Orphan Revenge

‘There it is,’ I thought as I made my way down the road. The neon sign of Zyrnex Pharmaceuticals was well known, the logo was recognised locally and worldwide, second only to Apple. Zyrnex is an icon of the pharmaceutical industry and working at Zyrnex would be something that anyone would be proud of.

My interview was at six in the morning. I had requested it to be this early because less people would be around. I made sure the interviewer knew I was employed because the interviewer would be more interested in me as a candidate. Being employed raised my chances of being hired.

I drove through the large chrome silver metal front gates to the security boom.

“Good Morning sir, who are you here to see?”

“Good Morning, I am here to meet with Mr Derek Brown.”

“Your name, please sir?”

“Jason Bottom.”

“Very funny sir, please don’t waste my time.”

“No seriously, that is my name.”

“Oh sorry sir, I thought you were having me on. Sir if you can indulge me a minute or two with your sense of humour?”

“Yes, okay, I have heard it all before, Jason Bottom, and ‘chasin bottom’ I have heard all the executions thank you.”

“Very well sir, but that wasn’t mine.”

“Ok, sense of humour engaged, let me have it, what’s yours?”

“Is your middle name Humungus?” he said sniggering.

“Well, that’s a good one, you missed your calling, now are you going to let me in?”

“Ahem, one other thing sir, what’s the nature of your business?”

“Interview, I have an interview.”

“Very well sir, we just need to scan your vehicle. Yo Terry, Ivan! Bring scanners and mirrors for undercarriage inspection!”

Two rather large men in the same security ‘browns’ as the stand-up comedian, spent some time checking the boot and undercarriage and then each pointed a hand held scanner at my car, as they walked up and down the length of my car on each side, from the tail lights to headlights.

“Clear!”

“Clear!”

“Ok Mr Bottom. You are fine to proceed. Visitor parking is to your right and good luck sir.”

I heard the sniggers of the three as I raised my window and drove into the visitors’ parking lot. I was cursing my Dad for my surname like I had done so many times in the past. I followed the signs to reception, and I had the distinct feeling of being watched, security guards monitoring my every move.

The monolithic structure of metal and glass loomed ahead of me. I felt rather miniature in its shadow, after negotiating the marble stairs leading up to the gigantic glass doors framed in chrome. I looked through the doors through the doors to see the company logo illuminated on the back wall, a large and imposing ‘Zyrnex’ and directly below the logo, the words ‘Making Life Better’. The doors opened automatically as I approached them and then a loud authoritative voice from a speaker system startled me as I approached the front desk.

“The elevators to the left will take you to the fifth floor. Welcome to Hibiscus House a property subsidiary of Zyrnex Pharmaceuticals. Derek Brown is aware of your entry. When you reach the fifth floor, exit left and the third door on the right is Derek Brown’s office where your meeting will take place.”

I made a mental note of the instructions, thinking this could be part of the interview process. My heart was still pounding as I stepped into the elevator. I didn’t need to select my floor because that was all done for me. The elevator ride was smooth and fast, it rose speedily and silently to the fifth floor.

‘Ding! This floor is floor five.’ The doors opened onto a pristine hallway. The rich, thick pile royal blue carpets gave me sense of opulence. The dark wood trims in the hallway added to the feeling of sumptuousness.

It was easy to tell Derek’s office the golden light beam radiating into the hallway. The rest of the hallway was dark. I was happy that my timing was perfect because most large corporations only start at nine am. I calculated that I had two hours before people would start filtering into the office building, more than enough time for a forty five minute interview.

I walked towards the office radiating light and knocked on the open door.

“Ah you must be Jason?” a spritely voice for an early morning greeted me.

“Yes, pleased to meet you. Good Morning Derek.”

“Come on in and take a seat.”

He extended his hand and we shook hands. I was a little too firm and could feel his knuckles crack, instantly I cursed myself for being over - zealous and tense. He probably pegged me as aggressive and assertive from that hand shake. My mother in my ear ‘not so firm dear, you don’t know your own strength.’

