Lights, Camera, Action

In the beginning, it was nice. There was less energy loss in the city. The lights sensed when someone was near and would brighten the path around people, then dim them after the person had left. One would think that this would increase crime since they thought that the lights would dim after someone was in the same place for an extended period. However, the sensors on the lights detected a person’s shape, movements, no matter how small, and also communicated with other lights to provide enough information on a person’s movements. They also were set to brighten up adequate amounts area around them, while simultaneously not being so bright as if to disturb the people using them.

I must have pissed the lights off somehow. Cause I swear that they hate me. I don’t know when it happened, or why. But it did. I think it started with my house lights. I never damaged them or anything. At least, I don’t think I did. The first day I noticed something off was near the end of last month. I had just come home from my job at XICORP. I spent most of my time there. I had to; I was the lead programmer for their new flagship product: what they called The Technology of the Future! You could say that it would be useful, but I, myself, am not sure of the benefits of a solar powered mining vehicle. This vehicle would be used on recently colonized planets. It worked, on the surface. I tried telling Zoman Keenglade that solar would not be beneficial underground, but he would not listen. Somehow, he ended up running this company, I have no idea how.  

Because I knew just how incompetent he was, I talked to the engineers. They all thought that using solar panels on this mining equipment just did not make sense.   Not only would the device be underground for most of the time, but these pieces of equipment would also be lightyears away from the nearest star. It would be dead a mere few moments after we launched the miner from a spaceship in the area. It would be an absolute waste of money. Everyone agreed. So, working together with the engineers in the team to alter the designs from solar to nuclear. The entire team was for it. They did not mention the change to His Royal Incompetence as they knew that he would force them to go back to solar.

So, after several weeks of changes kept secret from the boss and agreeing with him to make him believe we were on his side and working on the plans, we finally started building the vehicle. Zoman knew nothing about the changes until he was walking through the assembly line and saw the circle with six alternating slices of yellow and black revolving a smaller symbol: a nuclear symbol. He asked who was responsible for this. At first nobody wanted to volunteer. They knew that they probably would be fired. Since nobody piped up, he screamed to us that if nobody volunteered, he would fire everyone. We knew that if he were to go through with that plan, the government contract he had would be delayed, meaning that terraforming would be as well. It would also mean that he would hire a new crew that would actually go along with his stupid plans. Everyone hated the man but did not want to miss the opportunity to get their names recognized. The job also paid well, and people tend to enjoy high paychecks.

Before he ask a second time, I rose from my seat with my hand raised high in the air. His glare pierced into me. I ignored it and told him that I had ordered these parts. Even though it was a group effort, I would take the blame. Furious, he asked why I had done such a thing. Why I did not order solar panels. I told him it was what was in his email (that I had sent when I hacked into his email while he was out attending some public event) Confused he went to his computer and checked his sent folder. Inside was an urgent message that read: To all personal, Since this project is so important for the terraforming cause, I have taken another look at the power source and with the advise of a few members of the team discovered that solar might not be the best to use. Because of this, I decided to make the craft run on nuclear power.

Looking up from his computer he lets his gaze fall onto me. “I did not write this email. Jim, I know that you wanted to do things similar to this, and have the abilities to hack into my email. So, I must fire you. Unfortunately, if we start over with the solar, we will lose lots of money. Both in all of these items we bought, and in time recreating the designs. But you do still have to leave Jim.”

So, I packed my things and left. Actually, now that I think about it, the lights started not working properly about a week after this incident. Huh, I was starting to get annoyed with the lights going to full brightness when I walked past, or not turn on at all when I walked into rooms. It had gotten so bad that I ended up lighting candles so that I could see things in the night without stubbing my toe on the chair not pushed in, or the dresser that had decided to jump into the middle of my room and annihilate my poor feet. I may just be a klutz, but don’t tell them. My lights didn’t work, so I called an electrician. He walked in, the lights turned on as they should. He walked out and so did the lights. They work perfectly fine he said. I told him that they did not work when I walked in and walked in to demonstrate. Magically the lights worked as they should.

 “I swear that they weren’t working earlier. But they work now that you are here? What a load of horseshit!” I cried.

“Well, I don’t know why you called me, the lights work perfectly. So give me my hundred credits and I’ll be on my way.” The man said holding his singed palm out.

“One Hundred credits? Are you serious? You didn’t do jack shit. Why should I pay you? You greedy dirtbag!”

“Well you made me come all the way here to waste my time. I could have had three jobs completed in the time that I spent driving here. So please give me my credits or I will have you arrested for theft. I’m sure that you know how the police treat criminals. If I were you, I would pay the man standing in front of you. I might also give you a good beating and tell the cops that you tried to rob an unarmed person. I was only barely able to escape with my life since I had had no weapons on me. If I didn’t beat him, he simply would have robbed me and gone to terrorize an old lady down the street. So I honestly had no choice to beat him up” He said slyly.

“Fine. I’ll pay you, but you absolutely disgust me you greedy pig! Go leave this place and if I ever need another electrician, I will call someone else. You are an absolute crook.” I spit while passing my arm over his to pass the credits.

As soon as this crook left from sight, my lights went back to how they had been before he left: dark. I groaned and decided to look at the computer panel myself to see if I could figure out what was wrong since the guy I had hired was useless. I opened up the panel with ease. I took a gander at the coding. Everything was normal. That is until the blue crest with a green eagle, the symbol of the government, popped up on the screen.

“Dammit! I’m going to prison anyways! Nooo! It was not supposed to end this way. Shit!” I cried as text flashed below the insignia reading check you email for further instructions.

Alright this is strange, but I guess I have nothing to lose. The email will just tell me where I need to report for my prison sentence. But when I opened the email, it was not a message telling me to head to the nearest court, but it was a job offer. They saw the work I had done at XICORP and wanted me to work for them. I was a spectacular programmer, I knew what needed to be done to make the project a success, I hid the information from my boss better than people trained to do that exact same thing and hacking into this security panel was the last test. Since I had bypassed the security so well, they would not have noticed my work had they not already been monitoring me. If I do not accept this position I will be executed on the spot. Right as I finished reading, I heard the whump whump whump of a helicopter overhead, picking me up to start the next step of my journey.