Chapter 1
A new week begins in the city of Bot. It is exactly eight o’clock in the morning, and many are starting their workday. In the Minerva building, located in the business heart of Bot, the supervisor of the MGP Call Center, Mr. E., sips some coffee while recalling how boring his weekend was. Not even a minute has passed since his shift began when a young man approaches him.
“Good morning, Mr. E.”
“Good morning, Fabbi. Why aren’t you at your workstation?” Mr. E. replies, looking at him with a hint of disdain. He doesn’t like employees leaving their computers for any reason. Besides, he had already greeted them all during the pre-shift meeting.
“That’s exactly what I wanted to tell you. I need you to please fill out this document. I’ve just resigned, and the secretary asked for this clearance form to give me my final settlement.”
“What! Resign? Why is that, Fabbi? Did something happen?”
“Nothing, Mr. E. It’s just that I have to travel for personal reasons. That’s all.”
“I understand... And isn’t there anything I can do to change your mind? You are very good at your job.”
“Thank you very much for your words, Mr. E., but the trip is very important to me and my family.”
“I see... If that’s the case, I will fill out the clearance form. Wait for me outside the operations floor, and I’ll bring it right out to you.”
“Thank you, Mr. E.”
Immediately, Mr. E. set about filling out the clearance document that the company required in such cases. He had filled it out countless times, and to a certain extent, the activity entertained him, as his work leaned heavily toward monotony and boredom. Once he finished the process, he handed the paper to Fabbi, who thanked him for his help.
He sat back at his desk and looked at his watch. It was almost eight-twenty. He thought it would be a good idea to distract himself playing a game until eight-thirty. He liked trying to predict the exact moment the clock would strike the half-hour. He played solitaire on his computer for a moment until... He lowered his gaze and saw on his computer clock that it was eight-thirty. He had guessed correctly again.
“Hello, Mr. E. How have you been?”
The voice that interrupted him belonged to Karol. A young woman with a neat and tidy appearance.
“Good morning, Karol. I’m doing well, busy working here, and you? What do you need me for?”
“I just need you to fill out this form so they can give me my final settlement. I’ve just resigned from the company.”
“What! Why...? I don’t understand. What’s going on?”
“Nothing, Mr. E. For personal reasons, I am forced to resign. It’s a shame, I liked this job...”
“I can’t believe it, Karol...”
“Neither can I, but that’s life...”
“Wow... Hand me the form.”
Karol hands it to him. The exact same operation repeats as with Fabbi. This time he does it a little faster. He sits back at his desk and is surprised by the coincidence. It even crosses his mind that the two kids might be a couple and had it all planned out beforehand. While he is piecing this theory together, he sees all of his subordinates stand up. Surprised, he gets to his feet.
“What’s going on, guys? Is something wrong?”
“Mr. E., we need you to fill out this document because we are resigning,” they all answer in a chorus.
“What!” Mr. E. exclaims, simultaneously surprised and furious.
He looks around and notices that in the other sections of the operations floor, with the other supervisors, the exact same thing is happening. He immediately understands that they coordinated this beforehand to damage the company.
“So this is how you repay everything the company has done for you... You should know that this can’t b—” He doesn’t finish his sentence as he notices the piercing gaze of Hugo, one of his subordinates. He remembers that the boy is studying law and knows the labor code very well. They had once had a mutual issue, and the outcome had fully favored the kid.
Not knowing what to do, he stays quiet, looking at them.
“With all due respect, Mr. E., it’s best if you start filling out our clearance forms,” Hugo tells him, with a tone of voice that only the certainty of knowledge can provide.
“Alright, alright... Calm down and line yourselves up, because since there are so many of you, this is going to take a while.”
Reluctantly, he stretches out his hand to receive the clearance forms while typing a message on his cell phone to his boss to explain what has happened.
