WARNING! This story is for mature audiences only. It contains strong language, extreme violence, and explicit sexual content. If you are underage or not mature enough, please refrain from reading this story. I have other writings that are more suitable for general audiences. I am not responsible for any hurt feelings.
DISCLAIMER: This story was written when I was around 20-21 years old back in 2017-2019. At that time, I found the world to be so absurd that it felt almost satirical to me. This story reflects that perspective at that time. It’s important to understand that this story is intended for mature readers who can appreciate the satirical elements within the writing. This story does not represent my general body of work, as I have refined my writing content and style over the years.
A man and his family goes to Mars for a new life, but soon finds out that it’s no better than the life back home.
Carl stared at the paper on the desk, heart beating fast. He had read it thoroughly, over and over again, making sure this was no joke. Even though the enthused manager with slick back hair and a nice watch firmly assured the contents of it, he still couldn’t believe his dreams were about to come true.
“Just sign right there, Carl, and it’s all yours,” Mr. Swede pronounced, smiling off his perfect bright white teeth.
Carl exhaled, and with the pen in his hand, finally etched his signature down. Just like that, it was done. There was no applause, no music, and no confetti shot in the air with people holding signs up saying You Did It. All his wants and aspirations came silently when he was least expecting them. He looked up at Mr. Swede, speechless as if he wasn’t quite sure about the next move.
“Congratulations!” Mr. Swede exclaimed as he shook Carl’s hand.
The explosiveness of Mr. Swede’s handshake, made Carl feel like he won the lottery, with how rapidly Mr. Swede shook Carl’s hand up and down.
“I-I don’t……. know what I’m going to tell Wanda and Samantha,” Carl stammered, doing his best to hold in his apparent excitement.
“Tell them, you just made the best decision of all your lives.”
Carl shot up from his chair, prompting Mr. Swede to do the same. Looking into his eyes, Carl felt his heart close to exploding with all the emotion bawling up inside of him. He lunged over the table and gave Mr. Swede a great big hug.
“Thank you so much, Mr. Swede!” Carl cheered, not holding his emotions back any longer. “You just made me the happiest person on the face of the Earth!”
Once Carl let go, he headed for the door, prancing up and down.
“Oh Carl,” Mr. Swede called out, causing Carl to turn around. He gave off a huge grin at Carl as he nodded. “A new frontier awaits.”
***
He laid back in his cushion seat, laying his neck on the built-in pillow. He turned to the side where a beautiful woman with a heart-shaped face lay beside him in the chair. She looked at him with her ocean-colored eyes, as she held his hand.
“You did it, dear,” she whispered, putting her hand over his round chin. “You did it for all of us.”
She gave him a kiss, and he looked to the side of her where a little girl sat, playing with her stuffed teddy bear.
“Daddy?” the little girl asked with missing teeth. “When we get back, am I going to have to do all my missing homework?”
“Samantha, where we’re going, we won’t ever have to come back,” Carl assured. “You’re going to have everything you want at our new home. We get to finally own our own house and even our own swimming pool.”
“Our own swimming pool? Yeah!” Samantha thrilled bouncing up and down in her seat.
Carl smiled even more. He observed the different passengers around him, picturing their own stories and destinations. None of which could be as grand as his. He looked out the window, where Earth, with its dirty brownish color, was just a speck in space now, replaced by the glow of the everlasting stars.
“Welcome to Mars,” the man at the front counter told the family as he stamped the passports, with a welcoming smile.
“Thank you,” Carl stated.
“Now if you would kindly go over to the retinal scanner, each of your eyes will be scanned to implement your insignia. It’s just a way for people to identify you.”
“Insignia?” Carl asked.
“Everyone on here gets a symbol. We have several such as crowns, hammers, and gardens. They’re to classify what your job here is. You were a factory worker on Earth, so you’ll be a hammer. Your wife was a teacher as she will be here, so she’ll be a garden. There’s nothing discriminatory about it. It’s giving you a role to provide value to our society here. Like I said everyone gets it, it’s just a way for us to identify our fellow humans here.”
“Not a problem,” Carl said.
They had their eyes scanned. Carl took the papers, and they walked away happily. They were greeted by another man that led them to a car outside the airport. When they got into the car, the self-driving car took off, with them in the back. As the car drove, they caught a glimpse of the glorious city that shot to the sky from the red sand. Pillars of buildings struck the sun as the light shined on them.
“Wow,” Samantha amazed as her eyes ogled at it.
“It’s beautiful isn’t it,” her mother Wanda spoke.
She nodded as Carl admired the buildings. They moved through a residential area, seeing the nice homes. All were very big and luxurious, and people with happy faces walked by them. Nice cars went down the street.
Everything he had ever wanted was going to be his. He was living the dream. They left the residential area. Wanda looked confused.
“I thought those houses were going to be where we will live,” Wanda said.
Carl checked his tablet.
“I thought so too, but it says our homes are further down. Probably more nice homes.”
The pleasant scenery changed when they came across an entirely different area. There were rundown apartment buildings. People had rugged and sad faces with dirty clothes. Windows were broken, and graffiti was sprayed across homes. The car stopped in front of an old beat up house, not in comparison to the golden houses they had come by.
“This is your stop, enjoy it,” the voice from the car spoke.
They slowly got out and looked around their environment.
“Mom, I don’t like it here. I want to go back to the big houses,” Samantha told.
“It’s alright hun, we’ll go back,” Wanda claimed. She turned to Carl and whispered. “Tell me this is a mistake.”
Carl looked at his tablet again, trying to make sense of the situation. Someone was riding their bike by them in rugged clothing.
“Excuse me,” Carl called out.
The man kept on riding by.
“This doesn’t seem right,” Wanda told.
An elderly man, walking a little dog, came by. He reeked causing the family to cover their noses. The man’s teeth were crooked and yellow.
“Excuse me, sir, can you help us,” Carl asked.
“With what exactly?”
Samantha tried to pet the little dog, but it barked causing her to step back and hide behind her mother.
“It says we are supposed to be at 27E, but I think this is a mistake,” Carl declared showing the man the tablet.
The man looked at the digital map.
“Nope, this seems right,” the man asserted looking at the house. “You’re exactly where you’re supposed to be.”
“But that can’t be right. You see I’m a hammer, and my wife is a garden. I don’t think we belong here.”
“You’re a hammer?” the old man asked with surprise.
Carl nodded. The old man laughed.
