Fritz sat in a large conference room deep within EvaMaxx's main compound. Except for Fritz, All of the employee's eyes were turned towards a projected video. The bright light of the projector illuminated the dark room. Within the projection, a man lay down on his back, with his face clearly visible to the surveillance drone hovering above him. His chest spasmed, as his lungs searched for air that would never come. His skin turned purple, as the man hit his own diaphragm trying to force oxygen into his bloodstream. His eyes bulged, as panic set in. Fritz knew the man was doomed to die. 

"Hah! Just look at him! He Looks like a fish out of water. Fucking A! Fritz! Fritz!"

Fritz lifted his eyes from the dark cherry table towards the balding, portly man. His beady eyes sweated with excitement as his face contorted with psychopathic greed.

"Yes, Hank?" Fritz asked. His face was a mask of civility, as he spoke to the pudgy suited man. Underneath the table, he clenched his fist until it turned white. Disgust and hatred wormed through his guts like a deep sickness.  

"Your team has really gone and out done yourself!" Pointing towards the video, he gesticulated. "Our shareholders are gonna love this! This is great!"

"The public sir?" Fritz asked venomously.

"No, not them. Don't be stupid. Government. Defense." Hank replied dismissively. The man within the video turned over. Crawling on the ground, he tried to make his way through the war-torn city. "Just look at him go! He just doesn't quit. The bastard doesn't even know he's dead yet! Incredible! Great shit! Photogenic too!!"

"This is a great story Hank. Our stakeholders will be pleased." A prim woman dressed in a black pencil skirt said. An open notebook sat before her with a ready pen as took notes on the man's death.

"Peg! Thank god you see it! Unlike Fritz! Damn nerds don’t have the vision."

"Sir, with all due respect, this weapon is evil. It shouldn’t exist. Nothing like it should. I don't-." Fritz began. The portly man silenced Fritz with a wave. 

"I don't want to hear it. Your team barely delivered on time. Me and Peg barely rescued this project. If anything, you should know your place and be grateful your team finally displayed results."

"What use is something like this?" Fritz asked, ignoring Hank.

"It depends on how the boys want to use it. Directly, your concoction can't be used as a mass produced weapon of war. It’s too unwieldy and not targeted enough. It certainly could vacate a building of terrorists." Hank turned to Peg.

"If the nerve gas were to end up in the wrong hands, our stakeholders believe this would be sufficient reason for conflict escalation. An adversary displaying a  new, terrifying, cheap, mass producible will be the perfect casus belli." Peg finished.

"Exactly! A couple of terrorists get their hands on it, so what? All that means is we get to roll up to stop them! And that means more business for us! More bombs! More guns! More armor! So long as war rages the mana will rain from the heavens!" Hank shouted slamming his pudgy fist on the table. All around the dark wooden table, EvaMaxx employees clapped with glee. Fritz frowned as he leaned forward massaging his temples. 

"Of course. And our stakeholders would be happy to work with us in case of any escalation." Peg answered. 

"What about production costs?" Hank asked. 

"The substance is rather easy to produce. A university chemistry lab could produce the stuff. The details are written down in the report." Fritz responded. Hank grinned, his fat jowls pulled together as dark shadows filled the many creases. His yellow teeth glistened in the white of the projector’s video.

Fritz grimaced. If it was up to him, he would have never done something this barbaric. Truly, the world is worse for people like Hank, Fritz thought. Looking down, he tried to quell his emotions. He could feel a deep anger and resentment building within him. Months and months of attempted corporate sabotage had fallen down the drain. The project had proceeded even with his meddling. Deleting documents, backups, and specs had done nothing. Sidetracking meetings had delayed the project by weeks, yet it was always restarted eventually. Fritz had done everything but blow up the building. Now, he could see the fruits of his own failure. What was his next move? Should he expose publically EvaMaxx's work? Should he throw away everything to expose EvaMaxx? Would the world even care? Could it pay attention long enough to hear his story? 

"Fritz!" Hank shouted. "Don't look away. Show some gumption. You gotta revel in your own creation. Don't look so damn guilty!" A few fake laughs echoed around the table. 

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"It's not my creation." Fritz said with a weary sigh. "I don't deserve the blame."

"Correct." Peg stated. She clicked her pen for dramatic effect. "The nerve gas was a team effort. Granted, Fritz has rallied the troops through several missed deadlines and delivered in the end. Once we showcase suitable user stories such as this, I believe our stakeholders will be pleased."

"Damn straight. That's what I want to hear!" Hank replied. The unknown man within the video finally stopped moving. His fingers curled around a broken piece of asphalt, as the last signs of resistance finally left him. "Carlos! Do we have any more?" Hank shouted to the back of the room.

"Yes, boss!" Carlos replied. The monitor video switched. Several armed men sat around a burning oil drum. They held their hands out before the fire trying to extract some warmth in the cool night's air. The surveillance drone watched them silently from above. A small gas grenade was released from the hovering drown. The grenade spiraled silently down, shrinking until it vanished. A second later, a small gray cloud of nerve gas enveloped the group. The armed men scrambled for safety but it was already too late.

