New York city, center of the modern world.
Drew is a software engineer working on a global mapping system for a global tech company. He has been asked to track the location of employees without their knowledge, by hiding surveillance software in the work laptops issued to staff. Knowing this request might be illegal, he begins to question the ethics of his employer.
Thinking that his work contract said he had to report potential violatons of the law, Drew reports the matter to HR after his manager ignores his concerns. HR have a private meeting with his manager and then pull Drew into their conversation, unscheduled, to tell him he is now on a performance management plan and they are concerned about his mental health.
Behind closed doors, his manager had told HR that he believed Drew was using drugs, having smelt cannabis on his clothes on a number of occasions. In their face to face meeting, none of that was brought up but they acted on it none the less. Thinking he was being strung up for speaking out, Drew says nothing because he can’t afford to lose this job.
Sitting on the subway headed home, he gets into a text message conversation with his mother. She wants him to come see her urgently to tell him about something she saw outside her house at night… but it was suspicious and she can’t say it over the phone. Thinking this is just another tactic to get his attention, Drew replies this isn’t a good time. His mother guilt trips him until he feels obligated, so he says he’ll let her know when he can make it.
Walking past a series of posters about UFOs, he thinks humanity is probably why aliens don’t come here. With how he was feeling today he knew that alcohol and weed wasn’t going to cut it so he messages his dealer asking if he can meet.
“Just two points, I can’t afford more” Drew told the dealer, they were sitting in the front seat of his panel van in the middle of the city.
“Well homie, if you need to tick you know I’m happy to keep you fed!” said Paulo eagerly, always happy to have somebody owe him one.
“No it’s ok, I’ll message you if I need more. Thanks for coming out here on short notice… I had a rough day at work”.
“Mmm well I’m glad I was here to help! Listen I gotta bounce to my next hungry customer, you gonna be ok hombre?” asked the cheerful Mexican, his happy demeanour really didn’t suit his face tattoos and blinged out teeth.
“Yeah, I’ll be alright. Thanks” replied Drew as he got out of the van.
Paulo gave him a very friendly wave before moving off and disappearing up the street.
Drew sat in the fire escape looking out at the street, he’d taken a lightbulb off the stove top and fashioned himself a make shift crackpipe. Holding the apparatus and thinking about the injustice at work, he begins to melt the crystal and for a moment is lost in the view of it sizzling away from the flame and turning into a perfect white cloud in the bowl. With tears streaming down his eyes and his hands shaking with despair, he inhales deeply.
A lot of people say you shouldn’t hold a cloud in, but Drew was in despair and wanted it to cut through so he held it in for a few extra seconds than he knew he should have. As he exhales, his lungs and nasal passage begin to feel like they are scratched up with broken glass. And then sweet clarity, the despair is gone and the things people said to him today are gone. The noise, light and smell of the city are no long overwhelming, now they are beautiful and inviting. He relaxes his back and slumps where he sits, still perfectly alert.
He had attempted to change the system from within but got bullied and gaslit by those he trusted. With his self worth at an all time low, he has turned to drugs he hadn’t used since he left his hometown of Geraldton, Australia. Back in “Gero”, as they called it, there wasn’t a lot to do for troubled kids and so selling and taking drugs was a common pastime that Drew was very familiar with. Thinking about his mother, he messages her warmly asking if she’s free for lunch tomorrow and she said yes.
The next day at work, Drew is in the kitchen looking at the news on the TV and sees that aliens have been sighted and had begun bombing cities. He blinks for a second and the news is gone, he feels a pain in his temple and looks down. Feeling a vibration in his pocket he checks his phone and sees a missed call from his mum and goes to take it outside, using it as a chance to have a few cigarettes as well.
In the lobby, he has an allergic reaction from being stuck in an elevator filled with a woman’s perfume. Drew sneezes and for a brief second when he opens his eyes he sees the world in ruin around him with balls of energy raining from the sky and obliterating everything they touch with explosions and fire. He blinks again and it’s gone. He shrugs it off as lack of sleep and a tired brain and heads outside.
Standing under a young oak tree on the edge of Central Park, Drew calls his mother back and she answers. He asks if she’s still on for lunch today and she says she had no idea they were meeting today. He says she wanted to see him to tell him something, but his mother claims no knowledge of what he’s talking about. Thinking that she was just playing mind games with her, Drew shrugs it off and goes to an early lunch on his own. Just as he crosses the street, a bus runs a red light and nearly runs him over. Shocked at the negligence, Drew pulls out his phone and records the vehicle as it sped away. On the back of the bus was a poster for a new alien invasion flick.
Later that afternoon, back at his desk, he gets messages from his mother “WHERE R U? I M HERE”. Horrified, he thinks she might be losing it now and actually deceiving herself. As he angrily begins replying, he hears screaming and looks up to see everyone in the office gone. The windows are smashed, debris is everywhere and bright balls of light are raining from the sky destroying things. He closes his eyes for a second and looks up again to see an ordinary office. On his phone he’d gotten stuck on the letter “M” and had left his messages with a trail of them. Correcting the message, he tells her they spoke already and so she calls him to discuss.
“Hey Andrew, do you want to see me for lunch today? I don’t mind, I’m free” asked his confused mother.
“Umm, no not if you don’t want to. I thought you wanted to tell me something” he said.
She pauses for a second and then says “Are you OK? You sound tired. Are you eating enough?” she begins to inquire, he rolls his eyes at her lack of boundaries and tells her not to worry about it and they end the call.
Frustated and confused and unsure he decides to blow work off and goes home sick.
Back at his apartment, a knock on the door interrupts Drew before he has time to have a shower. A police officer informs him that his mother is dead, she’d died that afternoon running through the streets screaming about an alien attack and got hit by a truck. Looking at where it happened, he realises it was close to the restaurant they were supposed to meet for lunch today.
Confused and stunned, he thanks the police and goes back into the apartment. He wonders if it was his fault for not being there… but that didn’t make sense rationally, he didn’t go because he didn’t want to not because it was some life or death choice. He didn’t feel guilty for that, he didn’t have the best relationship with his mother, but he didn’t wish her dead either. Still, he felt somehow responsible for not seeing her for lunch that day, even though she had told him everything was fine. Thinking the family needed to know, he messaged his siblings but they tell him they already know. No one seems to be grieving all too much, they didn’t even tell him about it when they found out.
As hours pass in the quiet room, Drew checks the news and confirms there was definitely no alien attack from space that day, aliens are still a myth. But his mother is definitely dead. He looks at the make shift crack pipe and his last remaining point and throws them all in the bin. He pours himself a rum and coke, smokes a few cones on the bong and then begins to write his resignation letter. It was time for a change, he thought. He’d been like a rat in another persons maze for too long, he was going to take control and do things his way from now on.