The clicking of the typewriters filled the air like a heavy fog, cold and colorless. Over fifty people sat, writing the day's stories down on white paper, the same as their neighbor, the same as their neighbor's neighbor. The company valued sameness, believing it to keep people pacified.

None of them knew. None but Matt. Matt knew, Matt had seen. He could feel the metal of the revolver against his chest, resting, unseen, away from the peering eyes of his coworkers.

The tell-tale uneven gait of his boss rang from the stairwell. Matt froze, his eyes glued to the door, his hand in his coat pocket. His boss, Michael, opened the door and surveyed the working people, typing mindlessly, oblivious to his presence. Michael's eyes landed on Matt, who hadn't looked away in time to avoid eye contact. Michael walked that shuffling walk to Matt's desk and stood above him.

"Distracted today, aren't we Matt?" A gloating smile adorned his face.

Matt nodded, he didn't want to do what he did next, but knew there would never be an opportunity quite like the current one. He drew his gun, and shot the left hemisphere off of Michael's head.

Michael doubled over, clutching his head, screaming, "I told you it wouldn't work! We haven't perfected memory erasing yet!"

Matt stared at Michael in horror, not only at the fact that he had survived the shot to the head unfazed, but because Michael was beginning to change, morph into something else, something cruel. The makeup of the flesh on his body was beginning to change, to become looser, so that it seemed that he was going to begin dripping should it continue to do so. His teeth and his tongue became longer, his nostrils wider, and his eyes disappeared so that he became something that was still human, but appeared to bear more familial resemblance to a bowl of pudding.

There was nothing left to do on Matt's part, but to run. He fled to the stairs and, rickety as they were, flew down them at a speed akin to falling. A sound reverberated through the walls, the sound of a voice that was certainly not human, or anything living for that matter.

Please Matthew, come back to us. The procedure is relatively painless, and as soon as you've forgotten everything you've done today you can go on living.

Ignoring the voice as best he could, Matt made his way through the building, some of the people were normal humans, and others were the horrid creatures like Michael. Matt marveled at how he never noticed them before.

Oh Matthew, the voice said as Matt neared the door, his last chance at freedom, how foolish you are.