Calm and Calamity

Chapter 39

Day: 548

Days Left: 4932

Lives Saved: 2

Henry Best's feet tapped on the floor, his leg shaking as he attempted to control his nerves. He had only been waiting for a few minutes, yet the time seemed to stretch on for eternity.

"Sector Director Best?" called out the receptionist from behind his desk after he finished listening on his headset. "Lead Director Schreier will see you now."

Nodding, Henry got up from his seat. Before he exited the waiting room, he adjusted his tie, straightened his shirt, and then walked through the door leading to the Lead Director's office.

"Ah, Best," greeted Schreier, his voice stern yet still somehow had a semblance of welcome. "Sit."

"Thank you." Obeying, Henry sat at the chair and stared back at the man on the opposite side of the desk. Specks of silver hair sprouted in the man's stubble whilst his undercut remained a perfectly solid black.

"I'll cut right to the chase, Best," began Schreier. "The views of Sector 39 are dropping considerably, especially worldwide, is that not correct?"

Henry bowed his head low. "Yes, sir."

"This 'peace treaty'," the Lead Director spat. "It is evidently the cause. That sector was already difficult to manage, very few prisoners decided to remain in that desert, and we were lucky that the Chimaera stayed there. But now even the Chimaera can't rake in the views anymore."

Schreier stood up from his chair and wandered over to the window that stretched the entire wall. He gazed down at the streets below that were bathed in the skyscrapers' shadows. "Fortunately, there have been a few events that kept some of our loyal sponsors to keep on donating and bidding- the introduction of the golden knight, the elimination of the metal scorpion, the incident with the wendigo... though that one ended rather anticlimactically."

Henry agreed. If none of those had happened, he would have had nothing to show at the broadcasts. When Corinna Warren had finally used her mask for the first time and defeated Bryce, the nobles gave a standing ovation. However, it paled in comparison to the celebration of Corinna and Harmony's first kiss. However, the buzz had settled, and only a few nobles were still interested in Sector 39 due to how uneventful it had become.

"It'll soon turn into an Eternal Abyss reality tv show!" continued Lead Director Schreier. "People watch the broadcasts for the violence, the gore, the sacrifice of your morals and humanity in exchange for one's survival!" Schreier sucked in a breath through his flared nostrils. "You know what they are all currently betting on the most at the moment?"

Henry slowly nodded. He knew what it was but hesitated to reply.

"If one of the prisoners will finally confess her feelings to her crush," the Lead Director answered his own question. "They all should be cowering in fear, fighting for scraps of food! They are down in the Eternal Abyss to suffer for their crimes, not to live in a cosy cottage, and their main concern is their love life! They've built houses, Best! Houses!" Schreier clenched his fist and leaned his arm against the glass window, his eyes darkening.

Shrinking in his seat, Henry adjusted his tie though it did not help the feeling of his throat closing and constricted.

"The sector is considered a mockery from other countries. And it needs to be fixed, Best..." The Lead Director glanced behind at Henry, and he straightened his back. "Don't think none of us knew about your relationship with Corinna Warren, Henry." Schreier paced back over to his desk and stood beside it, towering over the seated Henry Best. "We heard that you two were more like siblings than indifferent second-cousins, is that correct?"