Why do I even bother?

No, stop that. What I am doing is important. Sure, I may be a cog in a machine, but I am a VITAL cog. And it is a GREAT machine! Okay, maybe not a VITAL cog. But REALLY HELPFUL certainly! Others could do what I do, but it takes a lot of effort and education. I ought to be proud! Legible translation is DIFFICULT.

Rosa Morales looked up from her desk. Today was, in most regards, rather normal. She had gotten to the office at precisely 9am and once again had a lunch consisting of oatmeal and tomato soup, as there were surprisingly few foods that wouldn’t upset her stomach. The air felt crisp yet sterilized, though maybe that was just in her head. It was hard not to feel a little stuffy in her glass cube office, with the rows of identical cubicles stretched outside.

But despite these comforting regularities, today was abnormal in two respects. One was the upcoming election, whose news regularly distracted Rosa from her work even though the updates were often meaningless. She had a small screen on the left side of her desk with election news running in the background, and she would frequently slide her eyes to scan the random developments. The two candidates, George Harold and Yuri Tennen, couldn’t be more different. Through a host of disagreements, Harold advocated for independent education, while Tennen championed state-administered schooling. Neither could be said to be productively debating their ideas at this point, but so went politics. Rosa couldn’t stand Harold, and she was dreading the possibility of the election going his way.

The other oddity this day was the content of the Central Cluster directives she was required to translate. She was used to updates feeling innocuous if not outright mundane: changes in the shipping amounts between different districts, updates to curriculums, or expectations for upcoming weather patterns. But today was conspicuous. Some WERE simple shipping updates, markedly changing how medical supplies were distributed between districts. Other directives instructed the movement of security forces, seemingly to similar areas where medical supplies were being directed. But she encountered no notes of updated news dissemination to act as explanation. And a notable amount of directives were being translated into marked code, to be passed along to specific departments for decoded-action. Her friends who worked in the security forces had taught her a few coded words in confidence, and so she was able to make out some words meaning “danger” and “suppression” spread sporadically.

Disturbing the peace, or any crime for that matter, was almost nonexistent. In fact, as far as Rosa could see, the world was just being run so perfectly. Everyone had a job, and friends, and health care. Although the districts had security forces, she had rarely seen them needed. So she briefly pondered what these orders could possibly be related to…

But Rosa’s job was to translate and pass along, so translate she did. Plus, the process of translation would often lead to misleading results, especially when the directive was not a simple update to some numbers or bureaucratic rules. It seemed like they must view the world so differently… someone important will decipher their intent. Some other cog.

________________________________

Rosa had arrived to their usual bar a little late. She did manage to leave work at 5pm, but unexpected traffic caused a delay. Probably due to the election’s fervor, as today was the day they would find out the results.

She found her friends at a corner table, drinking scented waters of eclectic variety and staring intently at the screen posted nearest their table.

“Hey!” Rosa said with a small wave, as she slid into the booth alongside them, and she was greeted with small greetings, nods, and smiles in return. Everyone was clearly feeling nervous, Rosa included. This election was much tighter than any of them were comfortable with. The waiter came by a bit later, and Rosa asked for her own, pineapple-scented water, before paying attention to the same screen her friends were looking at.

To Rosa’s horror, it looked like Harold was going to win. HOW could people be so STUPID? She felt embarrassed to even be human. No wonder her friends were so quiet; she should’ve had the radio on in the car.

“Anddddd it looks like the final tallies are coming in now. One moment… Yes, yes it seems that Harold has WON the election! Congratulations to the man himself, as well as his wonderful team. These results will now be transmitted to the Central Cluster for review…”

Rosa clenched her drink in anticipation. The whole bar was still.

…

…

“Ahh, unfortunately, it seems that the Central Cluster has rejected the results, and chosen Tennen to be the president. Congratulations Mr. Tennen, as well as his wonderful team!”

Rosa KNEW it! Ughhhh, how was everyone so blind?? Now her entire race would just look like idiots to the Central Cluster, though she imagined that was always the case. Even still, she didn’t want to REINFORCE that perspective!

Rosa swirled her water around absent-mindedly, feeling a pit of despair settle in her stomach. They couldn’t even do elections right.

Why did they even bother?