Love of a Thousand Colors

Chapter 16

She grabbed a picture from her desk, "What if it's real and I lose my internship? I won't be able to support my family," She said and she showed me a picture of her with her parents and siblings. They look so happy and proud of one another. A picture, I believe, that me and my sisters never have.

"It's not, trust me," I said. The supervisor finally went out of his office and walked pass the guy playing on his computer. They didn't talk to each other nor did they get a glimpse of what each other does even for a bit. It's like we're in a game where non-playable characters are programmed to do and say things in a loop and can't do anything apart from what they are assigned to do. Unless... I went to the supervisor's office and typed something on his email and sent it to the guy’s through the company’s chat app. 'Can you come to my office please?' 

I went out and the guy saw me and just smiled, he entered the office without questioning me. I run to his desk as fast as I could and typed emails and scheduled them to be sent at 5-minute intervals. The guy went out of the supervisor’s office and I hurried back to the girl's work station. She's busy making her assignment even if I repeatedly told her that it's unnecessary. 

Then I watched the scene before me, the supervisor went back to his office and he gets out in anger. "Did you just say that my ideas are crap?!" The supervisor shouted from the outside of his office to the guy behind his desk. The girl's boss looked at the supervisor in shock and pointed at himself. When the guy is finally sure that the supervisor was referring to him, he stood from his seat immediately and clarified that he didn't say such a thing. After a short talk, they went back to their original places. This time, the guy's face reddened in anger and knocked on the supervisor's office door.

When he's allowed to come in, he asked the supervisor angrily, "Did you just report me for playing games on my laptop? Do you want me to lose my job?" And I could see from the window that they are bickering and screaming at each other. I giggled and asked the girl beside me to stop what she's doing and watch. She swatted my hand away and told me to not disturb her. I pushed the lid down, closing her laptop to her face. I turned her office chair around and she watched involuntarily.

The fight ended again and the guy shuts the office door angrily as he leaves. Then another round of verbal brawl happened...

"Why did you send a group email that I eat farts for breakfast?!"

"You publicly said I can only have a 2D wife and father 2D kids?!"

"What makes you think you can call me a land whale and get away with it?!"

"Do you think I'll be stuck as your copy-boy? Think again!"

The girl beside me just stared in disbelief by my childish prank. I gave her an okay sign saying that she doesn't need to finish her work. They are busy fighting each other. She turned around and opened the lid of her laptop. I got mesmerized by the beauty and details of her work. "That'll be "the" car in all car shows,' I said, sincerely complimenting her. She smiled and uploaded her design to both her boss and supervisor’s folders.

Just as we prepare to go down again, the door to the manager’s office bursts open. A classy young man in suit exited the door and inserted his cellphone inside his ticket pocket. He has a well-shaven beard and glossy brown hair. His height towers all the other men inside the factory. The people bowed their heads in acquiesce and avoided meeting his gaze. The girl immediately went down the ladder with some papers and all. I hurried as this appears quite urgent.

The man stopped a few meters away from the two men who are oblivious to his presence. He cleared his throat and when the girl’s immediate boss noticed him, he stopped talking and paled. He immediately signaled the supervisor to stop and grabbed him by the shoulders to pay respects at the young man standing behind him. The supervisor became nervous as well and bowed his head down and apologized.

“How’s the design going? Is it finished?” The man said, his voice spoke in a cold and distant manner. The girl stopped in her tracks and hid behind the drawers, dragging me with her. I winced in pain as my back hits the chilly metal drawer. She told me to keep quiet and be still, while she listens and watches from the corner.

The supervisor shook his head, “Not yet, we’re working on the changes you’ve recommended, manager.” He said nervously. The man’s lips straightened and his eyes narrowed slightly, a bit unpleased with his subordinate’s answer. “This egghead right here keep on insisting his ideas that’s why we’re behind schedule.” Referring to the intern head.

“That’s not true! I’m only taking all things into consideration! The body should be able to board 2 people, the engine and the turbochargers. Not only that, we have to make way for the coffee, salad and beer station while not compromising the luxurious interior design of the car.” The boss retorted, “But this guy wants to make room for another passenger while forcing an aerodynamic shape on the body!”

The supervisor reddened in anger, “You want speed! It only has to burn more fuel, you i***t!”

“Then what’s the ‘eco’ stands for if it consumes more fuel! Are you daft?!” The two started arguing when the man, who’s the manager apparently, let’s out a dark mist around his person and the two men became silent and started shaking in fear.

“We don’t play games here.” He stated, “You’re stealing precious money from the company by wasting your time disagreeing instead of working your asses off to produce output.” Like octopus’ tentacles, the black smoke teases to touch the two subordinates while they were slowly backing away from the scary entity.

The supervisor spoke first, his voice somewhat shaky, “What do you think about this, Manager? Do you think this is the way to go?” He lets out his tablet and showed a design to the young manager. I noticed that that was the second car the girl has finished rendering. The young man took the tablet from the supervisor’s hand forcefully and studied it. He shrugged and threw the device a few feet away, letting the supervisor chasing after it with unsteady hands. The intern head smirked and run to this desk, he showed the girl’s third design in full-screen mode and moved his monitor to show it to the manager.