Derek Brown had a kind face and short unruly brown hair, he was thin and above average height. He was dressed in a blue suit, white shirt and red tie. I noticed his scarred knuckles and the weak hand shake belied the scarred knuckles, was he hiding something from me or was he a wife beater?

He noticed me focusing on his hands, and his expression was now a little more serious, the tension was broken as his office phone started ringing.

“Excuse me Jason, I will be back with you after this, it could be head office.”

“No problem.”

As he lifted the phone to his ear, his suit sleeve pulled back and I noticed a ribbon scar on the back of his hand, running down to the back of his wrist. That must have been some wound to scar that badly, could have also been surgery.

“Hello….. No thanks, I am aware thank you very much for your concern….. We have our candidates and in fact I am about to interview him right now, no need to keep contacting me, I will call you if I need you…..Yes I know…. Please as I said, I’ll call you if I need you, goodbye. Recruiters! They never stop Jason.”

He was firm and courteous, and I was impressed that he wanted to focus on the interview, it made me feel important.

“Now Jason where were we, oh yes we were about to start, now how long have you worked at Abbot and Wilson pharmaceuticals?”

“Three years now, and prior to that I worked at Xyralva. I found working there to be rather interesting, if I can put it that way, because of all the retrenchments and the law suits. I am sure you are aware of all those?” I had to turn my babbling into a question my mother was in my ear again ‘Don’t Babble Jason, ask questions and be attentive.’

“Oh yes I remember that like it was yesterday. I must say I do like your experience and I can see that you are the type of candidate that Zyrnex would leap at if you were indeed a real candidate.”

“What do you mean if I was a real candidate?” my heart pounding in my ears.

“You see Jason I did a background check on you and I realised that you have another agenda, if I am not mistaken? You have come to kill me? Correct?”

“I’m, um, not sure what you are talking about? I am here for an interview, for a position at Zyrnex.”

“Come now Jason, let’s not play this game, you know what your task is, and so do I. Let’s cut the crap.”

“I really do not know what you are talking about Derek.”

The atmosphere was suddenly icy cold and serious. I remained calm as I reached into my brief case and pulled out the hardened graphite spike that I was going to use to ‘finish’ Derek as it is known in the industry.

“Ah graphite, I thought it had to be something non - metallic. I am sure that you were briefed about the scanners, picking up metal and alloys? By the way the scanners do not actually work, they are literally there to cause a reaction, the security cameras focus in on your breathing patterns and pupil dilation, and you were very good this morning, because we detected nothing when your car was being scanned.”

“Look Derek, you know how the business works, if I don’t complete my task, I die. So I have to do what I came for.”

“How will you make it past security on the way out? Think about that call I received earlier.”

“Oh so that call wasn’t recruiters, you had me there Derek.”

“They will only react when I send them the signal. I thought we could have a chat first Jason, if that is indeed your real name? Large corporations like yours and mine, are in it for the money, they don’t care about us. We are merely pawns in the game, disposable useful idiots.”

“Yes Derek, but if we don’t do our jobs then we don’t eat. I take it you were also one of us with no links to anyone?”

“You mean an orphan? Yes I was, if that’s what you mean? I was raised in the system, by the system. Let me guess Oxford University, Masters in ‘International Affairs’?”

“Correct, except I was educated at Cambridge.”

“I was at Oxford, so the old rivalry lives on!”

“It does indeed. Now I need to know Derek, why did you steal the patent?”

“For the same reason people do anything, the three main reasons, sex, money, power. Or what I call the trinity of destruction. I am talking about destruction of the soul Jason. The very essence of being disappears when you are motivated by that trinity of evil, or any combination of them. Striving after sex, money or power with focused, unbridled ambition means you are essentially dead.”

“If I kill you Derek, and make it out of here alive the cycle continues, until the next like us come along, if you kill me the same happens. What if we said ‘up yours’ to break the cycle?” I had never offered a ‘target’ a way out, it had never crossed my mind until now, something about Derek was endearing to me. Maybe I had suddenly grown a conscience?

“What do you mean Jason?”

“I think the sales manager just arrived.”

“Ok, got you Jason, he’s a bit of a moron anyway.”

