Rorrick

Ting-a-ting-a-ting. The familiar ringing sound went off in Rorrick's ear and he flicked on his head set. "Corporate support, tech division, how may I improve your day?" It was a well practiced line and it came out sounding more bored than helpful. "And when was the last time you turned the device off, sir? Yup, I want you to try that for me." He yawned and leaned his head back against his chair. "Okay, now turn it back on... That did it? Okay great. Thanks for calling the Toro Corporation, have a nice day." He hung up, made a note on his work station and rested his head in his palm as he waited for the next thrilling call. He could hear the voices of his coworkers, all packed tightly together in long straight lines and all answering similarly mundane questions from confused consumers.

As he leaned into his hand, his eyes began to slide closed. Darkness took over for a second but just before he fell asleep -- ting-a-ting-a-ting. He wiped a small trail of drool from the corner of his mouth and flicked on his head set. "Corporate support--" He started but something distracted him. A woman standing across the call floor in between two rows of desks. Her hair was cut short, and she was wearing a strange outfit made of brown and blue wool, trimmed with bright white fur. She was a strange sight popping up out of the sea of corporate gray.

"Is anybody there?" The sound of an old woman's voice brought Rorrick back to the job at hand.

"Right, sorry, uh..." He looked up at the woman in blue again and realized she was staring directly at him. "Tech division, how may I--AH!"

The woman was right in front of him now, but he hadn't seen her move. He tossed his headset to the floor and sprang to his feet. Her eyes were glowing so bright it was hard to look at them.

A hand suddenly reached out from behind and took hold of his arm. He turned around and saw the face of a familiar woman. "You okay?"

"I, uh... Sully, it's you."

"Course it is, who else would it be?"

Rorrick turned to where the woman in blue had been standing, but nobody was there. Instead, he saw his supervisor standing three rows over, motioning for him to join her.

"She doesn't look too happy." Sully twisted her face as she looked over at their supervisor.

"She never does." Rorrick sighed and made his way across the call floor.

"I never do what?" The old woman snapped as he came closer.

"Nothing, ma'am."

The grin that spread across the old coot's face was coy and smug. "That's right, I never do nothing. Ha! Because that means I'm always doing something!"

Rorrick cringed at the miserable joke, but quickly turned it into an uncomfortable smile. "Right you are, ma'am."

She leaned her shoulders back and puffed out her chest. It was something he'd seen holos of chickens do in grade school. "I don't need you to think I'm funny, ya brat. I need you to head to the Boss whenever you're ready."

"The Boss?"

"Yep, now go, get on with it, off my floor."

"But you said when I'm ready."

"Come on kid, don't you see? You're on a Corporate Plan now."

Rorrick's eyes grew wide and he looked back at Sully. Her face twisted with concern, but she was otherwise distracted by a call. "I don't really think I need a Plan though," he said and his supervisor made a clucking sound that again reminded him of a holo chicken.

"Well Corporate thinks ya do so get on with ya! Go!" She shooed him with her clipboard, swatting against his raised forearms as he tried to protect his head from the blows. He easily gave in to her coercion and allowed himself to be led to the elevators.

"Can you tell me what my Plan covers at least?"

"Frankly, I told ya too much already. I just assumed ya knew it was coming."

They approached the seven foot tall metal gates to the elevator and Rorrick noticed a man standing by the button. He was wearing a black suit with the logo of the Toro Corporation stitched onto his sleeve. "Going up?" He asked and the elevator lit up as it arrived on their floor. Rorrick felt his instincts pull him back but when the gate slid open there was another stranger in a black suit, this one was a blond woman with a ponytail that trailed between her shoulder blades. "Come on now, I got other things to do today!"

Rorrick's supervisor pushed him forward with her clipboard again. "He's all yours now. Take good care of him." Rorrick could hear the sarcasm in the old woman's voice. "We'll sure miss him down here."

"Right." He matched her sarcasm now, no longer afraid of her wrath. "Like you missed Nari after she went crazy and burned her work station? Do you really think I'm anything like her?"

"Good bye, Rorrick, I do hope you get better." His supervisor nearly laughed as the two strangers corralled him into the elevator and it started to rise.

"Can you tell me what my plan covers?" Rorrick asked the two strangers who had gone completely silent. "It's just I don't think there's anything wrong with me, you know? I don't even need to be here, I'm totally okay."

"Shut up." The man grunted through his teeth and Rorrick forced himself to oblige. The rest of the elevator ride went by silently, and when they reached the appropriate floor the door opened to reveal two more black clad strangers.

"She's ready." One of the strangers said and Rorrick felt a fit of nervous giggles take over him.

