Smoke Break - II

Ray Partrite's night gets even worse. Part of the Blackwater Project.

This is the second part of one Elysium employee’s very bad night. The first part can be found here, while the rest of the works inThe Chronicler’s Blackwater mythos can be found here. A third, smaller epilogue will be soon to follow. As always - I hope you enjoy.

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Ray inhaled. The paper wrapper around the tobacco crackled slightly as it burned. Then, the world suddenly and violently shifted beneath Ray’s feet. Doctor DiMassi continued to smoke and look straight ahead, her expression neutral. She noticed Ray staring and met her eyes with a broad, tight-lipped grin.

“I - what?”

“Your responsibilities,” DiMassi repeated, her tone politely condescending. “As of now, you’ve been officially relieved of any and all you currently possessed under the legally binding contract you signed with Elysium at the time of your onboarding.”

Independently, the words made sense, but together, they refused to come together in any meaningful way. Ray replayed the words in her head, again and again and again, and, still, they refused to connect until they simply sounded like some sort of meaningless, repetitive white noise looping inside her skull.

This couldn’t be happening. It literally could not be happening. She hated this job. She always had, since the day she’d joined on with Elysium. But she liked it better than being evicted from her apartment. She liked it better than being put on unemployment and shoved into one of those awful, miserable pod-places for people who had nowhere else to go. She’d spent her entire life trying to avoid those places and she hadn’t wasted the better part of a god damn decade of her life thanklessly toiling for this miserable company just to throw her out like an empty ShrimpCrisp bag.

“Wh-what - you can’t -”

Daria hummed around the cigarette between her lips. “Oh, but I'm afraid that they very much can.”

"There wasn’t a - a review, or - or - there wasn't a warni-”

“Elysium is not contractually obligated to provide employees with any warnings of any kind. If you read the terms of your contract, you’d know that the working relationship between Elysium and any contracted assistance can be altered at any time, in any way, for any reason, without notice.”

The cigarette dropped from Ray’s numb fingers. She heard DiMassi click her tongue. “Now, now. I know you can’t be pleased to hear any of this, but that’s no excuse to start littering on campus. You're better than that.” Her patronizing words sounded as if they were ringing from a distance down a long and empty hallway.

“My performance reviews,” Ray said breathlessly. “They - they were always perfect, th-they - they -”

“Miss Partrite,” DiMassi interjected, her tone now uncomfortably friendly. “The decision has nothing to do with your performance. Your performance has been perfectly satisfactory. It has everything to do with your attitude.”

Ray blinked. Her mouth was open, but no sound came from it.

“Honestly. You didn’t think we haven’t noticed your questionable behavior, have you? Skulking around with your head down, staring at your shoes, never speaking or smiling or-”

“Smiling?” Ray balked. She found her voice again, and it reignited with an unflattering crack. “Is - is that what this is about? Because… I wasn’t smiling enough?”

“Yes,” said DiMassi plainly. “And no. Unfortunately, we received reports from your co-workers that your dour attitude and excessive cynicism was… difficult to tolerate and created a hostile and stressful work environment, for many of them. We heard that you were making some of them feel, er… well, I believe the word that was used was… uncomfortable.”

One of Ray’s eyelids twitched.

Uncomfortable? She made them uncomfortable?

Those… those bastards. Those brown-nosing suck-asses. She made them feel uncomfortable? That gaggle of idiots - they didn’t have two god damned functioning brain cells between them all. Maybe it made sense that the only person with an intellectual capacity beyond that of a shovel made them all feel uncomfortable. Probably because she was the only one smart enough to know just how terrible everything was.

DiMassi continued as if Ray were listening. “I’ve reviewed footage from our cameras and personally watched hours of you moping about campus while working your shifts. I must admit, it was… well, it was a bit concerning, I think. I’d go so far as to say that you always have this look on your face that suggests you’d rather be anywhere else other than here.”

“I would,” Ray told her. Might as well admit it. What was DiMassi going to do? Fire her harder?

