Kill Switch: Chapter 39
Sincerely, Vonn 19
X is absolutely livid when we return to the cave, and he’s all, like, pacing around, swinging his arms, yelling about how we ditched him.
And I’m like, “yo, simul, you need to mega chill, we weren’t trying to ditch you, we were just trying to be efficient.”
X runs a hand over his face. “It’s just so boring here. There’s nothing to do. I’ve been having to talk to these Withouters about, like, ideas. It sucks. I hate it. I want to go home. I miss the pharmas. I miss the sinny. I miss my harem of sexSimuls. I miss dancing at High Times. I even kind of miss my job. You know?”
X’s eyes plead with me, and I don’t have the heart to tell him what Yide ends up saying.
“We can’t go back, X. They know who we are.”
His head turns, his face drops. “They? Who is they?”
“Upper Management. Vonn Industries. The whole incestuous military corporate complex that is The Within.”
“I don’t understand,” X says. “I thought the footage was too grainy. That’s what the news feed is saying.”
Yide shrugs. “They’re lying to us.”
X is speechless for maybe the first time in his life.
I step toward him, put my hand on his shoulder. “Look,” I say. “I’m sorry we left without telling you. We won’t do that again. From now on, you’ll be the first to know everything. In fact, there’s something we want to talk to you about. It’s a plan to break into headquarters. You’re my best colleague, X, and I need your help.”
X glances at my hand. Then, with disdain, he brushes it off his shoulder, and his eyes bite into me like a snake. “Go fuck yourself, Vonn.”
He storms off, and I turn to watch him leave. Walking through a narrow stone corridor, he bumps into a silhouette, spins, and tells the silhouette to go fuck itself as well.
Cosmo surfaces from the dark surround.
“What’s wrong with him?” He asks.
I shrug. “He’s just pissed because he wasn’t included in our jaunt to find Orson. But don’t worry. It’s X. He’ll get over it.”
Cosmo nods.
“How’s Bunnfield?” I ask.
“A little shaken, but overall, not bad. He has a few scrapes and bruises, but nothing a little balm can’t fix. How are you two doing?”
“Fine,” Yide says, “A little tired, but overall, not bad.”
Cosmo is holding a laptop. He sets it down on a slate of rock and opens the screen. A bright blue surrounds the dim candlelight.
“Bunnfield has brought me up to speed,” he says, “and I’ve been reviewing the contents of the floppy disk.”
“What’s a floppy disk?” Yide asks.
“It’s this olden time way of storing data. Orson handed one to Bunnfield before he slipped out the back of the cabin. It has a lot of useful information on it about the Kill Switch Protocol. I have some ideas about how we can infiltrate headquarters.”
He clicks around the laptop as we discuss the plan.
I glance at my watch. It’s two in the morning.
“Seven hours until nine am,” I say. “How far is it to headquarters from here?”
“An hour on foot. If you leave by eight, I think you’ll be fine. There’s a whole processing protocol at the holding cell. It’ll take some time before Bunnfield reaches Switch.”
I nod. “We should get some shut eye then. We’ve got a big day ahead.”
Cosmo closes his laptop.
“Wait a second,” I say. “Could you do me a favor?”
“Depends,” Cosmo says.
“If I typed up an email, would you be able to schedule it to send to my boss at nine am?”
“Sure,” Cosmo says. “I can do that. What’s the email about?”
“It’s my letter of resignation,” I say.
Cosmo grins as he hands me the laptop. “Go for it.”
I type several versions of the email, deleting each one as I go. The first is a diatribe against Beehive. The second is a diatribe against Zed. The third is a diatribe against corporate culture, toxic bosses, bullshit jobs, and, ultimately, the entire Within. After getting all that off my chest, I settle on this:
Dear Supervisor Zed,
My performance improvement plan is as follows: go fuck yourself.
Sincerely,
Vonn 19