A2448 looked up from his desk, blinking at the bright light that had interrupted his work. He narrowed the lenses of his eyes, trying to ascertain what exactly was trying its best to burn his retinas. It appeared one of the curtain drapes over the factory windows had fallen slightly, allowing a small sharp beam of light to land exactly on his desk. He got up, his rusty joints creaking as he did so. He coughed, as dust rose up to meet him, disturbed by his movement. With his eyes blinded, he lifted a small cloth to rub them, and took the time to change his lenses to a dark pair. As he did so, he thought about what he was doing, and where he was. He looked around at the hundreds of people like him, all hunched over their stations working away at this or that. It finally dawned on him that he hadn’t moved in hours, perhaps even days. He lifted a trembling hand to his face to feel the beard that seemed to have sprung up overnight.
It seemed to him that no one else had noticed the light. The building was silent, except for the occasional hum of machinery or spark of electricity. Everything looked so dark, dusty, and desolate. He slowly made his way towards the window, glancing about for a ladder. A man nearby was using one. He squinted, trying to remember the man’s code.
“A3648? May I borrow your ladder?” he said, in words that seemed foreign to his voice. It had been some time since he had last spoke. The man slowly turned towards him, as if in a daze. He narrowed his eyes at A2448 in the gloom.
“What’s that you say? Can’t you see I’m working?”
A2448 pointed a trembling, wrinkly finger at the window. “I need to fix the curtain. It’s blinding me and I can’t work with it like that.”
The man shrugged, and let A2448 take the ladder. A3648 stood to the side, motionless, as if incapable of thought or speech, now that he could no longer work. A2448 grasped the ladder, and placed it under the window. As he climbed the ladder, letting the sunlight envelop him, he looked outside. The land was luscious and green, green flowy trees as far as the eye could see. Outside was a sparkling lake, and what looked to be fish leaping out here and there. A2448 pushed his lenses up on his nose for a better look. In the distance were mountains crested with white caps of snow. It was beautiful out there. He pushed the curtain aside to try and get a better view.
“Oy, can I have my ladder back?” said A3648, his face now clearly annoyed. A2448 looked back down at the dark factory, watching the hundreds of blank faces that had turned to look at him upon hearing A3648’s boorish yell. Their eyes were motionless and dead, their beards trailing down to their desks, grey like the thick layers of dust everywhere in that dusty hall. With a yank, A2448 yanked the curtain shut and climbed down the ladder. The darkness returned, and the blank faces were swallowed once again in it.
A2448 moved back to his desk, placing his hand down to steady himself as he sat down. The corner was slightly warm from the sunlight. He smiled for a moment, wishing he could look again outside. He even wished once again for the beam of sunlight, even if it did almost blind his eyes. Alas, there was work to be done. He picked up his tools and resumed his crafts.
The dust settled.
The light could wait some more.
