fast as he can. As the pursuing guards close in, Ben ducks out onto one of the other floors.
People are behaving as if they’ve been drugged. They barely notice Ben as he pushes through them. The guards seem to have become distracted by a young woman who has taken her top off. As he escapes, Ben ducks back into the main stairwell and hides in one of the toilets. It’s not exactly heroic, but it gets him out of a situation.
In the next cubicle, an executive sits crying his eyes out. The atmosphere in the building has now phased beyond the grasp of normality. But it’s a closed world. Outside, everyone goes about their work. Nobody really knows what goes on in other people’s offices.
The guards enter the toilet. When Ben looks around the door, he is caught. After a brief struggle, he’s overpowered.
The stony-faced security team lead Ben back up to Clarke’s twentieth-floor office. When he ducks and tries to escape, they punch him viciously in the stomach. Clarke is waiting at his computer.
‘Mr Harper,’ he says pleasantly, ‘do have a seat.’ He waves the guards away. ‘I don’t think you’ve been very honest with us about your career. Let’s take a look, shall we?’ He takes great pleasure in punching up Ben’s CV.
Ben tries to catch his breath. He knows he is seconds from being thrown out of the building, and there’s nothing he can do. The file takes forever to open. Clarke waits. Outside, Meera anxiously transfers documents, cutting and pasting. When Clarke’s file opens, the supervisor sees that it has been completely revised. Furious, he jumps up and drags Ben out to his own workstation, where he punches up the same file, only to get the same result.
Clarke is staggered. He knows he’s been had, and hates it. ‘I don’t know how you did this, pal, but I’ll find out,’ he screams, his voice cracking. ‘Nobody pisses in my gravy and gets away with it.’
Meera walks behind Clarke, smiling as she slips the disk into her pocket. The supervisor turns to the rest of the staff, who are watching him anxiously. ‘Get on with your work, all of you.’ He turns on Miranda. ‘And you, get back to your job or …’
‘What will you do, kick me out? You can’t fire me, Hopalong, I’m not permanent.’
‘You’ll be here tomorrow if you want to work in this city ever again.’ With that, Clarke strides angrily away.
Ben pulls Miranda aside. ‘We need to get to the directors. If there is something going on, they have to be told.’
‘They already know, Ben. All they care about is making money.’
‘Oh, I get it, evil corporation takes over world. It must be so easy going through life with that good/bad thing going on in your head.’
‘You think they don’t know that something is wrong with the system? How can you be so naive?’
‘I nearly just got fired because I was downstairs listening to Howard explain about altered dimensions.’
‘So you’re not going to help me find Felix’s report?’
‘I didn’t say that.’ Ben touches his sore stomach, knowing that a point has been passed. ‘We’ll search the office tonight.’
The building looks silvery against a dark sky. The office lights are still on, but most of the staff, including Clarke, have left. Ben and Miranda wait while Fitch shuts down her computer. ‘You can go home now,’ she says suspiciously, ‘both of you.’
‘We have some work to finish, Miss Fitch.’ Miranda smiles unconvincingly.
‘You know you’re not supposed to remain on the premises without a supervisor.’
Miranda holds up a sheaf of paper, making sure Fitch can’t see that the pages are blank. ‘Mr Clarke specifically asked for these to be finished tonight.’
‘Well … all right. But remember, you’re being recorded.’
Ben and Miranda wait for Fitch to leave, then head for Clarke’s office. Ben stands on a chair and takes a digital photograph of Clarke’s office from an angle just below the CCTV camera. He plugs the camera into
People are behaving as if they’ve been drugged. They barely notice Ben as he pushes through them. The guards seem to have become distracted by a young woman who has taken her top off. As he escapes, Ben ducks back into the main stairwell and hides in one of the toilets. It’s not exactly heroic, but it gets him out of a situation.
In the next cubicle, an executive sits crying his eyes out. The atmosphere in the building has now phased beyond the grasp of normality. But it’s a closed world. Outside, everyone goes about their work. Nobody really knows what goes on in other people’s offices.
The guards enter the toilet. When Ben looks around the door, he is caught. After a brief struggle, he’s overpowered.
The stony-faced security team lead Ben back up to Clarke’s twentieth-floor office. When he ducks and tries to escape, they punch him viciously in the stomach. Clarke is waiting at his computer.
‘Mr Harper,’ he says pleasantly, ‘do have a seat.’ He waves the guards away. ‘I don’t think you’ve been very honest with us about your career. Let’s take a look, shall we?’ He takes great pleasure in punching up Ben’s CV.
Ben tries to catch his breath. He knows he is seconds from being thrown out of the building, and there’s nothing he can do. The file takes forever to open. Clarke waits. Outside, Meera anxiously transfers documents, cutting and pasting. When Clarke’s file opens, the supervisor sees that it has been completely revised. Furious, he jumps up and drags Ben out to his own workstation, where he punches up the same file, only to get the same result.
Clarke is staggered. He knows he’s been had, and hates it. ‘I don’t know how you did this, pal, but I’ll find out,’ he screams, his voice cracking. ‘Nobody pisses in my gravy and gets away with it.’
Meera walks behind Clarke, smiling as she slips the disk into her pocket. The supervisor turns to the rest of the staff, who are watching him anxiously. ‘Get on with your work, all of you.’ He turns on Miranda. ‘And you, get back to your job or …’
‘What will you do, kick me out? You can’t fire me, Hopalong, I’m not permanent.’
‘You’ll be here tomorrow if you want to work in this city ever again.’ With that, Clarke strides angrily away.
Ben pulls Miranda aside. ‘We need to get to the directors. If there is something going on, they have to be told.’
‘They already know, Ben. All they care about is making money.’
‘Oh, I get it, evil corporation takes over world. It must be so easy going through life with that good/bad thing going on in your head.’
‘You think they don’t know that something is wrong with the system? How can you be so naive?’
‘I nearly just got fired because I was downstairs listening to Howard explain about altered dimensions.’
‘So you’re not going to help me find Felix’s report?’
‘I didn’t say that.’ Ben touches his sore stomach, knowing that a point has been passed. ‘We’ll search the office tonight.’
The building looks silvery against a dark sky. The office lights are still on, but most of the staff, including Clarke, have left. Ben and Miranda wait while Fitch shuts down her computer. ‘You can go home now,’ she says suspiciously, ‘both of you.’
‘We have some work to finish, Miss Fitch.’ Miranda smiles unconvincingly.
‘You know you’re not supposed to remain on the premises without a supervisor.’
Miranda holds up a sheaf of paper, making sure Fitch can’t see that the pages are blank. ‘Mr Clarke specifically asked for these to be finished tonight.’
‘Well … all right. But remember, you’re being recorded.’
Ben and Miranda wait for Fitch to leave, then head for Clarke’s office. Ben stands on a chair and takes a digital photograph of Clarke’s office from an angle just below the CCTV camera. He plugs the camera into
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