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ROMAN SHORT FICTION
Finding the Companyβs Soul in the Archives: A Journey Through the Forgotten Sub-Basement
October, Anno DCCLXXIV Ab Urbe Condita (A.U.C.)
(October, 15, 2019)
It began as an ordinary task: an email from my boss asking me to retrieve old personnel files. βTheyβre in the archives,β he said, which sounded straightforward until I learned the archives hadnβt been accessed in years. βJust take the service stairs,β he added, as though sending me on a simple grocery run.
The sub-basement was a different world. The air was thick, heavy with the scent of paper decay and something metallic I couldnβt place. Fluorescent lights buzzed erratically, casting jittery shadows on the cracked concrete walls. The filing cabinets stretched endlessly in rows, towering like forgotten monuments to bureaucracy. Somewhere in the distance, I thought I heard the faintest hum, low and constant, as though the building itself was breathing.
I found the personnel files quickly enough, but something compelled me to stay. There was a strange allure to the room, a gravitational pull I couldnβt ignore. Among the cabinets, there was one drawer β unlabeled, its handle tarnished with age β that caught my attention. Inside, I found a folder simply marked with the companyβs founding date. Itsβ¦