“Then you’re definitely where you belong. This is where all the hammers go. Hope you fit in.”
The old man walked away after his dog took a dump on the ground, leaving the family flabbergasted. Carl turned to Wanda who looked disappointed, and he smiled.
“I’m sure it looks better on the inside.”
When they got inside, they halted at the mess of the house they saw. Furniture was used and torn. The house, like the man, smelled, and the carpet was ripped. It was a pigsty.
“We’ll call someone to clean it up,” Carl opined.
He went over to the phone on the table, but the console was broken. He used his phone as he looked for the number to dial. He finally found it on a ripped piece of paper on the broken fridge. He called and talked to the person on the other end. After the conversation, he came back.
“They’ll bring someone.”
Through their wait, they waited almost 4 hours before someone came by. At that time, they had nothing to do as the electricity was completely shut off. When a team came by, they fixed the house up, replacing literally everything. It wasn’t as good as they imagined the bigger houses were, but it was pleasant and a lot better than it once was. Now almost midnight, the family stood in their renovated living room with tiresome eyes.
“Well, the job’s done,” the team leader stated. He took out a tablet and swiped it. “That’ll be 100k credits.”
They looked shocked.
“100 thousand credits. We don’t have that much,” Wanda argued.
“It’s fine, it’ll come out of the paychecks you get, plus any benefits you will receive. Is there anything else I can help you with?”
“It’s not our fault this place was in ruins. We shouldn’t have to pay for it,” Wanda continued.
“It is what it is,” the team leader stated then walked
“Thank you,” Carl smiled.
The crewmembers left.
“You’re not going to say anything,” Wanda questioned Carl.
“What? We had no other choice. What you wanted me to do?”
“Make a stand at least.”
“It was pointless, he’d already said that it was coming out of our pay. There was nothing else we could have done. You have to realize it.”
“Sure, whatever. I just want to eat and go to bed. We have work tomorrow.”
After eating the pizza that the crewmember had placed in the fridge along with other groceries, the family went to bed in their rooms. Samantha went into her room, and Carl and Wanda went together in their room. The rooms weren’t that much decorated, just basic decorations of some plain paintings and vases, but nothing unique, something which didn’t sit well with Samantha. As the couple lay in bed, the stars were outside.
“It’s a rough start, but things can get better,” Carl stated. “Let’s not let this determine our entire time here.”
Wanda sighed.
“I hope so.”
“Hey, it’s just like my coach used to say. It’s not how you start, it’s how you finish, so finish strong.”
Wanda smiled.
“Which one was that?”
“I can’t remember.”
The two laughed and kissed each other, before going to bed, pleased. The next morning, after getting ready and eating their nice breakfast, they waited for the shuttles to arrive. First Samantha’s shuttle arrive which had a bunch of kids in it. They said their goodbyes, and she went off. Next Wanda’s shuttle came, and she left. Finally, Carl’s shuttle came. He had a feeling that things were going to be great, just by looking at how his wife and daughter had looked when they left; they all knew this was the beginning of happiness.
When he got on the shuttle, he saw a bunch of mean eyes looking at him. All the workers had stained factory clothes on. He greeted them, but most didn’t return his greets as they just mugged him and looked away. He tried to find an open seat, but most were taken. He came across one, that wasn’t. Before he could even put his bag containing his food down, the man placed his hand on it.
“This seat is taken, by my stuff,” the grumpy old man revealed.
Carl frowned.
“Hey, there’s a seat down here,” a man in the back called out.
Carl went over there and sat down next to him. He was about the same age with straight teeth.
“Name’s Frank,” the man revealed extending his hand out.
Carl shook it.
“Carl.”
“Never mind those guys, they’re a bunch of assholes. Sad assholes who want to take their misery out on everyone else.”
“What’s there to be sad about?” Carl asked smiling. “We’re on Mars, we’re living the dream!”
Carl’s cheering caused a few heads to turn to him like he was crazy. Frank chuckled.
“I see you have a sense of humor,” Frank observed. “Good you’re going to need it.”
They got to the factory. They were all lined up across a row inside as a man in a button shirt and slacks walked by with a tablet in his hand. He was taking roll call, having a retinal scanner scan each of the workers’ eyes. A big bulky security guard was holding an assault rifle hovering near the man in the buttoned shirt.
“What’s with the security guard? We don’t need protection,” Carl whispered with a smile.
“Oh they’re not here for protection,” Frank told.
Carl looked confused. Finally, the button-shirt guy came to him, and the portable scanner scanned his eyes.
“Oh I see we have a new worker,” the man stated in a monotone voice.
“Yes, my name is-.”
“I don’t care what your name is,” the man told. “I’m your manager, and you’ll do what I say. Now keep your eyes open.
Carl shut his mouth and just looked forward as the scanner scanned his eye.
“Carl Michaels. Do what you’re told here, and you’ll get along perfectly. You understand?”
“Yes,” Carl agreed with a more serious tone.
The man continued walking.
“Like I said everyone’s an asshole,” Frank revealed in a whisper.
“I see,” Carl sighed.
After the manager went down the line. He stood back in the front, and classical music played. Everyone besides Carl faced a flag hanging above the factory. It was a red flag with a fist in the middle. The workers placed their hands over their hearts.
“What are we doing?” Carl asked.
“It’s the corporate anthem, now put your hand over your heart and shut up, or you’re going to get in trouble,” Frank told urgently.
Carl did so, and after the music ended, he looked even more confused.
“We have to do that each year or something?” Carl asked as they went over to their stations.
“You really aren’t paying attention,” Frank chuckled. “It’s the anthem, we do that each day.”
“Well can’t we opt out of it?”
“Not if you want all your teeth.”
They went over to a station where they began assembling all kinds of electronics, and home appliances. After so many hours of working on his feet, Carl’s feet started to ache. He was getting hungry, and he was sweating profoundly as the temperature was hot as hell. Carl stopped working and went out of the aisle.
“Dude what are you doing?” Frank asked.
Victor found a water fountain and started drinking from it until a baton slammed on the fountain causing him to back up.
“What are you doing?” the angry-looking security guard yelled.
“I’m thirsty, I just need a break.”
“Did we say you can get a break yet?”
“No, but I just wanted some water. What’s the big deal?”
Carl went for some more water, and the security guard pushed him back.
“Hey man, what’s your problem?”
“You better get back there right now.”
“After I get a drink.”
