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Wednesday, June 24, 2020

Microstory 1393: Terror

Fertilizer Developer: Terror Guard 1, Terror Guard 2, Terror Guard 3. This is Fiore Stern. He’s very excited to start working with us, aren’t you, Fiore?
Fiore Stern: Uh. I am.
Fertilizer Developer: Great. Well, he needs to go through clearance, so go ahead and take care of that for me. I’ll be back for ya in two days.
Fiore Stern: Two days? Just how long is this thing?
Terror Guard 1: The interview will only take a few minutes.
Terror Guard 2: But we’ll need to test your loyalty.
Terror Guard 3: That will be the hardest thirty-six hours of your life.
Fiore Stern: Now you’re scaring me.
Terror Guard 1: You should be scared.
Terror Guard 2: This job is not for the faint of heart.
Terror Guard 3: Are you ready?
Fiore Stern: I am. Ask your questions. I’m up for anything, even if it hurts.
Terror Guard 1: We don’t have access to your résumé, so if you’ve already answered these before...we don’t apologize. If you can’t handle a little bit of repetition, you won’t survive here.
Terror Guard 2: Have you ever been convicted of a felony?
Fiore Stern: Yes. I went to prison for two years.
Terror Guard 3: For what?
Fiore Stern: Animal cruelty.
Terror Guard 2: Are you guilty?
Fiore Stern: Indeed.
Terror Guard 1: Do you regret what you did?
Fiore Stern: I was just doing an experiment. I wanted to see how long it would take for the stray cat to die if I kept from feeding it.
Terror Guard 2: So you’re a curious fellow. That’s both a good, and a bad, thing here.
Terror Guard 3: We want you to want to understand the world.
Terror Guard 2: And we want you to want to make it better.
Terror Guard 1: But there are things about our organization that you will not be allowed to know.
Terror Guard 3: Some doors will always be closed to you.
Fiore Stern: I understand.
Terror Guard 3: You will be expected to question authority.
Terror Guard 1: Unless that authority is us.
Fiore Stern: Naturally. I want to do what I can to help.
Terror Guard 2: Good. Have you ever made or used a bomb before?
Fiore Stern: Does a cherry bomb count? Or should I say bombs. I once blew up my neighbor’s garden with thirty cherry bombs.
Terror Guard 1: Really? Terror Guard 3?
Terror Guard 3: That’s worth about an eighth of a stick of dynamite.
Terror Guard 2: Were you not arrested for this as well?
Fiore Stern: This was back when I was a little kid. And no one ever found out what I did. She killed my dog with poison, so I wanted to make sure she couldn’t do that again.
Terror Guard 2: Did you love that dog?
Fiore Stern: No, but I don’t like when people work against me, whether the act itself bothers me or not.
Terror Guard 1: Justice. That’s exactly what we’re all about.
Fiore Stern: I can appreciate that. I don’t know much about explosives, except that fertilizer can be used for it. So I assume that’s what you do. I’m eager to learn, but I kind of have a thing for poisonous plants, so if there’s anything I can do on that front, I sure wouldn’t mind.
Terror Guard 1: You won’t be much involved in the engineering department; not until you prove yourself, at least. You’ll definitely be working with plants, but only so the authorities don’t figure out what we’re really up to.
Fiore Stern: It would be an honor to protect you.
Terror Guard 1: Good. I think he’s ready. Don’t you?
Terror Guard 2: I do.
Terror Guard 3: As do I.
Fiore Stern: Absolutely.
Terror Guard 3: Then put this over your head. Welcome to hell, kid.

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