Existence Denied

CHAPTER 2

Twenty minutes later, Jared leaned back in his chair, his thoughts flailing in a catastrophic whirlwind. None of this made any sense. He tried going into several secondary backup systems to locate his death records in case of a glitch in the central processors, which Jared once thought were absolute perfection. A long shot, but worth a try, even though he knew the outcome.

Data not found.

Jared stood and began to pace around his small office. "This is ludicrous," he muttered as he walked, his hands clenched into tight fists. "Life and death records are checked, double-checked, and audited monthly. Death records are scanned repeatedly against life records daily. It's impossible to have a life record without a corresponding death record. What could cause mine not to show up?"

The urge to throw all morals aside and hack into the system through a back door he had created at the onset of his employment tempted him like an itch he could not scratch. But he'd promised his green-eyed girl those days were over, so the itch remained.

Jared froze as a tingling sensation of dread raced up his spine. "Life and death records were assessed and assigned during the granting of life stage. The formation of one could not exist without the other. They are free from corruption and manipulation," he muttered.

Sophisticated algorithms, parental history, and probabilities were just a few of the parameters that went into the decision to permit life or not. Hundreds of individuals had worked on the possible life cases before reaching his group. Or his former group, he amended.

He shook his head as he considered the problem. The system had existed for years and had not been circumvented—the NP systematically hired some of the best hackers money could buy in the guise of malefactors. None could penetrate the safeguards. Jared knew of only one man, besides himself, who had the necessary skills to carry out that type of transgression. But Coyo would never put him in jeopardy.

Coyo loved Jared like a son.

But times and technology had advanced, and perhaps others had attained the knowledge of infiltrating levels without him knowing. Doubtful, because Coyo kept track. He knew the life and death system as years ago he had designed a good chunk of it. Perhaps the unknown perpetrator who stole his codes had ties to Jared's hacker past, making him a viable fall guy. If it were true, the plan rated as brilliant. Hadn't his own credentials, not recorded anywhere but his head, participated in an illegal act without him?  

Jared paused as a look of horror spasmed across his clean-shaven face. What if it were a ploy to keep him bound to the NP or retaliation for his one unofficial transgression... his initial refusal to revoke the life submission of the five babies as only his credentials could do it. Oh, Death could have done it, but the matter seemed beneath his or her elevated status. 

 A month later, the agony of what they had forced him to do still ate at his soul. Initially, he claimed the damage had been done, and the unborn children should bear no blame for their parents' mistakes. 

He thought the matter over and done.

But the department head, Finius Rogers, and his personal assistant, Mr. Dirk, had come to his office that first week after his transfer to the death department, right before the end of the day.

How well he remembered that day... 

*****

"Jared, got a minute?"

Jared had packed his briefcase, ready to leave the hell hole for the night. It had been his first full week in the death department, and already the number of manuals and procedures he had to learn weighed on him as it seemed the opposite of everything in the life group. He gazed at his caller, a short, stocky man in a gray suit. The undertone of his skin and gelled hair seemed to be an extension of the suit as they too appeared an unhealthy shade of grey.