It is twelve-thirty in the afternoon, and the supervisors of the MGP call center watch in disbelief as half of the operations floor sits empty. A total of three hundred people resigned. That is to say, the entire department in charge of calling people to offer them personal loans from BotBank. Their surprise is so great that they aren’t even forming hypotheses among themselves. They are just waiting for their bosses, who are even more worried than they are. While they wait, they hear a commotion in the room across from them, where the people who call to offer credit cards are located. They walk over to see what is going on. All the agents can be seen standing with a piece of paper in their hands. Mr. E. steps closer to see what the paper is and realizes it’s the clearance form. He immediately checks the time on his cell phone and sees it reads one minute past one. Distressed, he leaves the room and sits down to wait for his bosses to arrive to know what to do. Although he perfectly understands what is happening, he always relies on what his bosses think in any situation. A few minutes pass, and feeling discouraged, he decides to step outside the Minerva building to smoke a cigarette. On the way, he thinks about how it will surely be very difficult to recruit new personnel to replace everyone who resigned. Even though in his country, Combia, there is a lot of misery and poverty, the number of people to recruit is far too large; and, what’s more, without any prior training.
Mr. E. smokes his cigarette in resignation next to a small corner store when he hears something that catches his interest. He steps closer to the small store’s television and hears:
“Attention, breaking news! Several managers from various call centers across the country have just reported that their employees have resigned. The causes of the resignations are unknown, but everything seems to indicate that it was premeditated, as they have all resigned at the exact same time... According to industry experts, the resignations could severely damage over sixty percent of the call center companies in the country... We have attempted to contact Dr. Henry Brud, the general director of Asocomunicación, the country’s association of call center companies, so he can inform us precisely on what is happening...”
Mr. E. walks away from the small store in dismay. His hand trembles as he tries to bring his cigarette to his mouth once again...
* * *
On a sunny Wednesday morning, Mr. E. gives directions to the people arriving at the operations floor regarding where they should sit and what they should say to the people they will be calling over the next two hours. Mr. E. adjusts his jacket while thinking about how horrible the last two days had been. He had never worked so hard.
Nearly two hours had passed since Mr. E. had shown them the applications used to process loan purchases. He was exhausted, so he stepped out of the room for a moment to rest.
The new employees were confused and dazed by this new job, which was so foreign to them. They didn’t quite understand many of the programs they had to manage. The induction had been practically nonexistent, and almost everyone they called simply hung up on them without even allowing for an explanation. The moment they heard the word “Bank,” they cut the call. It seemed this job was not going to be easy. The clock struck exactly 10 o’clock when a window unexpectedly popped up on the desktop of every computer. The window read: “Did you know that by working for this company, you won’t be paid for the overtime you work, nor will you be allowed to change your work schedules...” Everyone looked at one another as they read the message. They understood it was a sort of warning from the former employees. No one said a word. A woman of about thirty paid no attention to the event and continued with her calls. After two minutes, another window suddenly opened, which read: “Did you know that Law 1134 of the year 2013 forced call centers to pay full legal benefits to their workers, and the owner of the call center you are working in allied with Senator Peña to repeal that law and completely annul this duty to his workers... Did you know that if you get sick, they won’t compensate you for the money they owe you, under the excuse that the law doesn’t obligate them to, when it is all a vile lie... If you doubt my words, ask Mr. E. about this situation...” Once again, the employees looked at one another. Mr. E. had already returned from his break, but it was obvious he was still very exhausted. One of the workers stood up and asked Mr. E.
“Excuse me, Mr. E. I forgot to ask you when we will be registered in the healthcare system...”
“Uhhh... Yes, about that, I believe we will be handling that paperwork in the coming days... Don’t worry...”
“Roughly when will that be, Mr. E.? I have a daughter who gets sick frequently because her immune system is very weak, and I can’t leave her without healthcare for very long...”
“As I said, that will be very soon, don’t worry...”
Mr. E. noticed that everyone was exchanging glances. So, he clarified:
“I want you to understand the situation the company is in... It’s not easy to receive the resignations of a thousand people in a single day. It’s almost a miracle that you are sitting there. As many of you may know, it’s not just a matter of resigning and that’s it. The company must carry out many procedures with the health system, pensions, and many others... It’s an enormous logistical task. We had to speak with our clients, our creditors, and so on...”
