Chapter 1: Rage
"Mr. King, I've heard from Waylon, Ramon as well as your coworkers that you have been having a problem with authority lately. We can't have that. We at CW need to work together, and you need to get in line."
The one who spoke was the new visiting manager who was already a loud mouth who talked down to others on a whim and was only interested in bullying me in particular because he had a fight with a 'certain someone' I was close to.
So he has spent most of his time in the past three days looking for any reason to screw me over.
The problem is that I have actually been the perfect employee so why would there be a problem?
So I looked over at the people who have been complaining in question. Ramon and Waylon sat in their chairs with stoic looks on their faces like they knew what they were doing was right.
So I did what I felt was right.
I dragged them down with me.
"So did Ramon also tell you that he clocks in on the work app at 8 am in bed and comes in at 12 pm, eats lunch for an hour, leaves at 3 pm and clocks out at 9 pm? Did he tell you he owns an entire business and the only reason he stays here is to make connections but not to work?
No? How about Waylon? Our great leader who brings his kids around dangerous machinery to show off for an hour before spending the rest of the day watching movies in his office? Have you tried calling him on his comms when the station is going to shit? Oh that's right, instead of listening to my father like you should have you decided to trust these criminals over a guy who had kept them in check for years.
Yet the moment your company came in to 'save the day' they immediately started slacking off and talking shit about the guy that had paid for their every meal after a long day and treated them with the respect they don't deserve.
Your best friend, Ramon. The one who went to your wedding and witnessed the birth of 6 of your kids. So don't start talking shit about me when I know all the skeletons in the closet."
Waylon, the four hundred pound guy who hates to work I get.
Cedric, the drug dealer who hates my father because he tells him what to do, absolutely.
Mathew? We have always been at each other's throats. He stole from me and destroyed it the next day and when I called him out on it he's wanted to kill me ever since.
But Ramon? I was at his wedding. I'm childhood friends with his daughters. I was his greatest supporter after his divorce. My father helped him get custody of his daughters!
'Wait, maybe that's why he is doing this? Last I checked he actually disowned one of them… And hates them both. Yeah that actually explains a lot.'
Frank, the new visiting manager who only comes to the space station three days a month was like the very thing he represented. A guy who acts like a bad period that always goes away but leaves everyone else miserable when he's there.
So as soon as I called everyone out he looked around with a very different expression from his bossy look from earlier to a confused and nervous one clearly not knowing about this great knowledge that was inconveniently tossed on his lap.
"Ah well… maybe it's best you work this out with these two. Remember we're all in this together." He says with visible nervousness now.
'Are you dumb?' I look at him with a dumb founded expression.
Yet beforeI could say anything something happened I never would have expected.
Ramon retaliated.
"You know I would have fired you the first chance I got but chose not too because I'm close to your father."
The look on my face was one of utter confusion.
I was the best employee here! What is he talking about?!
"Sure you could argue I'm on the lower end of qualifications but Cedric is a literal drug dealer! Mathew has several mental illnesses as well as severe anger issues and owns a gun! Which according to Cedric has the numbers scratched off of it!"
Ramon waved his hands up in the air like that didn't even matter, meanwhile Frank just stood dumbly with his hand on his forehead like he was trying to fight an incoming headache.
"We're not talking about them. See? This is your problem. You can't just take criticism and try to improve yourself."
"WHAT?!"
Says the guy who cheated on his first wife, (as evil as she was) and decided to marry that woman as soon as he got the divorce papers complete despite everyone telling him not to.
Obviously I would never say that because that's not work related but it certainly sounds insane coming from his mouth.
"Thomas, you are lazy and despite being here for over four years you still know nothing about this station. How many times have you embarrassed yourself because you were talking out of your ass? Just yesterday you tried to direct a contractor into the wrong hatchway."
He's talking about that?!
"I only knew about the one hatchway because you refuse to teach me anything! You know why? Because you are the worst boss and teacher on the planet! Hell, every time you get called for a work order you disappear without saying anything and since you come in whenever you want I never know what you're doing!
