MATON Corporation

Disclaimer: language

“Another gift basket from the company?” My brother asked me, his tone disapproving. He refused to call the company I worked for by name.

I didn’t have to respond; he could see it was true from my shame-flushed cheeks.

“James,” he continued, his condescension barreling toward me like a 10-foot wave. “What are they trying to cover up now? They can’t keep putting you in these predicaments, forcing you to lie for them. It’s unethical. You’re a pawn in their game. Just like Dad was.”

The wave crashed on my head, stealing my breath. Anger, guilt, and sorrow swam through my gut. I almost said, I’m not lying for them. We do important work there. It’s cutting-edge technology. For the good of the country. But I didn’t say any of that because there was a lump in my throat, and I didn’t believe that stuff anymore. Instead, I turned my face away and said nothing.

Chris hadn’t come over that day to criticize me. He was just being protective like he’d been since we were kids, I knew that. He was really there to check on me, like he’d been doing every week for the last six months since Dad disappeared.

“I’ll go grab dinner. You want Thai?” He didn’t pause for me to object. “I’ll be back in twenty.”

When he left, I locked the door then studied the gift basket on the kitchen bar. The fruit appeared fake, the colors almost neon. Theatre tickets were tucked between two apples. Jerky and cheese were wedged between a candle and a bar of soap. I re-read the card on the basket.

“TO JAMES. FOR YOUR LOYALTY. THE WORK YOU DO MATTERS. YOUR DISCRETION DOES NOT GO UNNOTICED. FROM, MATON.”

The MATON company logo was stamped at the bottom in a deep crimson ink. The phrase does not go unnoticed sent a chill down my spine. I stepped to the windows, almost robotically, and twisted the blinds closed.

Three bangs on the front door—POUND POUND POUND—made me curse under my breath.

Assuming Chris forgot his wallet, I turned the handle.

“Dammit Chris, you sca—”

My supervisor Diane stood there staring—no, glaring—at me. She was all cheekbones and lizard eyes. Her pupils seemed inhuman, stretched tall and thin instead of round. Dressed in a full black suit and stilettos, she stood two inches taller than me. I felt small and ashamed, but I didn’t understand why.

“James,” she said. Did her tongue slither on the s?

“Diane,” I squeaked, then cleared my throat. I felt like a ten-year-old in the principal’s office. But this was worse because my boss was at my home. She had never been to my home. No one from MATON had been there, that I knew of anyway. I did not invite her in.

She was holding a clipboard. “What’s that?” I asked, straightening up a bit. “Did Smith send you?” I was hoping to make her feel small too by bringing up her boss. Smith was the CEO of MATON. We never saw much of him, but I had heard rumors, horror stories really. Mostly from Dad.

Diane ignored my questions. “Did you receive the gift basket?”

I nodded.

“Good.” She reached her pale, sinewy hand toward me, showing me the contents of the clipboard. “I need you to sign this.”

A quick skim told me it was a non-disclosure agreement. “I’ve already signed one of these,” I said, refusing to take the bait.

“Yes. But now that we’ve promoted your team, you’re privy to the latest automatons and their respective algorithms. All classified. New information, new NDA.” She spoke with no emotion, like she was an automaton.

I scoffed. “Are you confusing the word promotion with giving us more work? Because I’m pretty sure this new project we’re on is twice as much work with zero salary increase.”

Diane ground her teeth. “I cannot leave until you sign this.”

We stood in my doorway in a stalemate. The sun was flirting with setting behind Diane’s slim, dark figure. I wondered how she didn’t disintegrate into ash under the sun’s rays. I imagined her sneaking back into my home at night to sink her teeth into my neck, drowning my pillow in dark crimson blood.

Frustration brewed inside my chest. Before logic could stop my mouth, the question poured out. “Did my father refuse to sign your stupid NDA?”

Though the sky was clear, lightning struck in the distance and the whole neighborhood seemed to fall dark.