The security guard slammed the baton into Carl’s stomach causing him to drop to the ground.
“Alright, you’re coming with me.”
A few more security guards came over and hauled Carl away as the workers watched.
“Back to work!” a guard yelled causing the workers to go back to work.
Carl was inside a small dimly lit room designed like an interrogation room with a 2-way mirror. The security guards surrounded him as he sat at the table. The manager stormed in, and for the first time, Carl saw his name tag which read Dick.
“Do you have some kind of brain malfunction, Carl?” Dick asked.
“No, but I think these guards do. They attacked me for just wanting some water.”
“Just wanting some water. Oh my god, that’s bad Carl,” Dick expressed sincerely. “I don’t understand how they could do such a thing. Here you want some water?”
Dick got a water bottle from the table and handed it to Carl.
“Drink up,” Dick offered.
“Thank you,” Carl smiled.
“You know something should be done because that was no way to treat a worker,” Dick continued.
“I agree. Maybe have them go through some sensitivity training.”
“I agree,” Dick stated.
Suddenly Dick snatched the bottle out of Carl’s hands and threw it on the ground. He got up in Carl’s face, glaring right into his soul.
“Let me make one thing clear,” Dick spoke menacingly. “You don’t breathe unless we tell you to do. You don’t eat, drink, shit, or piss unless we say it’s okay. And when it’s not, your ass is at the station working your ass off. Do you understand me?”
“This can’t be-.”
A guard smashed Carl’s hand with a baton. He screamed.
“Do you understand me?!” Dick yelled as Carl favored his hand.
He nodded.
“Good, now get your ass back to work,” Dick ordered.
Carl got up and sulked away. Back at the station he began working with his bruised hand.
“I told you, man,” Frank spoke. “Just keep your head down and work.”
At lunch, Carl ate at a table alone with Frank.
“Why is mugging us?” Carl asked.
“That little stunt you did is going to come out of our paychecks that’s why. You’re just lucky enough that I have enough compassion, something not a lot of people here have.”
“It wasn’t a stunt. I was just doing-.”
“See that’s the problem. You don’t do anything else than what you’re told to do.”
“That’s no way to work.”
“It doesn’t have to be, but it gets us by.”
After work as Carl was walking, a bunch of workers jumped in front of him, surrounding him.
“You son of a bitch, you’re going to pay for getting our pay deducted,” one of them barked.
As he stood in fright, the man attacked him, throwing him to the ground where they punched and kicked the hell out of him. As this happened the security guards just watched and laughed among themselves while Dick was in his office smoking a joint and getting head from a hooker. Frank saw the attack happen, and he rushed over.
“Hey get off of him!” Frank yelled, shoving the men off. “Get out of here!”
The attackers stopped and walked away.
“Why are you sticking up for this piece of shit?” one of them barked back as Frank helped up Carl.
“You alright?” Frank asked Carl who had a busted lip and a few bruises on his face.
“I’ll live,” Carl groaned with a chuckle.
Before he got home, Carl went to the store for medical supplies. He got patched up making his face look just as new, to not startle his wife and daughter. When he got home, he saw two cars in the driveway. He found his wife making dinner and his daughter watching tv.
“Hey, Samantha. Did you like school?”
Samantha nodded her head as her eyes were glued to the tv. He went to the kitchen and kissed his wife.
“I rented us two cars that way we don’t have to take the shuttles. It’s good enough until we make enough money to buy our own again.”
“Thank you. How was work?” Carl asked.
Wanda sighed, as she rested on the wall.
“I don’t know what to say, except for it’s not what I expected,” Wanda revealed. “The kids are great, and we’re treated fairly, but that’s just it. They put us in overfilled classrooms, with old textbooks, poor food, and messed up playgrounds. It’s like they don’t care about us. I heard the kids of crowns have it better like everything is brand new. But for gardens and hammers, it’s like we don’t exist.”
Carl saw the sorrow on her face, and he comforted her by putting his hand on it.
“Don’t worry, it’ll be alright.”
She turned away.
“You always say that. How was your day, I don’t want to make yours bad by talking about mine.”
Carl looked away, eyes looking at the ground as he froze for a moment, then he turned back to her and smiled.
“It was great.”
“Well, at least you two are starting off fantastic.”
Suddenly the alarm in the house went off.
“Oh no,” Wanda blurted out.
She opened the oven and smoke came out. She took out a burnt turkey. Wanda sighed in defeat.
“I’m sorry,” she admitted.
“It’s fine,” Carl insisted. “We’ll just go out and eat.”
They got to the counter of a fancy restaurant. The host greeted them.
“Hi, we would like a table for 3 please,” Carl stated.
“Just this minute,” the waiter proposed.
A retinal scanner emitted out and scanned their faces. Suddenly the waiter’s tablet glowed red.
“Oh, I’m sorry, but you can’t eat inside here,” the waiter confessed.
“Why not?” Wanda questioned, seeming offended.
“It says here that you are a hammer and gardens. Being in a hammer’s household automatically makes you all hammers, and we don’t allow hammers to eat inside. Look at the sign.”
They turned to the sign that said no hammers allowed.
“That includes gardens and other low classes that are grouped with it. This is a diner for crowns only,” the waiter revealed.
“This is bullshit!” Wanda barked.
Some of the people inside turned their heads, seeming disturbed.
“Wanda, watch your mouth,” Carl uttered.
“No, I won’t. They’re treating us like 2nd class citizens, and won’t even let us eat because of who we are. This is bullshit!” Wanda continued.
“I don’t mean to offend, it’s just that these are the rules,” the waiter said smiling and trying to be polite.
“Surely there can be something done about this,” Carl proposed. “I mean can’t this be worked out?”
“Of course!” the waiter revealed enthused. “You can eat out back where we can serve you, or go down the street to the restaurant that serves your kind.”
“Our kind?” Wanda uttered.
Carl put his hand out, causing her to stop. She glared at Carl.
“We’ll eat out back,” Carl agreed, smiling.
“Perfect!” the waiter complied.
Wanda sighed, throwing her arms up.
“Are you kidding me?” Wanda asked.
Out back, they were in folding chairs at a wooden table, eating their food on plates. The food consisted of gourmet, but it was very cold. Samantha just played with her food, looking disgusted at it as Wanda didn’t eat it. Carl was taking small bites, seeming to enjoy it, or at least forcing himself to do so.
