I took a deep breath and steadied my nerves. I headed towards the door at the end of the corridor. It was an exhilarating privilege of being the new CEO of City Corp.

I would finally know the secret. What happened to all those who annoyed the true leader of the city. You see, not only was I the new CEO, I was also the leader of the new Shadow Board.

On the outside City Corp controlled the city with a benevolent hand. The corporation helped many good people. Gave them jobs, made sure of things like health and sanitation. In return the people of the city spent their money in the shops the corporation ran. Most people knew it was the case but as they lived a decent lifestyle they never complained

Even the ones that became rich were tolerated. Often they would set up foundations and organisations to help their fellow humans. As long as they didn’t stand on the corporation’s toes nothing would happen.

But, as in all things, there were those who were not content with leaving things the way they were. They wanted something more. They wanted more power within the city. They wanted to challenge the corporation’s right to exist. Many of these were on the outside and were easily persuaded to stop. It still never ceases to amaze me what a good bit of bribery, or other more extreme acts of persuasion where required, can do.

The ones that had worried many generations of CEO’s of both boards were the worms that attacked the apple from within.

As our first company CEO constantly tells us. “These traitors are the ones we must always worry about. “

Yes, I did say our first company CEO. He was also the one to set up the Shadow Board. No one is really sure how old he actually is. Or how he is still with us. But we do know that when the company was formed, the city was a shadow of its current self.

I noticed that today, the length of the corridor seemed a lot shorter than usual. Suddenly I was standing in front of a large wooden door. I knocked hard and the door slid open before me.

What I saw stilled me in shock. The room was huge, far bigger than you’d expect looking at the building. In the centre was a coffin shaped vat. There was something sitting in it but from where i was standing i couldn’t quite make it out.

The humidity in the room hit me. There was a buzzing sounding like a swarm of bees. Voices from the shadows , each calling out their pain.

“Nice of you to dare to join me” The voice came from nowhere & everywhere.

The vat in the middle began to pulse with light. As it did a single voice’s moans grew louder.

“Ah the sweet sound of pain. Come closer my dear .” The voice boomed.

My feet moved of their own accord. It was pulling me closer. Suddenly lights shot out of everything. I was blinded but my feet kept going.

By this time I’d stopped fighting it, so ended up beside the vat. Even worse, my hand was in the goo that was inside.

“Put on the glasses and wait for a moment” The voice wasn’t quite as loud this time.

I looked down and saw a pair of ray bans in my hands. I put them on in a state of confusion. As I did so, the light became brighter. Figures hung from the ceiling in see through capsules. There was some kind of liquid in with the bodies too. Coming from the capsules were a series of tubes that went in to the ceiling. They looked like they contained the liquid that had been in the capsules.

Then I looked up. Above the vat there was the strangest contraption of all. There was something there. It was a mass of tubes, some looked like they were pumping white liquid in. Others were pumping out something that looked like a mixture of porridge and mashed up sausage.

“Please let me go. Please. I’m sorry. Please ….. let …. me … die!” Vl

The voice boomed out, “You should’ve thought of that before you bullied her shouldn’t you”

There was a moments silence before the figure whimpered, “It was a joke, She could take it.”

The voice roared and suddenly the body convulsed, a scream ripped from it. The body went limped and it steamed.

A voice came out like a drunken slur. “It’s all that bitches fault.” The figure gasped. “She … she tol..told on … me din she?”

The room was filled with laughter. It echoed through the shadows. “Please, she didn’t need to tell anyone. I knew. I know everything. I have eyes everywhere. I have from the moment I founded this corporation.”

I stared at the figure in the vat as the room was filled with silence.

“You have nothing to say. Yes. I am Jacob Conroy. I founded this Corporation to make this city a better place.” He stopped and i felt like I was being looked at. “On the whole I think I’m doing a good job.”The there was a deep rumble. “However, every so often things go wrong. The people I once trusted become the very thing I hate. The very thing that I’m standing up against”

My head began to hurt. “So you make these problems go away?”

“Mmm. Make the problems go away ….. that’s one way of putting it. Not only do they disappear, they disappear in a way that is very helpful to me.”

The next sentence filled me with horror.

“I’ve needed to keep myself alive. Over the years I've come to realise that I needed to be here. The only way to do it was to become what you see before you. All my men worked on the problem. In the end, all they could come up with was a way of turning beings in to liquid food."

Eyes almost exploding from my head, I fought the urge to throw up the contents of my stomach.

The laughter filled the room again "Are you trying to tell me that you really care about these bastards?”

I spluttered “No. But it all seems so …. strange that’s all.” I looked up at the figure “Thompson deserves his fate.”

The figure above us began to wail. "Please! Make this stop."

Despite the sensible side of my mind screaming at me NOT TO DO THIS, my dark heart began to take control. The nausea began to fade. One word ran through my head. JUSTICE!

I looked around at the other pods hanging down from the gothic ceiling. I assumed that some of them were there the missing bored members. There were far more pods than that.

My conscience cried out “You can’t do this. Not now. Please ….. You’re better …. “

I tuned it out. “So this is what happens to the bad people from our side of the world! I like it.”

I felt the side of me that had been revolted by all this fading away. Then something struck me. “

These people are all really evil aren’t they?”

I felt the mass beneath my hand quiver gently. “I do have some dignity and goodness left in my soul.”

Jacob scanned her with what was left of his eyes “What will happen if I lie about them?”

I looked at him at him and sneered “I’ll publicly boil you alive in that slime.”

“That’s my girl. I knew you’d see it my way eventually”