*****

OBITUARY

Christopher James Callaghan was born and raised in Wilmington, PA where he met his late wife, Rebecca Jones Callaghan, and where they raised their two sons. Christopher was a brilliant computer scientist who worked in education for twelve years. Shortly after his wife died, he was recruited by MATON Corporation. He relocated his family to Baltimore, MD where he gave nineteen years of his life to MATON…

…Christopher is survived by his sons, Chris Callaghan and James Callaghan. Chris is an English teacher in Baltimore, and James followed in his father’s footsteps at MATON Corporation. Christopher will be dearly missed by all who knew him.

*****

“Sorry, they were packed tonight, the order took longer than—” Chris said as I let him in.

I interrupted him. “It’s fine, just get inside.”

“What’s gotten into you? You’re pale.”

I locked the door. “My boss was here.” We sat at the kitchen bar but left the Thai food untouched.

“Smith? He came here?” Chris wouldn’t hurt a fly, but Smith was an arachnid, and arachnids needed to die. We both blamed Smith for Dad’s death. But there’s nothing we could do; we didn’t have proof. Plus, the man was a ghost.

“No, Diane.”

“Diane, your supervisor?”

“Do you know another Diane?” I asked, agitated.

Chris raised his hands. “Whoa. Sorry, man. She really got to you, huh? What’d she say?”

I hesitated. I knew Chris was going to lay into me for this. “She made me sign another NDA.”

Chris’ eyes narrowed. “She made you—"

“Listen. Before you big-brother lecture me, you need to know something. I haven’t stayed with MATON for the reasons you think.”

Chris bit his tongue and let me speak. I explained that I lost all loyalty to MATON when Dad died. That these past six months had been more of a digging mission than anything. That I didn’t tell Chris before now because I didn’t want to put him in danger. That the less he knew, the better. He simply nodded.

“Today, I had a breakthrough,” I told him. “I saw some files they didn’t want me to see.” I slipped a flip phone from my pocket and slid it across the counter to Chris.

His eyes widened. “Whose phone is this?”

“Mine. I’ve been sneaking it into work for six months in case of a day like today. Open the photos.”

“You took pictures? James!”

“They don’t know, trust me. I put on an Oscar-winning performance feigning ignorance. They don’t know that I saw anything, much less took pictures.” My stomach sunk a bit as I thought about Diane showing up that day, of all days. She must have known more than she let on.

Chris frowned while he scrolled through the grainy photos on the screen. I awaited his reaction. “These look like contracts. Like the company is selling their automatons to the military. Weapons, I guess?” He paused to think. “Seems like standard business to me. What’s the catch?”

“The military, yes. But not the U.S. military.” I sucked in a breath. “MATON is selling their technology to foreign militaries for use as weapons. Against us.”

Chris’ jaw dropped.

“I think Dad was onto them. I think he was headed to the Pentagon to be a whistleblower.”

Chris finished my thought. “And the company intercepted him. Then they...” He didn’t need to finish the sentence.

Chris stood up suddenly. “James, when did you get this gift basket? Today?”

“Yeah, why?”

Chris grabbed the basket and dumped it out all over the counter, fruit rolling onto the floor. I watched, frozen in place, as he started ripping the basket apart, weave by weave. A black piece of plastic fell out and clanked on the granite countertop.

“Shit.” Chris said.

“Shit,” I repeated. “Is that a listening dev—”

“Come on!” Chris grabbed my arm, I snagged the flip phone, and we bolted out the front door.

“Want me to drive?” I asked.

“No. They know your vehicle. Plus, your car is probably bugged too.”

We got in Chris’ Jeep and peeled out of the driveway. “Where are we going to hide?”

“We’re not hiding anywhere,” Chris said. “We’re gonna finish what Dad started. We’re headed to the Pentagon.”

We made it in less than an hour. We incessantly checked the rearview mirrors the entire drive to see if we were being tailed. The sun was set, but it was only 7pm so we were going to take our chances with the facility still being open. We couldn’t risk waiting until morning.

“How are we going to get in?” Chris asked as we approached the gate.