Again, the manager is dissatisfied and he kicked the side of the intern head’s table. The monitor and the CPU shook but fortunately, they didn’t crash and fall on the tiled flooring. “This is everything you can come up with after giving this assignment for a month?” He even uttered rubbish under his breath and clicked his tongue. “Do you think I’d be able to face the press with that kind of car on display?”

My hands clenched in anger as the young man kept on spewing derogatory and unconstructive criticism of the girl’s work. I touched her shoulder and pressed it, trying to comfort her but her face becomes more sullen and her mood darkening.

“How about the new intern? Where is she?” He asked, sounding somewhat threatening. He looks around and failed to see what he’s looking for. She didn’t move from her position, I squeezed her shoulder harder.

The intern boss spoke, “She’s here. But she’s absent for many days as she was hospitalized.”

The young manager tapped his foot impatiently, “Then you should’ve had a new one on board.” He lets out his phone after it beeped. “Are we going to wait till she gets better?” He tapped furiously on his phone.

“But sir, she’s already our 5th intern this year. Replacing her would take so much time,” The supervisor countered. “And she’s been doing so well before she got sick.” He chooses his words carefully and placing emphasis on the line of work that are pending. Screening for another intern would take more time and resources.

The young manager smirked and motioned the two older men to follow him. They approached a dashboard with buttons, slides, and a monitor. He placed his phone on a concave part of the board where a smartphone can definitely fit and on the large screen another car design appeared. It’s the one being manufactured by this automotive plant. “I wouldn’t get this far if I get my personal issues and problems in the way. I’m disappointed that all these years we can’t find someone who can be as good or be better than I am.” He scoffed and showed a haughty grin towards the two. He changed the colors of his design a bit, it was a combination of red and black. The colors of the cars being produced in the line changed automatically. But he seems unhappy with the result. He changed it to white, the red color dripping from the roof like blood and the front bumper transformed into a mouth with fangs like a vampire. “Excellent…” He said, “Don’t you agree?” The two men nodded and agreed hesitantly.

The manager and the two men continued talking while observing the production in the assembly line. The rest of the workers tensed up and spoke incoherently when asked or spoken to by the supervisor. He seems to be enjoying the effect he has on other people. ‘What a d….’

I faced her and tried to look into her eyes, but she averted her gaze. “He’s a jerk! Don’t let his words get through you.” Such people exist in the corporate world. It’s a great misfortune that we all go through meeting such individuals even as early as in preschool. They just don’t die, instead, they multiply in numbers.

She took out a paper and wrote something on it. To my surprise, she’s writing what appears to be like a resignation letter. She wiped the tears in her eyes and stomped towards the three men in charge of the factory. She angrily handed her letter to the young man and said, “I quit! You can shove your obsolete design to your pompous ass!” She stormed to the exit, dragging me with her. I let out my tongue and waved them goodbye. The two subordinates were dumbfounded and the manager just held into the paper in his hand without reading it yet. She pushed the swinging door, but to our surprise, it doesn’t open.

A devious laugh erupted behind us and the manager grabbed the girl by her hands and pulled her closer to him, “I thought you’re smart. Did you forget that you’ve signed a performance bond? You didn’t deliver what’s asked, you just can’t saunter out of here and expect you’ll get out.” Her eyes widened upon realization and she gritted her teeth. She pushed the manager away and tried to open the doors again. “You have to pay up first before you walk free.” He lets out that dark smog again and the mood and façade of everyone around him turned gloomy and destitute. The darkness tried to reach us but I fanned them away with the folders brought by the girl.

I initially thought that if we have money, we could leave. But we don’t and the answer to this puzzle seems to be the only thing that we don’t have right now. How do we escape this? I tapped on her shoulder and pointed the entrance doors where the supplies are carried in by rusty metal carts. We tried to squeeze through the gap and even waited for the workers to stop entering, but we obviously can’t get through. There are no windows here unlike the confined classroom we’ve been at a few hours ago. But unlike the violent instructor, the manager just watched us and stayed in his position, smiling like a lunatic at our desperation.

“We’re trapped again,” She said. There’s no way out. ‘Out…’

At the end of the production line, the steel roll-up goes up and the finished products are driven to the warehouse. We hurriedly run to the car while the manager gave another demeaning laugh and the dark mist around him flailed and grew bigger. The supervisor and the intern head are almost disappearing from view and their eyes turned white and their cheeks sunk in a horrifying fashion. “Once that smoke reached us, we’ll be goners for sure,” She nodded as we neared the car. She reached for the handle of the door but again – it doesn’t open. I grabbed the other handles but, it’s the same. They are all the same. They are shut tight! “If only we have money…” Money does seem to be the answer to almost all problems, especially now…

“I don’t have money!” She cried. Of course, she doesn’t! That’s why she worked for a crappy company such as this.

“Then what other options do we have?” I shouted! The noise of the machines gets louder and deafening. In the classroom, it’s either we answer the papers or submit them without answering. ‘Submit… Submit…’ “We should get his phone!” I run to the direction opposite to where we’re aiming out. This time, we’re going to the manager.