"I'm sorry," he said, "but this is all too surreal. Who are you guys? What sort of plan was I approved for?"

"I believe you were told to shut up." The woman on the elevator pushed Rorrick forward. His guards led him down a dimly lit hallway to a door that proclaimed itself in tiny gold letters as the entrance to the office of Dr. Whynn, Corporate Psychologist. The door slid open and revealed a tall woman with golden brown skin standing on the other side. She wore a suit like the strangers who had led him here, but it was more embellished and she wore a skirt instead of slacks.

"Ah, Rorrick, hello." She gestured to an empty chair and as he entered the strangers stayed back. "Please make yourself comfortable. I apologize for the cloak and dagger, but I find most of my patients are reluctant to come see me."

"I'm not crazy. I was told I was going to see the Boss, my supervisor told me--"

"You're supervisor doesn't know a thing about what goes on above her head, and nobody said you were crazy." Whynn backed away, signaling with her body language that she was not interested in offending Rorrick. "But there have been some complaints about the quality of your service."

"I didn't know that..."

"Three different instances, today was the fourth."

"Today? What happened today?"

Whynn reached out and started a recording that filled the room with Rorrick's voice. "Corporate support--" and then there was nothing.

"Hello?" An old woman's voice punctuated the silence. "Hello?"

Rorrick chimed in again, but this time it was a low whisper and all he said was, "Korra."

Whynn paused the recording then. "What's that? Korra, what does that mean?"

"I don't know."

"Well you said it, and that wasn't the first time. Four different instances, exactly the same. You suddenly stop speaking and then--"

"Korra," she replayed the word and it made Rorrick squirm.

"I don't remember that, I really don't."

"Well we have four recordings that say otherwise. In fact the most recent call, before today, you seemed to take it a little bit further." She played another recording and Rorrick felt his chest contract.

"I don't want to do this, I don't." His voice was playing from the room's speakers again, still at a whisper. "It'll destroy everything, everything! You can't do this to me! You can't make me do this!"

"I didn't say that!" Rorrick was shaking his head. "I'd remember saying something like that and I never did!"

"Calm down, it's okay. You'd be surprised but this isn't the first time we've seen behavior like this. Sometimes an employee's job just becomes too stressful and they snap. They say things they don't mean--"

"I never said that!"

"Sometimes they even say things they don't remember saying. That happens too."

Rorrick leaned back further into his chair. "So, you're saying this is normal? This is just something that happens sometimes?"

"Well, your case is a bit severe I'll admit, but I think it's something I could help you with."

"How?"

"Just relax, let me help you with some guided meditation, show you some techniques to relieve the stress." Her smile was warm and genuine. "I've read your file, I don't think you're the type of guy who wants to hurt anybody. You just need a little help and that's okay."

"I... I guess so."

"Good, now could you just close your eyes for a moment and take a deep breath?" The last thing he saw before the blackness of his eyelids was her smile, it made him feel safe. "Excellent, now breathe out, and in, and out. You're doing great. Now picture yourself at your desk, a call is coming in and you become distracted by something."

Rorrick spoke without thinking. "A person."

"Man or woman?"

"Woman, and she's dressed so... heavily."

"What do you mean?"

"A big blue coat with white fur. Like she lives somewhere cold."

"And what is the woman doing?"

"Standing there, looking at me." Rorrick stirred in his chair. "Korra, her name is Korra."

"Is Korra saying anything to you? Is she telling you to do something?"

"No, but she's not alone."

"There's somebody else there?"

"Somebody or... something. Something dark." Rorrick began to shake then. Sweat moistened his clothes and he shook his head. "No, I don't like this! Don't make me do it!" A shadow was covering his vision of Korra now a shadow that was reaching out with black hands.

"Rorrick, wake up!" Dr. Whynn's voice suddenly shook through him and he felt wind, everywhere, all around him. He began to hear the sounds of shuffling papers and when he opened his eyes he realized he was on his feet. The wind was gone, but many papers were still drifting to the floor. The doctor's hair had been tussled, and she was holding to her desk for support.

"What happened?"

"We have confirmation!" Whynn spat and the door to her office opened to reveal the four black suited strangers, the blond woman in the lead.

"About damn time," She said as she advanced on Rorrick.

"No, what? What's going on?" Rorrick swung out against the oncoming guards, unleashing a gale of wind that blew them all back against the wall. He turned to Dr. Whynn in time to see her pull a stun gun from her desk. He whipped his hands in her direction and the weapon blew from her grip, crashing through the window at her back. Without even thinking about his next move, Rorrick pushed past Whynn. As she fought to stay on her feet, he sprang straight forward into the air and out through her broken window.