“Forget this, I can’t do this,” Wanda mentioned as she jumped up to her feet. “Come on Samantha.”
“Where are you going?” Carl asked.
“To a real restaurant. Well, at least one that will serve our ‘kind’. You coming or not?”
Carl got to his feet and followed.
Inside the new restaurant they were in, it was a fast food joint, and the occupants had more casual clothing than the fancy clothing of the previous restaurant. After ordering their food, they sat together eating their burgers and fries. They seemed more relaxed and happy eating it.
“Hey!” a familiar voice called out.
Carl turned his head and saw Frank approaching them.
“Hey, Frank how’s it going?” Carl greeted excitedly. “This is my wife Wanda, and daughter Samantha.”
They shook hands and said hi to each other introducing themselves.
“I’m here with my wife and daughter also,” Frank revealed pointing to the tale where the two were at.
They waved at each other.
“Afterwards, you all want to hang out and ride through the city,” Frank offered.
Carl looked at his family as if they were happy to do so.
“Yeah of course,” Carl stated.
Afterward, they were in the back of Frank’s car, while the kids were behind them, and Frank and his wife sat in the front with Frank driving. They saw the big buildings they had once seen when they first arrived.
“Beautiful ain’t it?” Frank asked.
Suddenly they heard police sirens behind them.
“Great, the fuzz,” Frank sighed. “Don’t worry, I’ll handle this.”
The car pulled over and turned off. Two police officers approached the car, with 1on each side. The one on the driver’s side took out a retinal scanner and scanned Frank’s eyes as he held his flashlight up. Once he was done, his other hand went down. Carl saw that the officers’ hands were near their guns.
“What can I do for you officer?” Frank asked.
“Step out of the vehicle sir,” the officer stated.
“Is there a problem officer?”
“I said step out of the fucking vehicle!”
The officer struck Frank with his flashlight and yanked him out of the car, throwing him on the floor. Everyone inside freaked out, gasping and being in dismay as the other officer stood by the doors to keep them inside.
“Frank!” his wife called out, but the police officer stood in the doorway to keep her inside.
“Just stay back miss.”
The officer took out his baton and started beating the shit out of him.
“Daddy!” his daughter cried.
“Hit and run mother fucker! We got reports of a hammer driving this vehicle who just ran over a crown’s kid. You’re going to get your ass beat tonight!” the officer barked as he kept beating Frank who became bloody.
His wife opened the door, hitting the officer, and she ran out to the scene. She jumped on the officer’s back and put her arms around his neck, choking him.
“You bastards!” she yelled.
“Mom!” the daughter cried as Wanda tried to comfort her.
“Oh my god,” Carl uttered in shock.
The officer threw the wife off of him and struck her in the stomach with the baton. Frank jumped to his feet.
“Don’t you touch my wife!” Frank yelled charging at the officer.
Just as he got within reach of the officer, his partner took out his gun and shot Frank in the back of the head.
“Frank!” his wife yelled as everyone in the car gasped.
With Frank on the ground, motionless, the two officers pointed their guns at his lifeless body and emptied their clips into it.
“Stop resisting! Put your hands behind your back!” the officer yelled as they shot the corpse.
“Put your hands behind your back
Over a dozen of rounds were fired until there were no more bullets to be fired, leaving a bullet-ridden corpse on the ground. After the shots were done, everything fell silent as the bystanders froze.
“No!” his wife cried as she ran over to the body.
She cried as she held Frank in her arms while her daughter cried inside.
“You fucking murderers!” she yelled at the officers. “You fucking killed him!”
The officers threw her off the body and put him in handcuffs. They called for backup. Moments later, the scene was surrounded by police and caution tape as Mandy, Frank’s wife who had finally revealed her name, her daughter, Carl, and his family looked on with dejected eyes. The police officers kept the body out there without any cover for a while, before they finally put it in the ambulance. A man in a suit came over. He flashed his badge.
“I’m detective-.”
“Go fuck yourself,” Mandy scorned not looking at the detective. “You killed my fucking husband in front of his daughter. Does that make you feel like a man?”
The detective grinned.
“Sometimes,” the detective chuckled, making it unclear if he was serious or not. He changed his tone to be serious. “I was going to say that we checked the id of your husband and matched him with the complete description of the hammer at the hit and run scene, and it wasn’t him.”
“What the fuck are you saying?” Mandy questioned.
“Your husband is free of charge. Turns out it was another crown who ran over the kid. I don’t even know what to call it. Can’t be crown on crown violence. There’s no such thing, only hammer on hammer or hammer on crown. Anyways you should be happy.”
“Happy? Happy that my husband is dead?”
“Like I said he’s not a murderer of a child, which should be something to be relieved over.”
“I’m not relieved because your guys shot an innocent unarmed man for no fucking reason!”
“Actually he did attack one of our officers. So that’s a reason.”
Mandy looked dumbfounded as she didn’t say anything, just tripping over her words. Wanda stepped in.
“We’re going to press charges. All of your asses are going to fry,” Wanda declared
“I wouldn’t be too sure about that. You see under Precode Law 666, this was a justified shooting. So no jail time for us. Next time, do what the officer asks. Act like a space monkey, get treated like a space monkey. Don’t break the law, and you won’t have anything to worry about.”
The detective walked away.
“I don’t believe this,” Mandy stated. “How could this happen?”
She cried, and Wanda put her arm around her. They were dropped back at the restaurant. They got their car, and drove home. Back inside the house, it was a cold space, just a void of happiness, filled with sorrow. Inside their room, the Carl and Wanda sat on opposite ends of the bed, not a word had been spoken since the incident.
“We just have to be careful,” Carl uttered.
Wanda swung her head to him, looking appalled.
“Careful? That’s all you have to say after all of this, to be careful?” Wanda yelled. “What the fuck is wrong with you?? They just shot your friend in front of our kids, and you’re not upset?”
“I am upset,” Carl defended himself.
“You didn’t do anything, not once did you say anything or try to talk back! You just stood there and took it. What is going on Carl? Why are you not standing up for anything, for us, for yourself?”
“You think I just want to sit down and let this happen?” Carl asked, now shooting up from the bed with a more angry tone for the first time. “You think none of this bothers me? All of this shit bothers me. The house, the job, especially what happened out there, I don’t like any of it! But it beats being back on Earth that is close to being inhabitable. There’s nothing I can do. We have no power here, sorry, but it’s the truth, and all we can do is take care of ourselves. I can’t control what happens in this world. All I can do is do the best to make sure we’re all safe.”
