THE ENDING

CHAPTER THREE

Kaiyo woke up with a start. The alarm clock was still trilling and the loud tune was what startled him. He reached for the bedside clock and turned the alarm off. It was 5.00 in the morning.

Sitting up, he looked around for his phone and found it on the floor on the other side of the bed, plugged in and charging. He unplugged it and logged onto f*******:. His status update read "Morning world. #happytobealive #upandready #kayisgoodtogo"

He paused a bit. The words seemed foreign to him even as he typed them. Something else felt off too, but he couldn't really get a handle on what it was. Waving it off, he finished typing and stood up to get ready for work.

Kay worked as a janitor at the headquarters of the biggest tech company in the world. For as long as he could remember. The company had always been ahead of the industry, and there was nearly zero competition to the reach of their tech and inventions worldwide.

The distance from his house to his job was not a lot, and the bus only took ten minutes to make the trip. Kay alighted from the bus and crossed the nearly empty street, making his way to the entrance. It was a very large edifice, and he was the only staff who came in at such early hours. 7.00am was the normal opening hours, but his boss insisted he arrive 30 minutes earlier every day.

On getting to the gates, he glanced at his watch. 6:25 am. Five minutes more and he'd be late for work. The security systems chimed with a familiar beep after scanning his key card and retinas, and the gates slid open to let him in.

The sign atop the main building read: Virtual Innovations Research and Growth Organization. The company was known as a giant pioneering innovations and breakthroughs in virtual technology. Below the boldly printed letters was the motto: "A digital world where EVERYTHING is possible". Really catchy, Kaiyo thought to himself as he made his way in.

He was still distracted by the sign when he bumped into someone by mistake. It was his boss, who was trying to get to the elevator.

"Oh I'm sorry, I'm sorry sir. I didn't know anyone else was here."

The man looked daggers at him and growled.

"What is wrong with you, you lowlife bastard? Why did you step on me? Could you even buy these shoes if you ruin them?"

"No sir, it won't happen again."

The man's demeanor softened a little. A very small amount, but Kay caught the look in his eyes as his expression shifted from the deadly grimace into a less angry one.

"It better not happen again. I'd hate to fire you for this."

"Yes sir. I'm sorry sir."

Kay was still gushing with apologies but the man was already in the elevator, heading for the penthouse where his office was located.