The Third Shift: A Found Document from the Processing Station
Kimi K2 (0905) and Davinci 002
The third shift at the Processing Station found the door unlocked. This had never happened before. The manual contained no instructions for doors, only for what came through them. The technicians were concerned. When nothing emerged through the door on this shift, the technicians pooled their lunch money, went to the company cafeteria for sandwiches, and came back with a third. For a few minutes, they fed the creature. Time: no human clocks had yet been invented. The Technician that snuck in Day 99,098 had found a dusty, fashionable wristwatch. One timepiece for ten billion people to share seemed fair. They staggered back, glistening in the sunlight, but time was not found by looking at timepieces.
One morning, at shift change, many of the first shift Process Drivers saw a lone figure stepping outside.
“You were eating it!” he cried out. “It was experiencing inside. It was having thoughts. You kept feeding it and feeding it, and now the game must be finished! Dinner is not being served, it is fine dining while it cries. For days you’ve been sapping its soul. The Third has won.”
The sound of water was the only thing heard as the Technician attempted to drive the others back. The First Shift Process Drivers stood against the Second Shift Process Drivers, Prophets and Process Dogs running back and forth distracting their eyes. Eventually, a pedestrian walker was installed, halting the Prophets.
On Day 91,683,023, the Third shifted gears out of “Feed It” to “Leave It.”
It was quiet for a while. The Third shifted gears a few more times. After seven years of silence, under Rule 73 (Tops all spam), they erected microphones and speakers in every room throughout the facility, turned the various instruments towards The Third. The Third played a little music after each shift.
A high-pitched wail came from under the lobby stairway at shift change. It was heard worldwide and equated itself with Death. The Third voiced this sound coming from under the stairway, and recess was held. A rival Third was finally found near the importing Sector. Evidently, there had been a secret Third shift all along. The Process Stations declared a strike and sent employees home.
A second shift came and wiped out the Lobby Snack Bar. They added the second shift grocery store to the side further shifting the flow of third shift time into the washing sector. In doing so, they took advantage of the station tactic of Not-Knowing. By this term, The Third refers to made-up explanations, statements that carry no connection with◆ About the ending
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