“Isn’t that what Frank did, and they shot him for it? Maybe you should have tried harder, or better yet maybe you should have been the one who got shot.”
“Watch it now,” Winton uttered defensively.
Wanda got up into his face.
“Or what?” Wanda taunted. She shoved him back.
“I’m warning you.”
“What are you going to do huh?” She pushed him again. “You haven’t done shit since we came here. You’ve just been lying on your back letting the world abuse you like a little bitch.”
Carl slapped Wanda, sending her to the ground. He glared at her for a moment, but when he saw her face, his face changed with concern.
“Wanda, I’m sorry.”
Wanda started laughing causing Carl to be confused.
“Holy shit for a moment, I thought you grew a pair,” Wanda laughed. She scorned. “At least hit harder. You hit like a bitch.”
“You want me to hit you again?” Carl asked.
“If that’s what makes you feel like man, but I don’t think you have it in you,” Wanda taunted him, smirking.
She shoved him, and he responded with another slap, but she stayed on her feet as her head turned away. She looked at him with a smile as blood came from her lip.
“That’s more like it,” she stated enticed. “Again,”
He slapped her.
“Harder!”
He slapped her and repeated it with a backhand. She rose and started bleeding, and he got hesitant with the next slap.
“Did I say stop?” she asked jokingly.
He raised his hand and gave her a nasty backhand across the face, knocking her down on the bed. She grinned.
“Now that’s more like it.”
As he approached her, she pulled him in, and kissed him. She then threw him on the bed and got on top.
Afterward, they were laying naked on the bed, looking at the ceiling.
“We haven’t had fun like that since before Samantha,” Wanda admitted causing Carl to grin.
“You know, you’re hitting the wrong people,” Wanda blurted out. “It’s them who deserves your hate.”
Wanda turned off the lights and rest on the pillow, leaving Carl staring at the ceiling, thinking.
The next morning, the corporate anthem played in the factory. As it played, everyone stood up with their hand over their heart except for Carl who was sitting down. Some people looked at him, while others didn’t. Suddenly the anthem stopped playing halfway, and out came Dick rushing with the security guards.
“What the hell are you doing?” Dick asked.
“Nothing,” Carl stated, not paying them any attention.
“I can see that. Have you forgotten the rules? Everyone stands for the corporate anthem!”
“Well not everyone should stand for it.”
Dick glared at Carl.
“Get him up,” Dick ordered one of the guards.
They yanked Carl off his feet, who didn’t protest, but just kept a blank look on his face as they rushed him to the back.
“All of you are getting your pay docked again,” Dick declared to the workers.
Groans came from them.
“Now back to work!” Dick ordered before rushing off.
Inside the interrogation room, Carl stood relaxed in his chair as he had his arms folded. Suddenly a hefty security guard with a fat face and a beer gut came marching into the room, snarling at Carl. He got into Carl’s face, but Carl just looked straight, not giving him his look. The security guard breathed heavily in his face, then smashed a dent into the table.
“Is that supposed to scare me?” Carl asked.
The security guard grew angrier, then he finally settled down and sat in a chair across from Carl.
“You know with all due respect, I ain’t got respect for you Hammer motherfuckers,” the guard growled, looking Carl dead in the eyes as Carl just looked back. “You think you too good to stand for that corporate anthem boy?”
“It’s funny that you treat me like I’m inferior, talk down on me as a hammer as if you’re any different.”
“I am different,” the guard chuckled. “I’m a fist, I put scum like you in line.”
“And you think that makes you better? To the crowns, we’re all the same, all below them, as we do whatever they say. They just pit us against each other to make us forget that they’re playing both of us.”
“Maybe, but as long as I beat up punks like you, I’m happy, and they pay me well to get you to stand.”
“Until I along with everyone else in this company get the respect they deserve working here, I’m not standing. Fuck this company.”
The guard shot from his feet and got behind Carl, now circling back and forth in a short space behind him.
“How dare you make demands for this money? You gon show us some respect, you gon stand for this corporate anthem, boy!” the guard barked, up in Carl’s face.
“Is that all you got fat boy?”
“You know what you are? You come millions of miles across space for a better home, leaving a shittier one. You’re nothing, but a space monkey!”
Carl looked at the guard with a glare. The guard grinned knowing it offended Carl. The guard grew mad again.
“Yeah you don’t like that, do you, boy” the guard continued as Carl looked away again. “You’re a space monkey! Space monkey! A goddamn space monkey!”
Carl kept his composure, but it was clear that he was fighting back the need to let the words get to him, as he kept his face serious, but calm. A voice spoke through the intercom.
“Beat the shit out of him,” Dick said through the speaker.
With pleasure,” the guard agreed with a smile.
The door opened and a bunch of security guards came in with their batons. They patted their hands with their batons.
“Looks like we’re going to beat a space monkey. Let’s see if it bleeds just like us,” one of the guards stated.
They rushed Carl and slammed him to the wall. One got behind him, choking him with the baton while the others beat the hell out of him once again. They hit him all over his body.
After the beating Carl traipse back to the station as all the other workers looked at him, some looking with anger, others with sorrow.
“Let that be a lesson to any of you who want to kneel for that anthem,” Dick spoke to the workers. “But also know that he’s the reason why you’re getting paid less. So do us all a favor and beat his ass some more whenever you get a chance.”
Dick walked away laughing as everyone went back to work.
After work as Carl was walking in the parking lot, a bunch of workers surrounded him. He froze, waiting for another ass beaten.
“We would kick your ass some more for that stunt you pulled,” the lead worker said. “But after seeing how much of a beaten you’ve gotten, we’re not.”
They walked away, leaving Carl alone.
At home, when Carl entered the house, Wanda gasped at the sight of his face. He hadn’t bothered to patch it up like before, he didn’t care.
“Oh my god what happened to you?” Wanda asked worried as she felt his bruises.
“At work, they kick the shit out of me for sitting for the anthem.”
“Oh my god, I don’t believe it.”
“I know it was a stupid thing to do.”
“No, it wasn’t,” Wanda revealed causing Carl to turn to her instantly. “If that’s what it takes to protest and bring attention to what is happening here, then by all means do it.”
“Even if it hurts the other workers and nobody stands with me?”
“In time they will because they’ll see that sometimes you have to sacrifice everything for what you believe in.”
Carl smiled and the two kissed each other.
