I worked at Scalent Systems in Palo Alto back before it was bought by Dell. I was always on contract, which meant I never got benefits. When one contract ended, they started me up on another. I thought maybe I'd get on fulltime eventually, but once rumors of the buyout surfaced I knew that it was time to get out.

I wrote for the company online help system, which only our clients could access. There was me and fellow named Egan who were hired to work on different parts of the system. It was lousy work. Information would come in from the developers, we'd make the necessary adjustments to the files, and then send out stuff to the people who maintained the website. Half the time they'd forget to make the necessary additions because they had more important issues to deal with. I stopped checking to make sure our changes were done, even though that was part of the contract.

Egan was much older than me, and was even more jaded about the whole process than I was. He'd spent most of the day working on his own writing projects, which could get quite bizarre. I remember he came by my desk one afternoon and handed me a sheet of paper.

"I'd like you to proofread this, " he said.

"You mean edit it?" I asked him.

"Make sure there are no mistakes, " he said. "It's a legal document. There would be proofreaders, if this were a real-world situation. So it's important that I try to emulate that process."

I spent the afternoon editing the document, and Egan gave me a copy of the finished product when I was done. "I don't share with my work with many people, " he said.

"I'll keep this to myself, " I said.

"It's something I've been working at for a while, " he told me.

"I got that impression when I first read it, " I said.

I still have the thing with me. It was some sort of fictional town charter, or at least that's what I think it is. Here is how it starts:

"Let it be known that the most honorable among the citizens of this community have gathered together on this, the fourth day of January, and have decided with the full force of just law to incorporate a city by the will of God."

It then goes on like this:

"Let it be known that this city will be a free entity. No outside lord or despot shall claim to have the right to rule within our boundaries. No army shall lawfully march to our gates, demanding that we surrender to their leader. Such threats will surely lead to ruin for those who issue them, as is God's will.

"Let it be known that this city will be governed by a council of ten men who shall be chosen from the ranks of our honorable citizens. There shall be three elections per year. One shall take place in the winter, the other in the summer, and the last one in the autumn.

"Let it be known that this council shall have full and exclusive rights to enact laws for the good of the city. If any other group attempts to usurp these rights, they shall be removed from our borders.

"Let it be known that the council will enact laws that will ensure the safety and prosperity of all of the honorable citizens of this city. This will be done in the name of Our Lord Jesus Christ, who rules over us all.

"Let it be known that a market will be open to all citizens of this city six days a week, excluding Saturday. This market shall operate in the open area in front of the Church of Saints Peter and Paul, the place where merchants have been running a market since our community was first established.

"Let it be known that this market will fall under the authority of the council, and will be regulated according to its will. Weights and measures shall be established be the council, and shall be used by all merchants operating within the boundaries of the market.

"Let it be known that a town hall shall be built alongside this marketplace, across from the Church.

"Let it be known that a militia will be established by the council, and that its members shall be chosen from the ranks of our citizenry. Every citizen chosen to serve in the militia must do so, or else find a citizen of equal value to take his place.

"Let it be known that this militia will protect us from the enemies of this city and the enemies of God. Let it be known that they will be protected by God and Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ because they will be acting according to the will of God to protect the good citizens of this free city."

Egan had formatted the thing so that it fit neatly on one page. There were very few mistakes in the original copy, to tell you the truth. He had clearly put a lot of effort into it.

Anyway, about a week after I gave Egan back the edited copy, he showed up at his desk one afternoon with hundreds of copies of it that he'd made using one of the company's copiers. "I'm surprised you didn't get caught, " I said to him.

"I was careful, " Egan said, reading the copy at the top of the pile. "When I heard someone coming, I pulled out some stuff I'm doing for the company. I made only ten copies at a time and hid them."

"They'll notice all the paper missing, " I said. "And someone will remember seeing you in the copier room all day."

"I'll be fine, " Egan said. "I don't understand why you're so worried."

"I'll get blamed for this as well, " I said. "I helped you work on the thing."

Egan dropped the paper he was holding and looked in my direction. "Why do you work here?" he asked me.

"Because I have to work somewhere, " I told him.

"So you don't enjoy being here, then, " he said.

"Why do I have to enjoy myself?" I asked him.

"You have to do something to get by, " he said. "Or else you'll go crazy. Trust me."

"I go home and forget about this place, " I said. "I put in my time."

"You should listen to yourself, " Egan said. "I should be recording this. I should record it and play your words back to you in ten years' time. Then you'll understand. I was just like you, you know. I thought everything was manageable. But you'll learn soon enough that you can't keep up this kind of life. Trust me. You'll see."

Egan could go on like that sometimes. He wanted to share the supposed wisdom he'd gained over the years with whoever would listen. I was a captive audience.

Anyway, the day after he made all those copies I came into work and found them all over the place. They were stuck to car windshields in the parking lot. Some of them were taped up on the windows of our building. I think he'd gone up and down the street and taped them up other places as well. He must have spent most of the night and early morning doing this. But I never got the chance to talk to him about it.

When I got to my desk, there was someone standing there that I'd never seen before. He introduced himself as Keating. He told me to come to his office, which was on the other side of the building.

"I suppose you know what this is about, " Keating said as I sat down across from him.

"I had nothing to do with this, " I said. "I came to work and was just as surprised as you were, I'm sure."

"How long did you and Egan work together?" Keating asked me.

"I take it that you've let him go, then, " I said.

"We're not going to discuss that right now, " Keating said.

"But you used the past tense when you asked me about Egan, " I said. "So you've already given yourself away."

Keating stared at me in silence for a moment. "This isn't an interrogation, " he then said. "We just want to gather as much information as possible about this."

"But Egan is gone, right?" I asked him.

"We sent him home, " Keating said. "We're going to evaluate the situation before we make any final decision."

"I don't blame you, if that's what you're thinking, " I said.

"Let's get back on track, " Keating said. "What we're concerned about is that Keating clearly must have shown signs that he was dissatisfied with his position."

"What makes you think he was dissatisfied?" I asked him.

"I hope you're being sarcastic, " Keating said.

"He had his side projects, " I said. "I'll give you that. But he got his regular work done as well, didn't he?"

"His performance isn't the issue here, " Keating said. "I'm concerned now that you're trying to play games with me."

"What do you want to know?" I asked him.

"Were you aware that he was going to vandalize our property like this?" Keating asked me.

"I don't even know who you are, " I said. "Look at us. Try to look at us as if you were an outsider. I know you're not with Human Resources. Who are you? It's as if you've dropped here out of the blue. How do I even know that this is your office?"

"I've been with the company longer than you have, " Keating said.

"But listen to yourself, " I said. "This is insanity. It's like you're playing detective. What company keeps a detective on staff? These questions you're asking me. This situation is absurd. It's like we're on stage. And you're the worst character in the cast."

"If you don't cooperate, it will reflect badly on you when we discuss this issue later on, " Keating told me.

"I can't take you seriously anymore, " I said. "You don't make any sense. You're not acting like a real person."

"This isn't going like I'd hoped, " Keating said.

"Tell them I was insubordinate, " I said. "Tell whoever it is that you report to that I was in on the whole thing. I'm not afraid of you. I don't even believe you exist."

Keating was quite again for a while after that. It was all such a joke. Egan's little side project made more sense. It made more sense to me than anything I'd done for Scalent.

"I guess we're done here, " Keating finally said.

"I guess we are, " I told him.