7.c.v.
A huge,
hulking behemoth dropped from the arena ceiling and onto the stage. A shockwave rippled from this man-shaped
bomb’s epicenter, buckling the stage and toppling market traders and coffee
fetchers.
The Union
was upended.
There was a
series of deep clunking sounds that followed and whole sections of the floor
fell away at random but oddly precise intervals. Desks, chairs, paperwork, and traders were
tossed into gaping crevasses.
When the
shuddering stopped, Corporate Man stood up, expecting to see the chaotic
wreckage normally associated with an earthquake. This was not the case. There was a pattern, a maze of elevated
walkways. The remnants of floor sections
that had not fallen away in the shock’s wake.
He peered over down into the newly formed chasm. A similar pattern was evident in the depths
but as a labyrinth of high walled trenches.
On the far
side of the maze, roaring like a conquering warlord amidst the splintered ruins
of the arena stage, stood the hulking form of The Crash.
“I’ve waited
years for this, you son of bitch!” Commander Credit shouted. He bolted past Corporate Man across the
smooth, carpeted surface of the elevated maze.
The Crash ceased its emphatic bellows, glanced down, and spotted
Commander Credit. The monster grinned
and flared its eyes. With a burst of
speed incongruent to its bulk, The Crash leapt from the stage and charged
across the surface of the maze seeking and avenue that would lead to its
quarry.
Corporate Man
turned to Business Woman, but she wasn’t there.
Neither were Supply and Demand.
Bull Market was also nowhere to be seen.
“They fell,”
Senior Executive called out. He was
perched on the surface of the maze, a trench separating him from Corporate
Man.
“We need to
help them,” said Corporate Man.
“No, we need
to stop The Crash. They can take care of
themselves.”
“We help our
own first,” said Corporate Man.
“We’re here!”
Business Woman called out from somewhere in the depths of the labyrinth. “A little bruised, but I think we can
manage. How do we get out of here?”
“I don’t
know. It looks like some sort of maze.”
“What about
The Crash? That thing isn’t down here
with us, is it?”
“No,” said
Senior Executive. “It’s still on the
surface, coming this way. Commander
Credit rushed off. He’s trying to make
his way toward it.”
“Well get out
there and give him a hand. We’ll try to
find our own way out.”
“Alright. We’ll come back for you when we can,” said
Corporate Man, flipping his necktie cape over his shoulder and leaping
upward. The ascent of leap crested when
he was over the center of the open trench.
Then the descent began. He
flailed and groped as he slammed into the sidewall of the maze, fingers gouging
into the commercial grade burber at the top of the trench wall. Senior Executive grabbed Corporate Man’s
wrist and pulled him up onto the platform.
“I forgot that
that happens when it’s around,” said Corporate
Man.
