Conscience Anomaly by Shane Yetter

Author:Shane Yetter [Yetter, Shane]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Published: 2023-10-01T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 18

144 Days After Implant (10:30 am)

“Mason? Hey buddy? You in there?”

Mason comes out of the fog in his mind. He had been working mindlessly, allowing his mental space to dwell on recent thoughts as he breezed through T.E.G. invoices. Invoices used to take him all day to complete but have recently become quite simple. He now finds that he can partition a small segment of his mind to complete invoices while he actively thinks about different subjects.

“Yeah, I’m in here,” he groans. “This work is a waste of mental capacity. I want something better. Something more,” he thinks for a moment, grasping for the right word, “more engaging?”

Raine, who is now accustomed to what he refers to as ‘the new Mason’ responds, “Oh really? You’re back for a few weeks and suddenly you’re too good for your job?” He looks over the top of his glasses with a grin. “And what exactly do you think you’d rather be doing?”

“I’ve been thinking about research and development a lot recently,” he turns toward Raine, a look of hope on his face. “Maybe I could try that?”

A clean-shaven Darryl Stone steps into their shared cubicle, hair slicked back and carrying his T.E.G. mug. “Maybe you could try what, dork?”

Mason’s heart drops, but only for a moment. He feels a cool calmness wash over him again. The same feeling that he had experienced in the paintball arena. He thinks for a moment before carefully choosing his words.

“Good morning, Mr. Stone. I’ve grown an interest in research and development. My time working with the R&D team has greatly increased my desire to help the world beyond what I do in this position. What are your thoughts?”

Darryl stands at the entrance of the cubicle, slack-jawed, and grasping for words. He finally manages, “Huh?”

Raine chuckles, “That’s what I said the first time.”

Darryl looks into Mason’s eyes and sees a new boldness and confidence that he wasn’t prepared to see. It sends a cold shiver down his spine as he begins to feel anger bubble up. Anger brought on by a fear of inadequacy. His whole persona is built around the belief that there is no one better than him. He pauses momentarily to take note of his anger. Recalling the disciplinary action he received for his last interaction with Mason, Darryl tenses into a fake smile, chuckles wryly, and leaves the cubicle.

Raine looks in disbelief. “How did you do that?”

“I don’t know,” Mason has a surprised grin on his face, “but I like it.” He leans down and continues his invoices as the two work through their daily tasks. As the stack dwindles down to the last few invoices, Mason looks over to Raine. “Are there any more of these?”

“You’re done already? Why am I not surprised?” Raine pulls the glasses from his face and uses his shirt to clean the lenses. “There might be some more invoices up in the sales offices. Normally Darryl goes up there and brings them down to me though.”

“Why does he do that? Why not just have sales bring them down here when they’re ready.

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