a son and two daughters she was head of the engineering and development department in Alpha-1 and her many tasks revolved mostly about keeping the city running as smoothly as possible.

Her job was one of the most important, if people started to see things going wrong in the city then there would be civil unrest and soon Gordon's image as "The Father of Alpha-1" would disintegrate along with all his other empty promises.

"I've heard there's some minor filtration issues,  have they been resolved as I requested?" said Gordon.

Francine looked away from the camera briefly then when her gaze met with the glass eye staring her in the face she replied as quickly as she could, trying to avoid the issue.

"We've been having problems pin-pointing the exact cause of the radiation leakage, sir. For some reason there's always less than point-one-percent making it through the filtration system, it's not fatal but we should probably run some more tests just to be sure."

"Nonsense" said Gordon laying down his first ace "you'll put the new water purifier into production immediately, it's so wonderful that you've been able to finish ahead of time, well done Francine."

Francine looked a little confused "But we're nowhere near finished, sir. That contaminate leak could cause radiation sickness."

Gordon smiled balefully "As I said, the device is ready for production."

Francine got the message now; put people's health on the line or lose her job. Francine chose the former like any self-preserving animal would do.

"Oh course, sir. Everything is running smoothly."  Francine's voice cracked a little as she was forced to conform to the lie.

Gordon then focused his attention on the gentleman in the opposite corner. He was dressed in a sharp suit and wore a stylish haircut, he was young; barely out of his early twenties. Despite his cocky appearance he looked instantly uncomfortable when Gordon  turned his attention to him.

"Jasper, any news on the whereabouts of "The Beast"? I trust your plan to eliminate him from the game is going just as smoothly as Francine's."

Jasper shifted in his seat and brushed some hair out of his eyes "We've been working with the genetics department to create a little something that will keep him occupied, if all goes to plan we should see the end of him shortly."

Gordon looked intrigued "The genetics department? I hope this is all cost-effective."

Jasper smiled casually "Oh yes, sir. Not only will our little side-project with the genetics department bring an end to "The Beast's" reign over The Game but it'll make future rounds a lot more interesting."

"And just where is he?" asked Gordon.

"Well, we're not quite sure, but rest assured when he is found he'll have absolutely no chance of survival." said Jasper.

"Double your efforts, it's important we have him removed from The Game as soon as possible." said Gordon authoritatively.

"Yes sir" replied Jasper.

Gordon turned his attention to another gentleman, he had thinning grey hair and thick glasses, he also wore a sharp suit but it was in much less businesslike than Jasper's. In the background Gordon could see lab technicians and equipment working away on the many projects for the future.

"Daniel, what exactly is this project you're working on with the broadcasting department?" said Gordon.  

The numbers on the screen flashed in red for a full five seconds showing Gordon that Daniel was hiding something even before he spoke.

"We're working on the cloning technology, so far tests have failed the results of our attempts to clone a human have resulted in some... unusual results." said Daniel.

"Unusual? Explain."  said Gordon.

"The subjects have gestated at an alarmingly rapid rate but as a result they're deformed. Each only has a life expectancy of a few years in the labs but when we introduced them to the outside wastelands they thrived. I talked to Jasper about this and he wants to use the technology to eliminate The Beast."

"How is this project coming along?" asked Gordon with interest.

"Oh, well, in the future when we've perfected the technique there should be no limit to what we can do, we can farm the subject's organs for transplantation and best of all with the current situation with the water filtration system many of the citizens in the city are quickly becoming sterile, we could charge them thousands for a cloned child."  replied Daniel.

"That's why you're the head of your department Daniel, always thinking for the future. Couples need a chance at happiness and you're there to give it to them" smiled Gordon.

"Thank you sir. I only want what's best for the community." replied Daniel, the numbers flashing up in amber as he adjusted his glasses.

He knew that the sterility problem could be easily avoided if the water purification filter worked at peak efficiency but he also knew Gordon only cared for profit, Daniel's hands were tied.