DiMassi gave a single, breathy laugh that made Ray want to tear that meticulously styled hair clean out off her head. She took one last brief drag on her smoke before carelessly flicking it into the pond. “Listen,” she said as she folded her arms over her chest. “Rachel…” She leaned forward, bringing with her conflicting smells of both tobacco smoke and some nameless perfume that mingled disagreeably. When she smiled this time, she did so with her teeth. They were immaculate - white, straight, and perfect, so much so they had an artificial look to them.

“We all would. You're not so special.”

Ray drew a deep, seething breath. “So… so I’m getting fired because I just - I had the audacity to express what - what everyone’s feeling, then?”

Daria’s eyes narrowed and her toothy, too-perfect grin took on a knowing bend that set Ray’s innards squirming.

“Fired?” She cocked her head at a questioning angle. “Fired… now, when did I use that word? I don’t recall.”

Ray had already opened her mouth to retort when she realized that - no. Daria hadn’t used the word fired. She’d heavily implied that was what was happening, though, she was right; she never had used the term specifically. “W-well - you - you said th-”

“What I said,” Daria interjected in a tone that left no room for disagreement. “Was that you had been relieved of your responsibilities. Never did I say that you were no longer employed by Elysium, nor has your contract been severed or nullified in any way.”

The pressure that had already been pressing against the interior of Ray’s skull continued to grow, rising to an awful, thrumming pulse between her eyes. This game of semantics DiMassi was playing - what was the point? Probably some corporate legalese to try and skate around a possible wrongful termination case.

“Is… is there a difference?” Ray asked between grit teeth.

Daria slowly bobbed her head up and down in a long, exaggerated nod. “Yes,” she said, her tone as patronizing and demeaning as her body language. She spoke as if she was trying to explain simple math to a dog. “There is a difference. You see - the managerial board has recognized and identified you as something of a, oh… how might I put it politely?” She pursed her lips and gave it a moments thought before finishing. “Well… bête noire within the staff, I suppose. As I said, your performance is satisfactory - exemplary, even - but, even you have to admit, Miss Partrite… you don’t exactly play well with others.”

Once again, DiMassi shifted from the authoritative, lecturing tone of a disappointed superior to one that was more playful, coy, almost catty in a way, like the stereotypical affect of a gossiping mean girl in a school cafeteria. It was enough to give Ray whiplash, and exacerbate the aching behind her eyes. Before she could ask DiMassi to just get over herself and speak plainly, the Doctor continued.

“While we agreed that perhaps the responsibilities of a lab tech may not be suited to someone of your disposition, we also agreed that Elysium does have other positions more befitting a woman of your talents…” And, with a wry smile, added, “And temperament.”

“Is… is this just some… some really long, messed up way to tell me I’m getting, like… promoted, or something?” Ray asked.

She wasn’t sure what answer she even wanted to hear.

“Promoted…” Daria tapped a black nail against her red lips while her dark eyes rolled about their sockets with what had to be mock consideration. “Well, I’m not sure that promoted is really the right word for the occasion, but…" She made a vague gesture with her hand before placing it on her hip. “I wouldn’t say it isn’t true, either. But, of course - this is contingent upon whether or not you accept, you know.”

“And if I don’t?”

“Unfortunately, the managerial staff is not interested in any other services you might be willing to provide at the moment.”

And that, Ray knew, was just a nice way of being told, You really will be fired. That was the answer she’d expected, and had already prepared a reply accordingly.

“Well - you can tell them I’m not interested in providing any other services, either. Thanks.” It was a struggle to say that and nothing else. There was more Ray wanted to say - a lot - but there was no point in shredding the rest of her dignity and extended this farce further than it had already gone. She prepared to leave for her on-site quarters to collect her things, only to be stopped by a sound of surprise from DiMassi.

“Oh, my,” the woman tutted from behind a hand, no doubt one she was using to shield the fact that she was snickering. “That - oh, now that was an awful snap decision, there. I haven’t even told you the details yet.”