“My MATON ID should get us at least basic entry. Then we can find someone we trust.”

“And how will we do that?”

“No idea,” I said. “Hoping we will just make eye contact with the right person and know.” I smiled at Chris and he burst out laughing. Even amidst the most intense situation we had ever experienced, it still mattered to me that I could make him laugh.

“Actually, I have a former colleague who works at the Pentagon now,” I said, remembering Hailey who had been on my team for two years and who I had a bit of a crush on.

“You trust him?”

“Her,” I said. “I think so. What other choice do we have? MATON’s on to me now. We’re out of options.”

Once Chris and I got inside the compound, we were told to wait in a lobby area. I asked to see Hailey Rippstein. They said they would check if she were available then send her out to us.

Fifteen minutes passed. Chris’ knee was bouncing and my hands were clammy with sweat. We did not speak, not with our mouths anyway. Gorgeous legs wrapped in a grey pencil skirt finally appeared before us. Chris and I both stood and were met with a bright smile.

“James,” Hailey said, shaking my hand. “Good to see you again.” She wiped her palm on her skirt and I blushed. “And you're James’ brother Chris, right?”

“Have we met?” Chris asked

“No,” Hailey said quickly. “Well, briefly in passing. At the funeral.” She looked at the floor then cleared her throat. “So, what brings you to the Pentagon? Just passing by?”

I looked around nervously. “Look, Hailey, I have critical information that needs to get to the right people. Can you direct my steps?”

Her face fell then she corrected it with a tight smile. “I assume this has to do with…the company?”

I nodded.

“Say no more. I left for a reason. We’ve been keeping an eye on them for the past three years, hoping for them to slip up. James, maybe you have just what we need.”

“Who’s we?” Chris asked.

Hailey ignored him and kept her large green eyes on mine. “I’ll take what you have carefully and discreetly. You have my word.”

I thought of my work and my team. All the years of technological progress, and I was about to blow it all up. I thought of Chris and what this might do to his life, robbing him of his beloved teaching job if we had to get away and possibly go into hiding. But mostly I thought of Dad. He was a brilliant scientist and a loving father. MATON took him from us and from the world. But I couldn’t prove it. So, the least I could do was finish what Dad started.

I handed Hailey the flip phone. She nodded and disappeared. I felt heavier not lighter, but I couldn’t explain why. I don’t remember walking back to Chris’ Jeep. It was like being underwater with my eyes closed.

When I came up for air, I saw Diane. She had pulled her car in front of ours, blocking our exit.

“What the hell?” Chris honked the horn. Diane emerged from her driver’s seat, slammed her car door, and walked up to my passenger window.

“Who is that?” Chris asked.

Diane tapped the glass furiously. I cracked the window.

“James. James, listen to me,” she said breathlessly.

“Lady!” Chris yelled. “Get out of our way!”

“The basket, the listening device. It was there for your protection. I was trying to prevent—”

“What the hell?” Chris said again, but I stared at Diane’s cheekbones in stunned silence.

“Listen. I can’t explain all this now. I need to get you both out of here. But first, tell me who you gave the phone to.”

“The pho—how do you--?” I muttered.

“I know a lot, James. It’s for your own good. I’ve been fighting fires for you for a long time. I did the same for your dad. I tried to protect him, but…” A tear fell down Diane’s cheek. “Anyway, I can’t let anything happen to you.”

It was the first time I had ever seen Diane as human. I looked into her eyes, her sad blue eyes with perfectly round pupils that I had judged so vehemently before, and knew I could trust her. I just knew. I glanced at Chris; he knew too. He nodded at me to go ahead.

“Hailey Rippstein. I gave the phone to Hailey.”

“Shit.” Diane threw her head back and closed her eyes, then snapped back up. “Kill your car, get in mine. I’ll get you out of town and explain on the road.”

Chris and I did as we were told. As Diane snuck us out of the Pentagon gates into a dark night, I asked, “Who’s Hailey going to give the phone to?”

She pressed her lips together then looked me right in the eyes. “Smith.”