The next day at work Carl was brought into the room again for sitting down a few moments prior when the anthem was playing.
“I had it!” Dick yelled at him. “I’m going to make this simple. You stand or-.”
“Or what?” Carl interrupted. “You’re going to fire me? No, you can’t do that, because that’ll look bad on your resume, and the suits will come down crashing on you for the loss of workers. You see numbers are all they care about.”
Dick looked surprised, and then nothing else came out of his mouth.
“Actually, we’re already coming down hard,” an elderly voice called out.
Carl turned to the door where he saw an elderly man in a suit walking in. He had a British accent. Carl looked shocked.
“You know who I am don’t you?”
“You’re the CEO,” Carl answered.
“That’s right, and I don’t like hearing bad news, especially one involving a goddamn hammer or space monkey who doesn’t want to show respect for this company. I get it, you don’t like how you’re treated, hell I wouldn’t either if I was you, but I’m not you, I’m me,” the old man stated smugly and calmly in Carl’s face as he sat on the table up close to him. “Honestly, I don’t give a shit if you stand or sit down. I know we make it a policy, and we tell these dumbasses like Dick and the security guards to enforce it. We talk about corporate loyalty like we at the office actually give a shit about it. We just tell them that because they’re dumb enough to believe it and follow it. But honestly, it’s all about the money and numbers. If you sit, everyone else starts to sit, and then it goes from sitting to demanding wage changes, hour changes, and many other things, and before we know it, there will be unions and uprisings, and that’s not good for business. So you understand?”
Carl was quiet.
“Or don’t. You can sit down again, but let me make this clear,” the old man stated with his voice turning cold and angry. “If you sit one more time, you will be fired, kicked out of your house, and have no way back home. Now that is one number I can deal with. So think about it.”
The old man started walking away, and the guards got Carl to his feet and escorted him out. When everyone got outside the room, they all stopped at the sight of a few workers sitting down.
“What the hell is this?” Dick screamed.
“We’re not standing for shit,” one of the workers uttered. “Fuck you, fuck this company, and fuck that old bastard.”
The old man looked appalled
“How dare you?!” the old man barked.
A security guard proceeded to march over to the workers, but suddenly more sat down causing the guard to stop. Then some more sat down. More and more started sitting down until the entire room was filled with sitting workers. Dick and the old man looked shocked as the guards were confused, but Carl had a smile on his face.
“No freedom, no work!” the workers chanted. “No freedom, no work!”
They repeated the chant, causing the old man to get angry.
“What do we do?” a guard asked.
“Nothing,” the old man revealed, not believing what he had said.
“What?” Dick asked. “I can just have the guards beat their asses.
“With all these people protesting, it’ll turn into a riot, and that’s not good for business. All we can do is just let them have their fun until they choose to go back to work,” the old man explained. He turned to Carl. “You win for now.”
The old man stormed away causing the crowd to clap. Dick marched away as well. Carl walked over to the workers who got on their feet and cheered and clapped for him. He was with his people.
When Carl got home, he saw Samantha watching tv.
“Look daddy’s on tv!” she pointed out as her mother was near her.
Carl turned to the television where reports about mass protests across multiple factories were being reported.
“Reports have said, that this man,” the reporter stated with a picture of Carl on the screen, “is the one who caused the protest as workers are feeling the need to stand up to what they call years of injustice.”
“You did it, they’re standing up for themselves,” Wanda cherished.
“That’s all I ever wanted,” Carl admitted.
Suddenly the phone rang. He answered it.
“Hello, Carl,” the familiar elderly voice said.
“It’s you, the CEO,” Carl revealed. “What do you want?”
“How about we talk for a moment.”
“We’re talking.”
“More personally I mean. Either we come into your house, or you come out.”
“We?”
“Look outside.”
Carl peaked outside where he saw a black car with tinted windows parked outside his house.
“Again, we can come in, or you can come out, but know if we come in, things might not be too good for your wife and daughter. We don’t want to interrupt your daughter’s favorite show, Pony Tales.”
Carl glanced at the television that was now playing a cartoon showing ponies. He swallowed.
“I’ll come out.”
“Good.”
Carl hung up and headed for the door.
“Where are you going?” Wanda asked.
“Just stay inside, I’ll handle everything.”
Carl left, and Wanda watched from the window as he walked to the black car. The door opened, not revealing who was inside, and he got in the back. Sitting down next to him was the old man, and two men in the front.
“What do you want?” Carl asked.
“I’m going to make this short and simple. The protests are getting out of hand, and you’re going to stop it.”
“Oh really?”
“Tomorrow, you’re going to be picked up by one of my guys, you’ll be given a suit to dress nice and be groomed. There will be a broadcast at our headquarters that everyone in the city will see, including all the workers. You’re going to deliver a message where you will denounce the protests, and tell everyone that it was a mistake.”
“Bullshit, I’ll never do that.”
“Oh yes, you will.”
“Why is that?”
“Because if you don’t, I’m going to have my guys come into your house, defile your wife, kill her, then kill your daughter while you watch. These guys would all love to have fun with your beautiful wife.” He turned to his guys up front. “Hey Jeno, when was the last time you had some fun?”
“It’s been years, sir. I would love to get crazy.”
“I bet you would,” the old man said with a smile. “How about you Jimmy?”
“Shit, I ran through some hammer whore in the alley last week. She wouldn’t shut up about me not paying her, so I broke her jaw.”
“You see what I mean, Carl?” the old man asked.
Carl was appalled, but then he smiled.
“You would never-.”
“How come?” the old man interrupted. “Because of the numbers. Trust me, we keep you alive to work, and even if you don’t, that’s just one worker gone in comparison to all the workers we’re losing to these protests.”
“You kill me I become a martyr. Then they’ll never rest.”
“And that’s where you’re wrong,” the old man revealed, grinning wide. “You see, in the case of you and your family’s disappearance, we will spread a story that will tarnish your reputation, and then the workers will eventually go back to work. No matter what, the protests will end, whether or not you’re alive to see it or not, is up to you.”
Carl looked down where now he was feeling anxiety once more.
“As much as this may shock you, I actually like you,” the old man admitted. “For a hammer you are incredible. Nobody has ever stood up to us, until you. In a different time, men like you started revolutions and toppled empires, so I’ll make you a deal, just because I admire your courage. After the broadcast, we’ll make you and your family crowns, get you moved to a nicer area, better job, and basically everything that comes with being one of us. You’ll be working in the office with us, and be able to rise.”