You can call me incompetent, you could tell me I don't know anything, but I followed that contractor around like a dog on a leash just so I can learn from him and do the thing he was doing. Which by the way would save us $30,000 a month easily because you refuse to do that job!
At the end of the day I knew there was a hatchway because I have been in that area. Was that the right hatchway? No. Did I know that a second hatchway existed? No. Why? Because you never tell me anything!"
This man disappears like the wind because he makes more money bleeding illegal stowaways dry to care about his real or legal job. Then gets angry that his ONLY EMPLOYEE doesn't just know everything.
Yet his argument is always, 'It's been four years, how do you not know this?'
Because you haven't taught me anything in FOUR YEARS!
....
After another thirty minutes of back and forth Frank finally decides to act like a real boss and tries to break things up.
The problem is how he says it.
"Look, I don't care who says what. Ramon has my permission to work his side job and come in at these times as long as he assists remotely. As for you-"
I quickly shake my head in disagreement.
"No, that's not how it works. CW is an in house contract company. You work for the highest bidder. Aka the one who owns this station. Matrix will not allow you to keep the company of criminals much less allow them to get by with breaking the rules because you don't feel like being the boss, and despite what you may believe or what you assume I am not the kind of man who cries to daddy. I never have, but this? This man cannot be allowed to get away with such privileges.
I am going over my fathers head and straight to the general manager with video footage of this exact conversation as well as your lame, childish excuses."
Frank was smart enough to recognise the moment I pulled out my phone the moment this meeting started was the moment he needed to shut up and stop being so blatant in his harassing behavior. Sadly for Waylon and Ramon they were not so wise.
"I did not give you permission to record me!" Waylon said.
I expected Ramon to speak up but he was so confident nothing would happen to him because he's been working as a mechanic on this station for over thirty years now.
Even though I knew that, I didn't care. I was so damn frustrated that I had to get some bit of self satisfaction or else I would never forgive myself for being so weak and stupid at this moment.
"On Earth maybe, but I don't need your permission to record you according to Spacer Law, I just need to notify you at the end or beginning that you were or are being recorded unless it interferes with the law."
At that moment both Waylon and Ramon began to sweat nervously but quickly realized that neither had said anything truly incriminating or anything that could get them arrested.
Yet instead of backing down Ramon wanted to double down like the fool he was.
"You're not a real man Thomas. You're a lazy man-child who had terrible parenting. I love your father like a brother but he made a mistake having you."
…
…
…
'Huh… ok.'
"At least he didn't disown his daughter for having a child out of wedlock. At least my step-mother never stripped naked and flashed my mother and sisters to show off that she was better looking while my father laughed with his daughters in the room. At least my father never cheated on my mother.
I have known you for twenty two years Ramon. These facts are nothing compared to things I really know. Don't you talk about my father, the man who gave you everything in your time of need including this position you were never qualified for.
Because you wanna know the truth? When everyone left in droves during the pandemic and the company buyout he tried for years to get you to go with them because you were partially the reason they left. Once my father got that promotion he was forced to put somebody in charge and Amanda, Joe, and Karen begged him to keep his position because EVERYONE hates you, especially the people you are so adamant on defending.
Even your kids. Everyone except my father, a man whose only fault was being soft on such a loud, lazy, corrupt, and malicious 'man-child' as you put it so eloquently."
…
…
Ramon just stood there, took a deep breath and looked away and nodded like he was contemplating on whether a fight would be worth it while Waylon and Frank tried to disarm the situation, though their voices were tuned out as I watched Ramon, ready for things to get physical.
And honestly? I was looking forward to it.
Win or lose I was going to do some permanent damage.
Ramon stopped and looked at me like he wanted to confirm this feeling of bloodlust was mutual, and once he felt like he had the answer I just waited for the first blow, worried I would get in trouble with the law if I struck first.