“Wait! What?! I thought we should avoid him!” She protested but followed me nonetheless.

“We should avoid the smoke,” I said ‘But not the final boss. We should get his phone.”

“But why?!” She asked and we stopped in front of the manager. The silly grin still on his face.

“Because that’s our ticket out of here,” With that, the smile on the young manager’s face disappeared and turned into a ferocious scowl. “It’s either you pay or do you what you have to do. And we don’t have money, so that leaves us with the choice of…” I paused, “Doing your work…” I can’t believe I just asked her to work again after I repeatedly told her not to.

It dawned on her as well. We just need that phone to update the car design and with that, the stipulation in her contract is fulfilled. The monster manager crossed his arms and stepped back. He growled at us, signaling us to back away. We run towards him and aimed for his ticket pocket. We both tried to reach it from both sides but he caught our hands. I sneered at him, he forgot that I still have a folder with me. With the folder, I slid the cellphone up and it dropped from his coat. The girl caught it and we both jumped away from the manager.

“Now what?” I asked. She opened the phone and opened her cloud storage account. The young manager’s turned into a daze and he stopped breathing. The smog engulfed him and it started consuming anything it touches. “RUN!”

She successfully downloaded her newest creation and we went to the dashboard to execute the new design. The buffer bar read the content slowly and the mist is catching upon us.

“We need to go!” I pulled her arm and dragged her.

“But it’s still in progress…” She said. “We won’t be able to get a new car.” She looked back, somewhat thinking of going back and wait for the file to be read completely.

“Well, we won’t be if we’re dead. Besides, it just needs to get the new design and it will apply automatically, is it correct?” I asked. She said yes and we waited at the end of the line for the new car to appear. To our delight, the car gradually morphed into her creation but the evil smoke has devoured everything on its path and it’s coming after us. “C’MON! C’MON! C’MON!”

The mist roared and grew bigger. The car is now done and we opened the doors and got in. I got into the driver seat and she sat beside me in a hurry. “Do you know how to drive?” She asked, worriedly. Her brows furrowed in fear and anxiety.

“No…” But this is her work, from that few hours that I watched her, I think this is an intelligent car. I pushed some buttons on the screen board and followed the instructions. As the limb of the black smoke tried to reach, the car revved and sped out of the factory.

A starry night sky welcomed us as we escaped the nefarious automotive plant. But before we can even celebrate, the car stopped at the edge of a ditch. We hugged each other in fright, seeing the abysmal blackness waiting for us down if the car falls.

Both of us panicked and screamed.

“Reverse! Put it on reverse!” She shouted on top of her lungs while clinging on the edge of her seat. She’s paralyzed and terrified. She can’t even look at me or push the buttons on the dashboard herself. My fingers feel cold and I randomly tapped on the options on the screen but I can’t find what I was looking for. From the rear-view mirror, the factory and warehouse have disappeared and the smoke only remains. It crawled to our direction, not wanting us to escape alive.

On the car’s windshield played the memories I have with my sisters. I don’t know if it’s my brain playing tricks on me or the car giving you a review of your life knowing you’ll pass away minutes later. How nice…

The girl beside me stopped screaming and squirming. She also saw her life before her. Her family, the time at the breakfast and dinner table, fixing broken appliances and toys together, going to parks and carnivals, going to the church… It appears that no matter how hard we try, we can’t escape this fate. I reached for her hand and squeezed it.

A tear rolled down to her eye and she said, “I’m sorry…”

The smoke caught us and the car falls into the deep trench. ‘I’m sorry Lucky, I couldn’t make it.’

I felt the wind to my face and the smell of the evening sky urging me to open my eyes and be unafraid of the darkness. We are still in the car, in the middle of nowhere, like a desert where no lush or greenery can thrive. It’s still dark and the stars shine brightly in the sky. The full moon provided ample light for my eyes to see my surroundings.

The girl is still covering her eyes with her hands.

“It’s okay. We’re safe. I think we’re still alive.” I said. I think the afterlife doesn’t look like the wilderness.

She opened them and is greatly astonished. She smiled and laughed in relief. In her happiness, she hugged me tightly and thanked me.

“I didn’t do anything special. We survived together,” I said. She smiled brightly and her countenance improved. I only noticed now that she’s a very pretty girl. My heart almost twitched in envy, but my relief and gratefulness is greater than any animosity I have towards this blessed person.

“What are you waiting for?” She asked me, quite friendlier this time.

“What do you mean?” I thought we should contact her father so I brought out my phone.

“Not that, shouldn’t we go after your sister?” She reminded me.

“Oh” That’s all I said.

“Hurry! We should go before the concert ends!” She told me quite excitedly. She tapped the coordinates on the screen and the car automatically run towards the hi-way to the concert venue. We smiled in victory after what appeared to be an impossible feat. There are other cars moving with us and their drivers and riders are looking at us in awe. Some even took out their phones and took a picture and video of our magnificent ride. “On this speed,” She said confidently, “We’ll be there in an hour…”

I can finally see my sister. ‘Lucky, please wait a little longer…’