“Are you serious?” Carl asked in disbelief.
“It’s everything you ever wanted, everything you thought you were promised. It’ll be all yours.”
“I don’t want it. I’ll do the broadcast to save my family, but I won’t do it for a position. Take it out of the deal.”
“You don’t get to make decisions. You don’t do the broadcast, that’s your family’s ass. You do it, you’ll be a crown, and that’s the final word.
“If people find out that I changed my stance and became a crown-.”
“They’ll never know.”
Carl sighed as he put his hands on his face. Finally, he emerged from the car and looked back at the old man who was smiling.
“It’s going to be a great day tomorrow Carl. A new life awaits.”
Those words sent chills down his spine as the door closed, and the car drove off. Back inside Carl explained everything to his wife.
“I have no other choice,” Carl admitted as they sat by the bed that night.
“It’s okay, I know you did it for us. You just wanted the best for everybody.”
She gave him a kiss on the cheek.
“Don’t feel bad. We don’t always win, and get what we want,” she expressed.
The next morning as Carl walked over to the company’s car, he stopped at the face standing in front of him.
“Mandy?” he gasped.
She was standing there with bags under her eyes, looking like she hadn’t slept in days. Her face was pale.
“How have you been?” he asked.
“I’m hanging in there,” she forced a smile. “I just wanted you to know that you are doing something good. We’ve seen you on tv, and it makes us happy what you’re doing. Even my child talks about you. We know Frank would have been proud.”
“I don’t know what to say.”
“You don’t have to say anything, just know that we appreciate you.”
She gave him a hug. Afterward, she walked away, leaving him pondering before he got into the car.
In the studio, Carl was dressed in a nice black suit, his hair was nicely combed, and his face was powdered. It had been a long time since he dressed like this. The old man and the other executives were to the side watching him as the cameras were set on him.
“In 3,2,1,” the cameraman stated.
Carl took a deep breath just before the camera rolled.
“For weeks now you have seen my face. A lot of people have looked to me as a beacon of hope for many of the hammer workers, and other low-ranking citizens. We have voiced our anger and passion for change. I am here to tell you today it all ends. Stop your protest, it isn’t worth it. The crowns, and those who we work for, should not be argued against. They are doing what’s best for everyone, and to go against them, is to go against each other. So please for the sake of the colony, and yourself, go back to work and live peacefully with each other.”
Carl’s eyes looked away from the camera, looking cold at the ground. The old man pranced over to him with a huge smile on his face. He put his arm around Carl’s neck and brought him in closer as he smiled into the camera.
“Isn’t he a perfect example of excellence?” the old man asked. “Which is why Carl Michaels is now the newest member of the crown family.”
Carl looked shocked.
“What?” Carl gasped.
“Congratulations, Carl,” the old man cheered, shaking Carl’s hand. “We can’t wait to have you be among us. So get ready to live in those nice houses with that great office job. See you around.”
The old man walked away, leaving Carl tongue-tied, then the camera finally shut off.
“What the fuck was that” Carl yelled at the old man in the corner. “You manipulative lying son of a bitch. You said nobody would know!”
“Oh did I?” the old man asked, being sarcastic. “Looks like it accidentally slipped my tongue.
“I should beat your-.”
Carl stopped as security guards stood in his way.
“I wouldn’t do that,” the old man said. “Fighting among crowns is not good for business. See you tomorrow.” The old man started walking away, but he turned back and smiled. “Just remember Carl, I always win.”
Carl sulked into his house where Wanda was waiting for him.
“Daddy was on tv!” Samantha cheered running up to his legs. She hugged him. “We’re getting a new house!”
“Yes, dear, yes we are,” Carl stated, looking dejected.
His daughter let go and went back to the couch to watch tv.
“They made me do it,” Carl revealed as Wanda approached him with sorrow in her eyes. “I didn’t know he would tell everyone.”
“It’s okay,” Wanda uttered.
Carl put his face down to her chest as she put her arm around him. He bawled, and she rubbed his back.
“It’s okay.”
“Mommy, why’s daddy crying?” Samantha asked.
“He’s just happy,” Wanda lied.
The doorbell rang.
“I’ll get it,” Carl muttered.
When he opened the door, a baseball smacked him right in the face, sending him to the ground.
“Oh my god!” Wanda screamed as a group of men stormed the house in hoodies.
Samantha screamed as well. As Carl tried to recover and get to his feet, men rush towards his family and grabbed them.
“No!” Carl yelled, getting to his feet.
As soon as he got to his feet, he was struck again from behind and instantly blacked out. When Carl woke up, he found himself strapped to a chair. Wanda and Samantha were duck taped and tied with their hands behind their backs. The men had them surrounded.
“Who the hell are you?!” Carl yelled.
“How’s it going Carl?” the female voice said.
Mandy approached him with a glare.
“Mandy, what are you doing?” Carl asked shocked.
“I should be asking you,” Mandy asserted. “It’s one thing to lie down and kiss corporate’s ass, but it’s another thing to become a crown. You really trade your own people for it.”
“I can explain.”
“Explain what? That you sold out your own people to become one of them, your oppressors? After what I told you, what they did to Frank, and you want to be one of them?”
Mandy stared Carl in the eyes. Her eyes watered. She wiped her eyes and straightened her face.
“They told me they would kill my family if I didn’t do it. I had no other choice,” Carl revealed.
“No other choice?” Mandy laughed then her tone became serious. “So you care about your family so much you betray everything? Look around you, I lost someone I loved. These men before you lost loved ones to the crowns. Billy’s wife was ganged raped and murdered by a few crowns.” She pointed to one of the men who looked down in sadness, remembering. “We know sacrifice is part of this brother and sisterhood.”
“What the fuck are you talking about?”
“We were one people, Carl. It’s all for one, and one for all, but you failed to see that.”
“You’re fucking crazy. I didn’t sign up to be your buddy or any of this!”
“You did when you became a hammer, but you forget where you came from,” Mandy’s stated. She had a glossy look in her eyes as if her eyes became lost along with her mind. “You thought you could live among the gods, but you will always be a peasant, so now we must bring you back down to Earth.”
“I barely know you fucking people!” Carl screamed trying to fight out of the chair.
Mandy took out a gun, causing Wanda and Samantha to wiggle and scream with cries. Carl looked at Mandy with fierce eyes.