"Fritz!"

"Sir?"

"Explain to me one more time what's happening?"

"The nerve agent passes through the lungs. Once entered into the bloodstream, it causes extreme swelling of tissue, as it passes through the body. The subject will eventually experience complete cardiovascular collapse. Sometimes the victim will- " Hank quickly interrupted Fritz.

"Target. Fritz, the correct word is target. The boys don’t appreciate the v-word. Using it in a meeting with customers will result in disciplinary action." Fritz frowned slightly before continuing.

"Occasionally, the target will pass out first as the blood flow to the brain becomes restricted. Depending on cholesterol, inflammatory response, and other factors, the victim can die in a variety of ways. The last v-... target was one who's lung-barrier inflamed first delivering a slow and excruciating end as he essentially choked to death."

"Interesting." Hank replied. His beady eyes fixated with glee as one of the armed men no longer moved.

"Sir, is this really necessary?" Fritz asked. "Won't there be problems if these videos get out?"

"Huh?" Hank asked.

"Fritz, that is a difficult question to answer. EvaMaxx's official policy is that this video is the product of rogue actors. Our company has not, and will never produce such weapons. Do you understand?" Peg asked. Her polite smile stretched the bloodless skin of her face like a mask.

"I suppose. I just don't like the risk. Not everyone believes the obvious lies." Fritz replied.

"Don't worry about it." Hank said with a dismissive hand wave. "The bad guys die. We get paid. Don't think about it. Questions of morality are for judges and politicians. Questions of truth are reserved for intelligence agencies."

Staring at the video, Fritz could only feel hatred. There in the corner of the screen, a small child ran out. The armed men struggled on the ground. Their chests rose and fell searching for oxygen as their faces turned purple. Fritz watched a small child run towards the men. Fritz's breath caught and his eyes went wide as he watched the child reach down towards the struggling men. The boy’s panicked hands grabbed their spasming bodies trying to understand what was happening. He looked around and screamed for help. His head turned back, to safety as he held a dying man. Within an instant the child’s body seized up. The boy's arms dropped, as he fell towards the ground.

"Hah. Guess it works on the little one's too." Hank snorted. Something in Fritz was breaking down. Whatever simmering anger was beginning to overflow. The boy’s arms and legs spasmed violently, as his arms tried to crawl away. The boy’s face pressed against one of the dead men. The drone’s video focused on the child. Fritz watched as the child’s life left his eyes. 

"Of course. Why wouldn't it?" Peg asked.

"Look at him go! Jesus, looks like he’s getting electrocuted! Did he trip over a live wire? Carlos, how many more minutes?" Hank asked his loud voice 

"Hank, what the hell is this?!" Fritz screamed. Pounding the conference table, he stood up. Deep down, he knew if he wasn't dead or in jail by tonight, he was gonna drink himself into a stupor. "You promised me! You promised my team! This was supposed to never see official use! You promised us! Especially no civilians and no children! What the hell was that? Are you a psychopath?" 

The pudgy suited man simply shrugged. Moving quickly from the wall, several suited men moved closer to Fritz. 

"Yeah, so what?" Hank asked with a smug smile. "The world ain’t fair. Now what Fritz? Gonna throw a tantrum? Be a man, enjoy the destruction like the rest of us. It pays the bills." Hank turned to look around the conference room. All eyes were on Fritz. 

"Enjoy it? Do you even hear yourself?" Fritz shouted. "You're insane! We just killed a child! We’re engaging in unsanctioned chemical warfare! Who cares if we are getting paid!" Fritz shouted.

"EvaMaxx is blameless. An unknown terrorist group did this." Peg said calmly.

"Exactly. For all your intelligence, you're not really getting this Fritz. Such a shame."

"What’s there to get? You're a bunch of monsters!" Fritz yelled. Hank wagged a finger at him. 

"Fritz, you sound like someone who doesn’t want to work here."

"I don’t! Not anymore! How can I work here, after all this? This is too much. You’ve gone too far! The world can’t have something like this. It deserves to know what’s happening here."

"Fritz, are you sure?" Hank asked.

"Absolutely, Hank, you're not human!" Hank’s face contorted in confusion for a second.

"No, I’m pretty sure I am. Fritz you're no longer needed at EvaMaxx. We don’t need babies like you. Boys dispose of him." Hank said with a dismissive wave to the suited security standing directly behind Fritz.

A bag enveloped Fritz’s face, as his feet were kicked out from under him. Fritz screamed in confusion and pain as he tried to breathe properly. Fritz could feel several strong hands grabbing him and hoisting him up to lead him out of the conference room. He thrashed uselessly as the men carried him out. By the time he was through the door, his world disappeared.

"A shame. The team really liked him. We were finally starting to improve our employee satisfaction score." Peg said with a bored sigh.

"We’ll get a replacement. The next one might actually hit deadlines! Carlos!"

"Yes, sir."

"Put on another one."

"Yes boss!"

All eyes within the conference room turned towards the video, as if Fritz had never existed.