Mr. E. noticed how his words had no effect whatsoever on his listeners. He understood that the employees were very confused by the situation, but at least they had the peace of mind of having a job, even if their salary was the minimum wage, which is no small thing in Combia. A young woman stood up and asked:
“Mr. E., you still haven’t clarified how we will be paid for the hours that, as you told us this morning, we will have to put in today...”
“I see you have many doubts; that seems perfect to me. It’s good for you to learn about all the benefits that MGP has for you... Overtime hours will be paid according to the corresponding law, of course...”
“Meaning they should be 80% of the value of a regular working hour, right?”
“No, no... Haha... According to the law, it’s 50% of the hour’s value...”
“According to which law?” interrupted a young man of about twenty-three, who even stood up to do so.
“According to the labor law of the national state of Combia, of course.”
“In that case, we have a major problem, Mr. E. Because according to Law 1134 of the year 2013, it is 80%. And according to that same law, all of us should already have a healthcare system that provides us with peace of mind in our daily activities.”
Mr. E. did not answer. He knew what that law meant for MGP. The intervention took him by surprise.
“Come on, don’t worry about laws or things like that, let’s get to work instead,” he said without much conviction, but in a loud tone of voice. He had been taught that the most crucial element when addressing employees was a strong and assertive voice.
“And when would the contract signing take place, Mr. E.? We haven’t spoken about that...” the young woman said again.
“Well, in these coming days, we should sort that out. But I repeat, don’t worry about those things. We’ll talk about that with more time later.”
But Mr. E. did not know that a new window had opened on the workers’ computers. It displayed the thirteen lawsuits the company faced for failing to respect labor laws, and how it had not responded in any of the cases. The first worker who had spoken up took the floor again.
“Mr. E., I think we should talk about that now. In fact, over these past two days, the only thing we’ve talked about is what MGP expects from us, but nothing has been said about us as workers. We perfectly understand the situation the company is going through, but we also come all the way out here—which is a very distant place for most of us—to receive a salary and clear working conditions. And you know how things work in this country: first they tell you one thing, and then they do another. It’s better that we clarify everything from the very beginning...”
“My colleague is absolutely right, Mr. E.,” added the twenty-three-year-old. “Just tell us if MGP will pay us all the benefits we are entitled to according to Law 1134 of the year 2013.”
“Sure, sure... Of course...” Mr. E. tried to reply, but the timidity in his voice betrayed his insecurity.
“One last question, Mr. E. Why does MGP have thirteen lawsuits from employees demanding to be paid their final settlements?”
Mr. E. stayed silent. The question caught him completely by surprise.
“I understand the situation now,” the young man continued, as if Mr. E.’s silence had given him the push he was looking for. “Now I understand why they resigned from this company.”
The young man stood up, gathered his things, and left.
The room fell into a deathly silence. Everyone looked at one another. A woman of about forty stood up abruptly and said:
“Of course... This company must be the worst if a thousand people resigned all at once... How did I not think of this before...? I’ve already been robbed at many other jobs; it would be best to leave this one...”
“Listen, ma’am. Why are you saying such nonsense...?” Mr. E. intervened while the woman gathered her things to leave.
“It’s not nonsense. The nonsense was coming here in the first place.”
That last sentence was the trigger for everyone else to start getting up and leaving the place. Mr. E. tried to stop them, but no one paid him any attention. Just as it had happened on Monday, the room they called the “operations floor” was left completely empty. Just like that day, Mr. E. felt like he was in a movie. Everything seemed so unreal that he only managed to sit on the floor in dismay. His gaze was fixed on the ground, so he didn’t see a camera positioned above him, watching everything closely. The camera was new and had not been installed by the company. Two hundred meters away from the Minerva building, on the roof of an old building, was the person receiving the feed from that camera. It was Lucks, one of the three Asterias led by Sargent. With a neat appearance, a charming face, and a piercing gaze, the young man carefully watched his computer to ensure everything had gone perfectly. He looked at his watch and saw with satisfaction that the plan had been carried out in much less time than they had stipulated.
