Boss Citadel mashed his fists
against each other, creating a chorus of cracks as the air between his knuckles
gave way. He was grinding his teeth and his breath flared through his nostrils
like a dragon warming up the fire before an attack. The hair on his arms and
neck stood to attention as though a cold chill coursed through his veins, but
he could feel only a rising heat, as though the fire had kindled, his target
clearly in sight.
Sammy Tank had gone too far. It
was one thing to break a man’s nose in the privacy of his office; it was a
whole other matter parade his brother’s suicide on an international scale.
“The Band of Unston has become
wide reaching, Tony. The man we just saw footage of is Mark Tanenworth, the
second richest man in the world, brother of Boss Citadel. Even the lofty
heights of capitalism royalty cannot outstay the reach of the William Unston
Effect. The strength of Walter’s EE is magnified exponentially by the broadcast
schedule he maintains, the negative collateral damage is ever nearing
catastrophic levels.”
It dawned on Boss that he truly
was out of the loop with Sammy. He had challenged the man and his motives in
their last meeting but by then it was too late. The plan was well and truly in
motion and all those grey areas which Sammy had so conveniently kept
unexplained were proving pivotal in this final term powerplay.
As far as Boss was concerned the
plan was simple. Walter is revealed, he is celebrated (to capture the initial
television revenues), he is then subject to a backlash and the real science can
be put into action. The final phase being a mass produced happy juice bottled
at the source and sold as the cure to sadness.
Sammy had endorsed the science:
Walter was the happiest man alive and the backlash would be a natural
progression; they just had to wait and see what happened. The only interference
would be to speed up the backlash with a high profile death and a TV special to
steer the general opinion in the right direction. What Sammy had not explained
was that Boss’s brother was the high profile victim and that Sammy himself was
the genius scientist behind the whole operation, out in public and ready to
receive the adoration and fame.
It was this last point which
infuriated Boss almost more so than the death of his own brother. It was a vile
and selfish emotion that bred a toxic anger within him. Sammy had denied his
lust for power and glory and now he was in the midst of them both, idolising
himself on television and making his final reveal to his boss that he was now
in control.
In his head Boss replayed the
fight they had had a few days prior. In this version the events were altered: Sammy
had tried to lever Boss’s weight and momentum against him but Boss was too
powerful and continued to drive his fist in the stupid cunt’s face. Sammy would
try to fight back but his skull would crack as it was slammed into the corner
of the mahogany desk. He would be left to bleed to death while Boss arranged
for the disposal of his body.
There was always a rush of
satisfaction after Boss convinced himself of the alternate ending, but it was
quickly negated by the return to reality. It was the ultimate set-up and
punchline of depression; a one two fantasy-reality knockdown. That same
combination must have driven Mark to his sad end. He slammed his fists on the
desk wishing beyond hope or reason that Sammy’s face was there to cushion the
blow. “You killed my brother, you fuck!” he screamed at the TV screen, “I’m
going to fucking kill you!”
Sammy sat, oblivious to the
threat, laughing with Tony about some joke the two had shared. Boss had not
heard but he was certain they were laughing at Mark, exploiting his death for
the publicity it provided. It was meant to be Tony Holdsworth headlining the
suicide pact, now he was sided with Sammy. Smithwaite always hated Sammy, but
he already had two agents after him – he would be lucky to last the night. The
Cit Soldiers were run exclusively by Sammy. He was organising his network,
eliminating the threats. His foresight extended beyond any boundaries that Boss
could comprehend. He was smarter and faster than Boss and probably already had
Boss tracked and marked. Was this how it was meant to end?
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