“I don’t need to hear them.” Ray kept the reply curt to avoid spitting out the many four-letter words roiling in her throat. Again, she started to walk towards the door, when a long, over-theatrical sigh came from DiMassi, along with a shake of her head.

“Well,” said DiMassi, her shoulders sagging and masking her true emotions with the thinnest, poorest attempt possible at feigning disappointment. “I have to say, that is… not the answer I was hoping to hear. Some of the others expected you to react unkindly, but I…” She drew another quick sigh. “I was quite bullish on you, actually.”

“We all make bad calls,” Ray said.

“Some of us more than others,” DiMassi agreed with another sigh. She spoke quickly, leaving no room for Ray to seize on a moment of silence and leave. “Well. Speaking of bad calls, I should inform you, then, that - if you choose to decline this offer, then you will be severing the contract you signed upon your employment, which I’m afraid will exempt from any federal unemployment assistance you might apply for.” She spoke fast and clinically with only a slight hint of regret. It reminded Ray of an doctor with poor bedside manner, failing at expressing compassion while reading a terminal diagnosis.

Ray gave the Doctor a small, mean grin of her own. “Your concern is touching. But I’ll be fine.”

“I should hope so,” DiMassi said in that same sterile voice, meeting Ray’s smile with one much more pleasant looking but equally as hollow. “Whether you remain with Elysium or not, I only want what’s best for our employees, current and former. And, well - I can’t imagine you’ll be finding gainful employment in this economy any time soon.”

“I’m not worried.”

The beginnings of a smirk tugged at the corner of DiMassi’s lips. “That’s good. That’s - that’s a good attitude to have. You see, it’s been… well, it’s been some time since I had to seek employment, and I’m not sure how the job market looks these days, but, ah…” She allowed herself a dark chuckle. “I did review your pay and… if I could be perfectly frank with you for a moment, I have difficulty believing that you’ll find a company that will afford you as generous a salary as Elysium has as compensation for a similar position.”

Ray already knew that. Unfortunately. If there was any kind of benefit to living a life as boring, droll, and uneventful as hers, it was that she had squirreled away a significant sum of money for a rainy day. Given the economic turmoil currently gripping the country, inflation increasing in ways unseen since the 2020’s, and other matters, she wasn’t sure how long it would last. But she could worry about that later. After she’d gotten away from DiMassi.

“Are you done yet?”

The first genuine smile Ray had seen all night flashed across DiMassi’s face. The temerity - it amused her, the same way a sadistic animal might watch prey lash out as it struggled. That manifestation of sincere entertainment was as fleeting as it was singular, as DiMassi settled back into her orderly, professional, and clinical affect. She raised a single finger. “Well. Just one more thing. If you’re willing hear me out.”

Ray’s eyes nearly rolled out of their sockets as one thunderous pound reverberated through her skull.

“Oh my - Seriously? Seriously.”

“Miss Partrite,” DiMassi chided. “I-”

“You know none of this is, like, actually making me want to stay more, right? Like, I dunno what you’re trying to get at here -”

“Miss Partrite…” DiMassi said in a sing-song tone.

“But the more you run your mouth, the less I even wanna be here, and the more I’m wondering why I bothered staying around this long, so, like, can you just -” She gestured violently towards in the direction of the door, which was both mercifully close and terribly far. “Have the decency to just let me go witho-”

Ray went quiet.

Daria’s smile was gone. Both of her hands were folded neatly behind her and the expression on her face was inscrutable. Not displeased or pleased in any great measure. For a moment, she said nothing. Ray wanted to leave, but - the silence. Something about it was intriguing. She almost wanted to hear what DiMassi had to say now, if only because she’d been so chatty and falsely amiable before, only to drop the act so fast and without warning. DiMassi took a moment to straighten one of the cuffs on her blazer before speaking.

“Miss Partrite,” said Doctor DiMassi flatly. “Before you depart, I only wanted to inform you that, once you’re no longer under Elysium’s employ, we will be performing an extensive and comprehensive review over your time with the company.”