Derek walked down the hall. I was hoping he wouldn’t double cross me, but to be sure I left his office and went to the men’s toilets, and I noticed that the one stall was occupied. I dropped to the floor into ‘push up’ position and saw security boots.

I waited for him to finish up, and used my pen that shoots darts. The pen was my back up plan for Derek. The dart penetrated his neck and he dropped instantly. I caught him before he hit the ground, he was heavy as a dead weight, I stripped him and changed into his security browns. If Derek was going to double cross me, I would be harder to detect, to make his life a little more difficult. I peered out of the men’s toilets down the hallway and saw Derek dragging an unconscious employee into his office. It seemed like Derek was legit, so I decided to trust him.

I entered Derek’s office in my new look attire. “I just found him like this he must have had a heart attack. Oh it’s you, where did you get the uniform from?”

“Men’s Toilets, There is a sleeper in there, I locked the stall.”

“Ok good stuff, now help me get this guy into the safe.”

We bundled the sales manager into the large walk in safe and Derek took the formulation documents that were in the safe and placed them in his brief case.

“Right Jason now we need to take care of security, any suggestions?”

We ran through the plan and hoped it would work, if it didn’t we were both dead. Two adult orphans that nobody would miss. I was still hoping Derek wouldn’t double cross me, but I convinced myself that he would have done it already if he really wanted to.

Derek made the call. “Security, I have the ‘mark’ please come and assist, my office now!”

I took up my position in the office next door. I had the security cap pulled low over my face and the brown uniform was a little baggy, but I was hoping in the excitement, none of the security guards would notice.

I waited until I heard the three running down the hallway. The stand-up comedian from the front gate and the other two very large men came stomping past in a hurry. Their boots were pounding the floor.

I tagged on behind them as they ran past. Derek continued playing his part.

“Come on hurry up, he is in the safe there right in the corner, he is unconscious quickly gentlemen!” They all entered the large walk in safe like a bunch of clowns. Derek and I shut the door behind them. The concrete and reinforced steel prison they now occupied was soundproof and airtight. They would have a few hours of air left in there and it was pitch black too. An added benefit was that they could not get radio signals either, so their mobile phones and walkie talkies were rendered useless.

“Let’s get out of here Jason! We’ll take your car. We need to get some distance between us and this place. That knocking on the safe door from the inside will raise suspicion when more people arrive.”

We took the elevator down in and walked out in an orderly fashion so as not to raise any suspicion. Derek was greeting people arriving for a day in the office as we went, and nobody suspected anything.

We drove out of the parking lot and headed straight for the state border, drawing cash out of our accounts on the way, as we would need the money.

While we were driving towards the state border Derek decided to lighten the mood.

“Did you hear the one about Old Charlie Jackson?”

“No, who is he?”

“He’s this old dude about 85 years old, anyway he is at the doctor for his monthly check up and he says to the doctor. ‘Hey Doc, I have a complaint, you know every morning at eight I have a major bowel movement.’ The Doc says ‘that’s incredible, at your age to have a regular bowel is excellent, you shouldn’t complain.’ Charlie says ‘Doc I only get out of bed at ten!’ Silly joke but it still makes me smile.”

I laughed, and it was a forced laugh.

“You don’t have to laugh to be polite Jason, anyway real life is sometimes more entertaining. By now they would have discovered the safe with the guards inside, and I wish them luck on opening it.”

“Why would they need luck?” I asked, my eyes glancing to Derek and then back to the road ahead.”

“Well let’s just say the fast acting sleeping tablet was not all that I placed in Hilton’s coffee, oh and Hilton is the sales manager.”

“What else did you put in his coffee? You didn’t poison him did you?”

“Nope Jason, I just cleaned him out a little.”

“What, do you mean laxatives?”

“Some of Zyrnex’s finest, a double dose, that safe will be excrement central!” Derek said sniggering, and we both laughed uncontrollably. The tension of the day magnified everything, I had to pull over.

We crossed state lines unhindered and I shaved my head bald while Derek dyed his hair platinum blonde after having it cut. We secured fraudulent passports, from a contact of mine and we flew to Fiji that night. It is amazing how quickly you can get a flight, when you pay the right people.

We remained in Fiji for a month, and then we decided it was time to retire.