“Go ahead, do it! You’d be doing me a favor,” Carl barked as the gun was pointed at him.
Mandy turned the gun to Samantha, and fired right between her eyes, spraying the little girl’s blood all over her mother’s shocked face. Carl froze with shock.
“No!” Carl cried.
He didn’t have time to register his daughter having her brains blown out. The man behind his wife, Billy, took Wanda’s throat and slit it from ear to ear.
“What the fuck!” Carl yelled with tears storming down his face. He tried breaking from the chair, but it was no use.
The man threw Wanda on the ground where she continued to bleed. He pulled down her pants, unzipped his, and started violating her in front of Carl while Mandy looked on enthused. Carl once more tried to break his constraints to no avail. He looked away, but another man grabbed his face, forcing him to watch.
“You’re going to watch,” Mandy confessed. She turned to Billy. “Do her like them crowns did your wife, remember what his kind did to ours!”
Carl’s eyes were set on his wife as she barely had any life in her, and all she could do was just sit and lay there. After a few moments, Carl was staring at his wife’s eyes, but now they were cold and lifeless. The man kept going.
“My god, she’s dead, make him stop,” Carl cried in a weak voice.
Mandy nodded to the man and he got to his feet, zipping up his pants and smiling.
“How did that crown feel?” Mandy asked Billy. “How did it feel teaching them crowns a lesson, serving them justice?”
“It felt good!” Billy cheered.
“Just kill me,” Carl pled.
“No, I want you to live with the consequences of your actions.”
One of them knocked Carl out with a bat.
Carl woke up. The sun was starting to rise. He was untied from the chair while lying on the ground, he got up and sulked to his wife’s dead body. He dragged it to his daughter’s on the couch. Sitting there he cradled both of them together.
“It’s going to be alright,” he said kissing both of them on their heads.
He looked up with vengeance in his eyes as he stared at the 3d printer in the living room. Leaving his house in a suit, Carl was greeted by a man in a luxury car who was smiling at him.
“Hello, Mr. Michaels, how is your day?”
“Excellent,” Carl cheered. “And who might you be?”
“I’m your personal assistant. The office has assigned me to do all your chores for you and to take you to work.”
“That’s wonderful. So you do anything I tell you to do.”
The man nodded.
“Well, I need you to do me one thing.”
What’s that?”
The smile on Carl’s face vanished and turned into a hateful glare
“Die,” Carl uttered.
He took out a submachine gun from his coat. The assistant’s mouth dropped as he gasped. Carl lit the man’s chest up. The man flew into a parked car. Afterward, he walked over to the car and sped off.
In a faintly lit room Mandy, Billy, and the group from the previous night were surrounding a table. On the table were a map and a few submachine guns.
“We’re going to intersect the school bus here, board it, kill the driver, and all those little crown devil kids,” Mandy told. “Don’t forget to have the cameras on your collars to live stream for their parents and everyone else to see.”
One member came into the room with a box.
“This came in the mail,” he told.
“What is it?” Mandy asked.
She opened the box, and inside was lots of wrapping paper. There was an envelope. She opened it and got a letter.
“This is for Wanda and Samantha,” Mandy read off the letter.
She turned white as a ghost as she gulped, looking nervous along with the others. She looked down into the box.
“Shit,” she uttered.
The box exploded engulfing everyone and the entire room in flames.
On the first floor, security guards were by the booth playing poker and smoking.
“Hey after work, what you say we go find some hammer whore to hit,” one of the guards opined.
The other one slapped his hands.
“That’s what I’m talking about!”
They all start laughing while unknown to them a luxury carwas speeding nonstop towards them. Their laughs ended with the impact of the car driving through the window. The car stopped in the middle of the crash, and out came Carl with his submachine gun busting at the guards. He dropped them like flies before they could even reach for their guns. As the smoke cleared, he continued marching with fury on his face.
“What was that?” the old man stammered as he heard the shots from downstairs.
He turned on the camera and saw the bodies behind Carl who was marching.
“Oh shit,” the old man gasped. He turned on the intercom. “Security!”
A bunch of security guards marched to the entrance of the top floor holding their guns out as the old man hid under his desk and trembled. Suddenly he heard gunshots with each causing him to cower further onto the floor. He heard multiple screams.
“Eat shit mother fucker!” a voice screamed.
A few more shots of rapid-fire occurred.
“No please,” a faint voice begged.
A gunshot went off and silenced the voice.
Their office became silent as there were no more gunshots. The old man crept out of his office and into the main office where gun smoke surrounded the area. Bodies of security guards surrounded by blood rested at his feet. He looked in complete horror and fear. Suddenly he was grabbed and pushed back into his office. When he turned, he saw Carl standing there.
“Carl,” the old man trembled. “It’s so nice to see you.”
“This is all your fault. They killed my wife and my daughter because of what you did.”
“I’m sorry, but-.”
“But what?”
“I just wanted you to embrace your new role that’s all, I had no idea your family would get killed. If I had, I would’ve never told everybody you were a crown.”
Carl turned to the side where he saw a banner saying I Lie For A Living. The phone rang and it went to voicemail.
“Hey Jim, this is Mark,” the voice called out. “Thanks for sending me footage of that poor hammer family getting wrecked. The dumbasses never discovered the cameras we installed in the hammers’ house. That was some good stuff. Anyway, sis and her man said they’ll see you for Thanksgiving. Talk to you later.”
The old man turned to Carl, slowly.
“Carl, plea-.”
Carl released a few bullets into his skull, and the old man’s body dropped. He stood over it where he unleashed the full brigade of the gun into his body. The bullets tore up the man’s entire body, ripping the flesh to shreds as Carl screamed. When Carl was done, he threw the gun and started laughing until he heard footsteps come from behind him. He turned where he saw a bunch of guards with guns out.
“On your knees now motherfucker!” one of the guards yelled.
Carl smiled.
“Now!”
Carl reached for his pocket, and they lit him up. When they went to his body, they found nothing in his pants.
***
“So what do you say?” Mr. Swede asked the man sitting in front of him.
The man turned to his wife and son.
“I say yes!” the man cheered.
His family cheered with him. Mr. Swede stuck out his hand.
“Congrats, Bill, you’re making the right choice.
The two shook hands.
“Thank you Mr. Swede for this opportunity.”
The man walked away with his wife and son.
“Oh Bill one thing,” Mr. Swede spoke out smiling. “A new frontier awaits.”
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