Season 01 - Episode 24

‘workload and curses’

Syl is back at her boss's door. She hasn't knocked yet and is pulling a face instead. She was certain the right set of words would come to her on the walk over, but they haven't. Several people have passed her now, seen her dithering at the door. It's getting weird. She mutters to herself, shakes her head then knocks.

Inside, Ste looks older and more harassed than ever. Wisps of grey hair float wildly above his scalp in a shabby halo, his eyes are red and watery. His desk is piled high with reports, as if he has built a fort in which to hide from whatever is haunting him.

“Ste!” Syl gasps, unable to hide her shock. “Good grief! Are you alright?”

Ste looks up and blinks at her, surprised by her presence despite calling her in only a moment before. He licks his lips absently and stares..

“Things have become quite...” he begins then drifts off, his eyes roaming the piles.

“...challenging,” he says eventually.

“Can I help?” Syl hears herself ask. She thinks of her own workload and curses herself.

“No, no,” says Ste quickly. “I have everything in hand. I just need to, erm...”

“I can come back another time.” Syl tries instead.

“No,” says Ste firmly. “Everything's under control. What can I do for you?”

“Ok, well,” says Syl. She sits but finds she can't see Ste over the reports and so stands again. “I was hoping you might know someone over at Enforcement I could talk to.”

“Why?!” gasps Ste, suddenly focused. “What's happened?”

“No, nothing,” says Syl, raising her palms to calm him. “We've noticed some strange patterns in recent EnFo deployments. I thought if I just had a quiet word they could help me with a line.”

“What?!” Ste cries. “Why in all The Levels are you looking at EnFo deployments? I thought we'd been through this. You're supposed to be selling the public on the threat of the cults! Drumming up support for GovCo!”

“That's exactly what we're doing, Ste,” says Syl patiently. “But polling shows that people fear the EnFo's more than the cults. They hate them and by extension, GovCo. To them, the threat from the cults is theoretical whereas the EnFo's are evicting them right now.”

“But don't they understand it's for their own good?!” Ste snaps, exasperated.

“Not really, no,” says Syl. “Plus whenever the cults do cause trouble, the EnFo's arrive very quickly, too quickly. Sometimes they're there before it happens. It's weird, Ste and people are noticing.”

“Intelligence!” Ste snaps again. “GovCo gather intelligence on the cults' plans to keep people safe. I suppose they'd prefer it if the EnFo's turned up after everyone was dead! The cults are the threat, Syl. We must make them understand that. They're planning something, something big.”

“That's another thing,” says Syl. “There are hundreds of cults and most of them spend more time fighting each other than the EnFo's. The idea that they're all working together in some grand conspiracy? No-one's buying it.”

“Because you're not selling it!” Ste shouts, making them both jump.

Syl draws breath the respond but then just sighs instead. Ste frowns at his desk then looks up at her guiltily. Just as he's about to speak, they both hear a distant rumbling. The sound grows until the room begins to shake, reports slip over one another and fall to the floor.

Ste scrabbles with his phone, barks a few words then listens. His already pale face washes actual grey. He replaces the phone with a trembling hand then speaks in a voice paper thin.

“We're too late,” he whispers. “They've done it.”

“What's happened?” gasps Syl, feeling her skin prickle with horror. “What was that?”

“A CLA event,” whispers Ste in disbelief.

“A clay event?” asks Syl. “Never heard of it. What does it mean?”

“Catastrophic Loss of Assets,” he says. “And probably thousands dead too.”

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