Employee of the Multiverse and His Darling Cat

12| Log 004 Pt. 1

That weekend, I had a dream. I was petting a large grey cat—the size of Darla and coloring of Sweetie, but the identity of this animal was neither. Without warning, the cat was gone and my hand was on Secretary Grey's arm instead. Secretary Grey turned around and tried to claw my eyes out. Caught off guard, I could only tilt my head back, and, consequently, his fingers ended up in my mouth. I remember thinking how unsanitary it was while at the same time noticing his warm fingers tasted like buttered bread. And then a sense of dread washed over as I knew the CEO was going to murder me for touching what was his.

I remembered this unsettling dream during breakfast and it ruined my appetite. Which parts of the dream communicated what subconscious sentiments? I decided it was too stressful to work out, just like Secretary Grey. Frankly, I hoped I'd never see him again.

Monday morning, only a few hours had passed since I'd come into work when someone broke the office's silence by clearing their throat. It was undoubtedly the type of throat clearing that one uses to call attention, as it was all voice and no mucus. Since I didn't recognize the voice or theatrical behaviour as belonging to any of the Team 4 staff, I only paused in confusion. It wasn't until Forest exclaimed that I lifted my head.

"Manager Kean?"

The rest of the team stood up as Manager Kean and I made eye contact. There was a bright yet toothless smile on her face that was half polite and half genuine. In fact, Manager Kean did not look at anyone but me as I stood up to greet her, but as the Team Leader, I did not find this particularly odd.

"Good morning, Manager Kean. What can I do for you?"

Manager Kean gestured to me with her finger. "I need you to accompany me to a meeting."

"Of course," I replied, wondering why she hadn't sent it in an email or why she chose to invite me last minute. "What materials do I need to bring?"

She waved her hand dismissively, falseness now overtaking the sincerity in her smile. "Just yourself."

I wasn't sure why Manager Kean was behaving like an actor on the set of a bad sitcom, but I followed her nonetheless.

We made our way through the hallways but my mind did not start to churn until we passed by the wing to the Lower Division managerial offices and conference rooms. Were we really headed to HR, I wondered in shock.

A promotion need only be discussed in the conference room of the lower division. The same would be the case were I to be fired—though I knew that was virtually impossible as AM Young had no grounds to request my termination. Then I had an epiphany: If the promotion is to a position in the Upper Division, a meeting there was fully reasonable.

My excitement grew as we traversed the courtyard towards the steps of the Upper Division building entrance. I always found the layout of CenUMR inegalitarian.

The Lower Division building is your standard one-story office building—a nearly complete circle shaped much like a bitten doughnut if viewed from overhead. The round, hollow center encompasses a large courtyard where many spend downtime during breaks or lunch. This is also where events like annual award ceremonies are held. While there is plenty of sunlight and a view of the sky, there's no breeze or need to worry whether it will rain or snow. Why? This will all be explained if you look up and see the glass dome ceiling.

But if you drag your eyes towards the "bite" of the doughnut or the far back end of the courtyard, you will see a wedge-shaped modest skyscraper, reflective one-way windows covering all its sides. This is the Upper Division building. One end shoots up through the ceiling towards the true sky and the other extends down filling in that "bite" in the doughnut at the back of the courtyard. In aerial views, the entirety of CenUMR, to me, resembles a power button. I'm not sure which design came first, but the CenUMR logo matches its aerial layout: a near circle with a slightly longer wedge cut out at the top.

The shiny Upper Division building being structurally separated and significantly taller than the Lower Division's brick building seems to draw a line between the two in terms of status. While all enter through the main entrance of the Lower Division building, those who climb yet another set of steps to enter the shiny building at the back end of the beauteous courtyard seem to work in a different world than the rest of us.

I'd imagined climbing those steps numerous times, but still felt a little jittery once met with the opportunity to place my feet upon the smooth marble stone. Manager Kean glanced back at me hesitating, so I drew in my breath and climbed like I'd already done it a million times before.

We passed through the gate at the doors and I glanced at my work communicator to see it lit up green.

In fixing jammed printers, Darcy had visited the Upper Division numerous times before, but never did they tell me just how different the atmosphere was. Seeing the staff in the lobby wearing formal business clothes and suits, I already felt out of place. With a reminder to myself that I oversaw and processed records for all of these people and so shouldn't feel any less, I followed Manager Kean with a passive expression and steady chin. Looking back, I wonder why I didn't also remember that for years I myself was CEO and would be considered elite.

Manager Kean stopped in front of shiny chrome elevators and glanced at me. She'd removed the fake smile from her lips and a faint relaxed upturn took its place. 

I glanced back and wasn't sure whether smiling was appropriate, so opted not to. She sighed and looked back at the closed elevator doors. I looked at the directory screen beside the elevators listing all of the departments and their respective floors.

Conference Rooms and Auditorium - L1, Dining - L2, Reality Education and Personnel Training Department - L3, Reality Research and Technology Department - L4-L5, Reality Rip Resolution Department - L6, Administrative Department - L7-L9.

I attribute it to luck that the teams I joined as Records Assistant were in charge of records belonging to the Upper Division. My first job was handling records from the Education and Training Department. This was how I was able to discover the history of CenUMR and their exploits traveling dimensions to gather information on foreign worlds.

My promotion to Team Leader brought me to Team 4 in charge of the Reality Rip Resolution Department's records. Only this way was I able to learn the details of how CenUMR discovers, uncovers, and resolves reality rips in an effort to hold together the fabric of reality not only in this world but others. More interestingly, I've read about the numerous ways in which life can go haywire and its effects in various types of societies.

What I still had limited information on were the current exploits of the Research and Technology Department as well as the obvious Administrative Department.

Seeing multiple floors dedicated to a single department, I knew there were further subdivisions and was tempted to tap one to get an expanded look. Worst case scenario, Manager Kean would find me too curious or nosy. Considering the situation I was in (being led to the Upper Division with no explanation and weird acting), I decided Manager Kean was no longer important enough for her perception to matter, and so tapped Administrative Department. After all, three floors felt excessive compared to my WCOI's administration.

Communications  - L7 Rooms 7XX-7XX... Human Resources - L7 Rooms 7XX-7XX...

Before my eyes could skim any more, the elevator dinged and doors opened leaving me no choice but to tear my gaze away and board the elevator.

I kept my calm as Manager Kean pushed button L8. It was a shame I didn't get to read further, I thought. I looked at the button panel and thought to check for a basement button or any indicator of this secret entrance the CEO was rumoured to have when I abruptly realized there was something off about our destination.

We weren't headed to conference rooms on this floor. That was odd. We weren't headed directly to any departments in which I'd likely been promoted. That only left one option: HR. However, we weren't headed to Human Resources on the 7th level either.

Administration? I felt my head spinning as no matter how I thought, going to a different Administrative floor didn't make sense if I was being promoted or terminated as an employee. Manager Kean glanced at me, and while my vision was too tunneled to make out her expression, her gaze reminded me that I'd stopped breathing and that breathing would be wise.

As the elevator dinged and the digital 8 flashed on the panel, a certain person's face popped into my head.