“What?” Ray gave a joyless giggle. “Do you, like… you need my permission, or something?”

DiMassi shook her head. “No. Of course not.”

“Okay.” The banality of it was almost enough to amuse Ray. Almost. With the throbbing in her eyes at this point, all she could muster was a bitter smile. “Well… go ahead, I guess. Whatever. I don’t care. I dunno what you think you’re gonna find.”

“In my experience, we usually find nothing of any great importance or interest. But, on occasion… information regarding an employee’s conduct presents itself that proves…” She shrugged. “Concerning.”

“I did nothing but bust my ass for this company and my job for eight years,” Ray said.

DiMassi nodded. “I’m not saying otherwise. I only hope that, when we do our review over your tenure with Elysium, we don’t find anything… troubling. After all…” The Doctor took a step forward. The click of her heels against the concrete sounded off in the silence of the courtyard like twin gunshots. If Ray hadn’t been so blindsided by the sudden approach, she would have taken a step back. The Doctor was practically touching her, shoulder to shoulder. Or, she would be, if the heels hadn’t amplified the woman’s height to put her a full head above Ray.

“After all,” DiMassi repeated, keeping her voice low this time. “There's always the possibility that we discover something that you don’t even remember that you did. We could find something that you don’t recall doing at all, but - if it is there, well…” Daria shrugged. “I’ve been quite surprised about what we’ve managed to discover about certain past employees. People that were among the best and brightest we ever brought on, and, yet, still…” Daria shook her head with a sigh, pinching the bridge of her nose as if she had a headache. “They swore up and down and this way and that - oh, that wasn’t me, I never said that, I never did that. But… well, sometimes, it’s as if the evidence just… appears right out of thin air. We have very sophisticated means of finding the exact information that we want to find. With them, we’re liable to find… anything, really.” She leaned down so that Ray could see her face.

“Anything.”

The Doctor drew back, her eyes remaining fixed on Ray's. And, then - it clicked. The implications of DiMassi's words hadn't registered before. The look in her eyes, now, though. Something grim. Sober. Deathly serious. She looked like a different person than the one Ray had been speaking to seconds before, and it snapped all the pieces into place. The throbbing in Ray's head went still, replaced by an awful cold in the center of her core. Her mouth was dry and the lingering taste of the cigarette had become intolerably foul.

“Are… are you threatening me?”

“What?” Doctor DiMassi blinked and it was all gone. “No?” She said it as if Ray was daft for even asking. “I'm simply stating facts. I just wanted you to know that, if there just… happened to be anything untowards that we uncovered in our research, we'd be obligated to turn over whatever we find to the proper authorities. So - you'd better not have been getting up to anything naughty, now.” The Doctor wagged a finger in Ray's bewildered face. “I'd be so disappointed in you.”

She was smiling again, that cordial, polite, yet utterly charmless smile. Her eyes, alight with a sense of mischievous playfulness. The sudden shift in DiMassi's demeanor once again left Ray wheeling internally as the entire barometric pressure of the courtyard changed.

“This is assuming you're opting to part ways with Elysium,” said DiMassi. “Of course.”

Ray blinked. She stood there, dumbstruck. DiMassi continued at pace.

“Now, I don't mean to make undue assumptions, Miss Partrite, but! But…” Doctor DiMassi shifted where she stood. “I am fairly confident that you were speaking out of a place duress when told me that you weren't interested in this new opportunity. I understand that this was all very… very sudden, yes, and you were most likely so blindsided by it all that I think you might have spoken before giving this decision the consideration it deserves.”

DiMassi pulled a face, though Ray wasn’t entirely sure what it was supposed to convey.

“We already arranged for a replacement to take over your duties for the night, so, I think it'd be best if you went home for the night, Miss Partrite. Home home, that is. Your clearances to enter the campus dormitories have already been disabled for the time being, and your on-site quarters will be inaccessible. In fact…” DiMassi clapped her hands together. “Tell you what. A decision like this - I think you should give it more than a just day’s thought.”

