Fiction, The Tube 
No Comments The Tube – Part Fourteen
Bringing to an end the third week of The Tube is part fourteen, which explores the story of the unnamed (until now) man in the expensive suit.
THE TUBE
Concept by Michael Winters and Shane W Smith
Written by Shane W Smith
Graham Hanson had been the project manager on the Motivator prototype for nearly five years. He had overseen the design specs as the parameters of the project were altered time and again by the men upstairs, transitioning from mood improvement to brain alteration. By not questioning the morality of such a shift, even as the researchers themselves were resigning in frustration, he had even managed to retain key staff and hold on to his position when the entire company had been swallowed by OmniTech.
His job description was not to understand the Motivator (patents pending), nor was it to represent his staff or act on their behalf, nor was it to co-ordinate, manage or lead. The sole item in the job description of project manager is: make one’s self indispensable (or failing that, manufacture the appearance of same). It was something that Graham was very, very good at, and to which he devoted a significant portion of his working time.
When the opportunity had arisen to liaise with the Motivator’s first volunteer test subject, the room had been conspicuously absent of volunteers. Graham was surprised to notice his hand was the only one in the air; he had expected to have to fight off dozens of others for this additional responsibility.
Indeed, he had noticed a growing disquiet in his team of late; there had always been an undercurrent of trepidation, but it had reached a head when this Shane had been brought to The Tube for testing. The Company had had to make a couple of very unpleasant examples to keep the rest of the staff mindful of their employment contracts; Graham had assisted in pointing out the loudest malcontents, and had slept well that night (and every other), secure in the knowledge that he was cementing his place in the organisation as a Useful Person.
When standing in an apartment-cum-cell, staring into the eyes of what is quite obviously an unwilling test subject, the resolve of most men would crumble into self-righteous pudding.
But Graham Hanson was not most men.
He didn’t see a young man wrested from home and family against his will and fighting against a torture he did not understand. No; what Graham Hanson saw was an impediment to progress, a threat to the bedrock of success he had painstakingly constructed for himself in the Motivator project.
Where most men would have attempted to quell the fear in the eyes of the subject with some combination of sympathy, logic and compromise, this was not Graham’s course of action.
And so he said in as cold and businesslike a voice as he could muster: “You have signed the contract. There is no escape clause. OmniTech requires you to present yourself for work detail, beginning Monday. Your resistance to the experiment is troubling us, and is in violation of the contract you have signed. You will cease this behaviour immediately.”
The subject trembled noticeably as he spoke; Graham noticed, but it was the equivalent of noticing a blade of grass swaying in the breeze – a motion of little or no consequence.
“I- I don’t remember signing this.”
Graham resisted – only just – a loud sigh of vexation. “You are resisting the Motivator. If you resist, you will lose subjects from outside the target zone, through no fault of OmniTech.”
“What happens if I don’t resist?”
“The process should be painless, and should be over in a single night. Then we can all get on with our lives.”
“A life without them…”
“Is what you asked for.”
“I can’t believe that.”
“It doesn’t matter what you believe. You have signed a contract.”
“But –”
“I don’t have time for this,” Graham said, cutting him off. “If you wish for things to go easy for you, stop resisting. If not, we will continue to experiment, find out exactly what the Motivator will do to a hostile mind. It might break your will, or break your mind. Either way, it will be useful data for us. Do what you will. It is of no matter to me.”
He paused only to swoop up the contract from the floor, and left without further word or ceremony, somewhat pleased to have developed such a contingency plan on the fly. In some ways, he almost hoped that the subject would resist… even if just for a while.
It would certainly keep Graham useful for a time longer.
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