What if they don't die at the end?

Joaquin Rosa

Joaquin Rosa

1:48 pm

Death-Cast did not call Joaquin Rosa, because he isn't dying today. But even if he was, he would know. He is always the first to know, for he is the CEO of Death-Cast. A job that hasn't always been easy, but it's a job he always has, and always will be proud to do.  Death-Cast has been helping people, changing the way the world works for seven years now and he couldn't be happier. With the help of his employees, he built up a successful company that changed the world. A company that, everybody thought would be just a failed experiment.

Look at them now.

Millions of people relied on Death-Cast. From the public to the doctors to the police. And soon enough, the entire world would be using Death-Cast. He would be changing lives globally, making sure Deckers have the chance to live their lives before they die. Sure maybe Death-Cast didn't have such an easy start, but now it was better than ever. They hadn't made a single mistake since the day it was released.

That's why this news came as such a shock to Joaquin.

His new assistant came running into his office with stress and urgency written on her face.
"Sir we have a problem" She quickly opens up her laptop, her nails clacking against the keys. His eyebrows furrow as he puts the paperwork he was sighing to the side.
"Sam, what's wrong?" She bites her bottom lip as she brings up the digital log, where they keep the names of the Deckers that have passed.
"Yesterday we were told two boys were supposed to die, they received the call and everything" She clicks on two files, highlighting them "A Mateo Torrez and Rufus Emeterio" 
"You're point is?" Sam points to the screen.
"They're alive, look. No death has been registered, at all." His heart sinks. A familiar panic began to rise. The same he felt that day Death-Cast was released. It was as if he could hear the gunshots all over again. He shook his head of the thought, there was no need to panic or jump to conclusions.
"Are you sure? There could be many reasons for this. Perhaps it just hasn't be logged yet"
"Yes I know, that's what I thought at first. So, I decided to look into it and look" She opens a new window, showing a video of two boys walking into a cafe together, holding hands. "We have security footage of the two from this morning." She pauses the video, zooming in on their faces "This is clearly them" She turns to face him with panic in her eyes.

"They're alive"

Joaquin sighs and gets up from his chair, running a hand through his hair.Meanwhile his assistant stands by his desk, unsure of what to do next.
"Does anybody else know?" She swallows the lump in her throat.
"To my knowledge, no. Just you, myself and whoever the boys may have told" He takes a deep breath rubbing the back of his neck.This sudden, overwhelming feeling hovered over him. The feeling that the company he spent years working on, a company that has come between him and his family, a company that has changed the course of the world...It could crumble to dust. The days of people thinking Death-Cast would cause the end of the world could return, jeopardising its future. If word got out that there were flaws in the Death-Cast system, it could ruin millions of lives. 

It could be the end of Death-Cast.

No. No, he couldn't think like that. Stress and worry wasn't going to fix this. The damage had been done, all he could do now was try to control it. Get a hold of the story before some power-hungry journalist got to it first and tried to claim Death-Cast will bring about the end of the world. God, he couldn't let something like that happen. Not again.
"Sir" Sam spoke up, breaking the silence between them "What should we do now?" He bit on his bottom lip nervously, but he already knew what to do. This wasn't his first rodeo afterall.
"I will release a statement, try to control the story before it gets out of our hands" He turns to face his assistant "But first I'd like to call these boys first, apologise for the mistake.Do we have their phone numbers on record?" She began typing on her computer before darting her head up.
"Yes, yes we do, let me just write them down" She peeled off a post-it note, scribbling down numbers.
"Thank you" She stuck the note to his desk
"Is there anything else you need?" 
"Yes, try to look for any other anomalies in the system. If these boys slipped through, it's possible others have as well." He looked over her shoulder "I don't want to repeat the day Death-Cast launched. Go talk with Randle, and try and find the source of the problem." She smiled politely, nodding as she made her way to the door.
"I understand."
"Thank you Sam" he said as she left.

Joaquin sank back into his desk chair with a sigh, staring down at the small post-it note his assistant had left.

+44 0288 963284 - Rufus Emeterio
+44 7259 923569 - Mateo Torrez

He would call them, eventually. After he calms his nerves and decided what he was going to say. In the meantime, he opened his laptop, looking over a website that came into popularity since the release of Death-Cast. CountDowners, where Deckers post entries all about their phone call, what they may have experienced on their End Day.He took in a deep breath, feeling his chest tighten.How many of these Deckers were falsely notified? Are there some that weren't called at all? There could be people waltzing around the street, not knowing today could be their last. Or there were people waltzing around, terrified, thinking this day is their last when they still have a long and healthy life ahead of them.

In a business like this, there was no room for mistakes.Now, the world had trusted him. Put their lives in his hands.

He had failed them.