A hand laid on Ray’s shoulder. She had a feeling this was violating some sort of company policy, but she wasn’t sure there was any policy even in effect at the moment, or if it ever really mattered in the first place.

“Go home,” Daria told her. “Calm down. Sleep. Get some rest. Get your head straight. And, once the holidays have come and gone - if you decide that your future is best spent elsewhere, you needn’t come back at all. I’ll have whatever personal belongings are in your on-site quarters shipped to you, and that will be that. Otherwise… you meet me here.” DiMassi pointed a finger to the ground beneath her feet, the rings on her finger glinting as they caught the light. “The first day of the new year. And we’ll talk.”

DiMassi squeezed Ray’s shoulder.

“Are you following me?”

Ray didn’t know what else to do but nod.

DiMassi squeezed her shoulder again, the points of her nails digging through the fabric of Ray’s coat. “Excellent.” Ray bucked as a hand slapped her shoulder - not hard enough to hurt, but with enough force to take her off-guard. “Rest assured, Miss Partrite,” she said. “If you give it some thought and you still choose to leave Elysium's employment, that's your decision to make. No one here will stop you. Your decision will be respected, one way or another. But, I, for one, would be most disappointed to see such a promising young talent leave in the face of an exciting new opportunity.”

DiMassi regarded a smart-watch strapped to her wrist, one that was matte black, minimal, and, despite its simplicity, extremely expensive. “Well,” she sighed. “Would you look at that.” She clicked a nail against the glowing screen. “I was hoping to escort you off the premises mysslf, but it looks as if I've overstayed my welcome. I trust you can see yourself out, Miss Partrite. You've been here long enough. I'd hope that you know where to go.” She shook her head. She laughed. She smiled, and, for the first time, Ray realized - it never reached her eyes. When someone smiled - genuinely - their eyes moved, shifted, the skin wrinkled and the lids narrowed. DiMassi's never did, though, no matter how broad or wide her grin stretched.

“Thank you for humoring me, Rachel. Truly. And I hope this isn't the last time we speak.” She raised a hand and bent her fingers in some strange manner of parting wave that, somehow, felt just as condescending and patronizing as her tone. “Ciao.”

She began to turn and -

“Oh!

Ray flinched.

“Before I go.”

It only took a fraction of a moment to blink, but when her eyes opened again, the box of Vesta cigarettes were being held close to her chest.

“Consider it a holiday bonus.” Her dark, finely manicured arched with an insufferably smug sense of self-satisfaction. Like she was expecting Ray to drop to her knees, hands clenched together, and holler words of praise and gratitude.

Ray kept still. DiMassi gave the box a small shake. The contents, mostly untouched, made no sound.

Hesitantly, Ray gripped the top of the box with trembling fingers. To her surprise, Daria didn't yank them away. Her fingers, long, slender, articulate, and adorned with a collection of simple silver bands, slipped off the cardstock as she returned her hand to her side.

“Don't spend it all in one place, alright? Be smart.” With the wink of an eye, she tapped a black nail against her temple. With that, she turned and walked away, the click, click, clicking of her heels ringing through the courtyard until being silenced by the chirp and hiss of the sliding door, leaving a sense that all the oxygen in the air had been sucked out in her wake.

All Ray could hear was a ringing in her ears and the soft trickle of the pond's fountain. She looked down at the box in her hands. Holiday bonus - the words echoed in her head in Daria’s snide voice.

What a joke.

She looked at the box. She looked at the pond. It seemed like a good idea to let them sink to the bottom. It was, after all, contraband. If DiMassi was actually going to come after her for some imaginary crime as retribution for refusing her offer… well, they wouldn't have to fabricate much if she got caught with these.

Then again… under Oregon state law, tobacco was illegal to buy. Illegal to consume. But not actually illegal to have.

Ray swore under her breath. The ShrimpCrisp bag crinkled as she put the box in her pocket, turned her back on the pond, and followed DiMassi's footsteps back towards the door.

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Part III.