Derek had a guy he trusted named ‘Jimmy’ and he got hold of Jimmy. Jimmy was ex FBI, who had made the wrong choices, but was still very connected to the FBI.

We told Jimmy and a friend of his named Tony (also ex – FBI) where we had left my car.

Jimmy and Tony set up a meeting with Zyrnex. We were able to watch the meeting through spyware on Jimmy’s clothing so we linked in through a website.

At first the visuals weren’t that good, but they improved as Jimmy and Tony moved into the boardroom, it was as if we were a fly on the wall.

“Good Morning gentlemen, I am Officer J. Williams, and this is Officer T. Nagel.”

“Good morning officers, I am Richard Cox, CEO of Zyrnex and this is my board of directors, heads of management functions, finance, logistics, communications and medicines advisory. Be seated gentlemen and let’s get straight to it, as we are all busy people. Tell us what you found? As you know we have all been worried about Derek.”

“Lying bastards, they just want their formulae.” said Derek as we continued watching, I nodded in agreement.

“Well Richard and ladies and gentlemen, we have news, some of it good, and some of it not so good. What do you want, the good news or bad news first?”

“Give us the bad news.” Richard blurted out impatiently and looking expectant.

“Well the bad news is that the bodies of two men were found in a burnt out car, the car has been identified as the one that was here on that fateful day when Derek went missing.”

“Derek. Where did he get the bodies from?” I asked, as we continued to watch.

“He has friends at the morgue, he told me he would get two bodies that had not been identified that had to be destroyed. Now let’s watch no more questions.” said Derek.

“Well Officers, that really is a tragedy, do we know if the two people were Derek and the other guy, that Jason character?”

“We don’t unfortunately Richard, as the bodies were so badly burnt and we couldn’t find any dental evidence either, that car must have been like a furnace.”

“How did it burn up like that?”

“We have a theory that Derek and the other guy were hijacked and set alight.”

“Wow now that’s tragic, that is bad news, very bad news, now what about the good news?”

“Well Richard, the good news is that the person or people that hijacked the car have said they will sell the briefcase containing the formulae back to Zyrtec for fifty million dollars. If you don’t want it, they will offer the briefcase to other companies, who are willing to pay the price.”

“That’s ridiculous we won’t pay that much for those formulations! Is this meant to be the good news? Why haven’t you traced these people yet? What are the FBI doing?”

Officer Nagel responded. “Suit yourselves gentlemen! I will let these people know, you won’t pay, and we are trying to trace them, we think they are Russian mafia.”

“Hold on officer Nagel, let me think…”

“Richard, just a moment. I have just received a text from the thugs, the price is now sixty million. They have a buyer at that price, a company called ‘Xyralva’. I am sure you know Xyralva?”

“The bastards! Ok tell them sixty million. Not a cent more!” said a red faced and visibly flustered Richard.

“They say they accept, they are texting the bank account details for the deposit, and as a show of good faith they have emailed you half the formulae, when they see the money in their account they will send the rest.”

The deal was done, and ‘officers’ Jimmy and Tony answered Richard’s questions about tracing the people and the bank account.

“It’s very difficult sir they have a number of dummy accounts set up and the money moves through them and is distributed into multiple other accounts. I think they have an aggregating account that draws all the funds in, but their systems are very advanced. This was all a lie because we each received our twenty million and Tony and Jimmy got ten million each, and the only accounts that were used were our off shore Cayman Island accounts, that we had all set up prior to the meeting.

And that is the story of how us Orphans used and abused by the system, got our revenge. Derek now lives in Dubai, and I am in the south of France. The future is a lot brighter than the past for both of us. Jimmy and Tony simply ‘disappeared’, but I did receive a postcard from Mauritius. Richard Cox knew he had been fooled when the real FBI came to him a few months later having discovered the vehicle and the now very weathered remains. He was too embarrassed to admit what had happened, so he kept it quiet to keep his job. Zyrnex is happy that they retrieved their formulations, but Richard was a little perturbed when Xyralva launched some products with exactly the same formulations….. Oh and yes we did get paid by Xyralva too, we were orphans but we weren’t idiots….