But we will talk about this person later; let’s focus on the press conference taking place at the Asocomunicación facilities, two days after the incident. Henry Brud was there, explaining to the press what was happening with the call centers:
“As I was telling you, our hacker teams are investigating how our security system was breached. There is no doubt that this terrorist action is aimed at harming not only us, but also all our users and clients who benefit from our services.”
“Excuse me, Mr. Brud. What is your opinion on the multiple lawsuits that the resigned employees have filed against the call centers for the non-payment of their final settlements?” asked a young journalist to Mr. Brud, who was not expecting the question.
“That is a matter being handled by our lawyers, but I can guarantee you that our call center companies fully comply with all labor laws.”
“But Mr. Brud, it has been demonstrated, almost unequivocally, that almost none of the call center companies comply with Law 1134 of 2013, which mandates companies to pay benefits to call center workers...”
“Look, miss, do not make such malicious claims that only confuse people...”
“They are not my claims, Mr. Brud. In this document, issued by the Ministry of Labor, the results of the investigation thus far are reported. Look, I have it right here in my hand in case you want to read it.” The young woman held out the paper for Henry Brud to take, but he only looked at her with disdain.
“Don’t worry, I will read it in due time.”
Mr. Brud stood up without offering any further explanations and left the room. He entered his office, located on the upper floor above the communications room, and called the people on his team whom he trusted the most.
“Who was that bitch who mocked me?” he said, full of hatred.
“We don’t know, sir,” replied a man of about forty. He pulled out his laptop and started typing immediately. “But we’ll find out right away.”
“I hope so. We spend millions of pesos hiring journalists, only for some imbecile to make me look like a corrupt crook.”
After a few minutes, the man said to Mr. Brud:
“Done, sir. We found her. Her name is María Oliviera. She is twenty years old... But it doesn’t say who she works for.”
“It’s impossible for her to be freelance. I have strictly forbidden independent journalists from entering press conferences.”
“We know, sir. Hold on, let’s check the police database... or the databases at the Ministry of Finance... Those are the most effective in this country for finding out something about someone...”
“Do it immediately, she’s pissed me o—”
“Sir, look!” the man shouted.
“What is it?” Mr. Brud replied, stepping closer to the computer. Horrified, he watched as the name María Oliveras changed in the national registry file to Emilia Thicky.
“What the hell is going on... Is this computer reliable, Smith?”
“Of course, sir. This is the computer we use to run the double accounting and other illegal matters...”
“I think we’ll have to call General Pazata to help us with...” Mr. Brud couldn’t finish his sentence, as the name changed yet again. Now it showed her name as Ana Michels. And not only that, the photo changed to one of Mr. Brud.
“What kind of shit is going on here... What kind of terrorists are we dealing with...”
“Mr. Brud!” a secretary screamed as she burst into the office.
“Now what is it, Jane?”
“Look at the news, quickly, Mr. Brud,” she said while turning on the television in Brud’s office.
On the TV, images showed the walls of various call centers covered in a white background with a horizontal black line.
“Attention! Employees of various call centers across the country woke up horrified today to find these strange symbols on the walls, or rather, these strange black horizontal lines on a white background that are all over their facilities. Authorities are investigating this bizarre event, which they attribute to an act of terrorism and which is believed to be linked, in their opinion, to the mass dismissals that have directly damaged the most important call centers in the country...”
Mr. Brud sat down in his chair. The people around him were surprised to see him like this. He was a very energetic man despite his sixty-five years. He was always in a good mood and was almost never seen in such states of vulnerability. Henry Brud looked at his watch and observed that, once again, just like the other days, everything had happened at nine in the morning. Who could be sabotaging his companies, when they were the ones bribing at least three-quarters of the country’s Congress...? The police, the army, the prosecutor’s office, the treasury, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Telecommunications, and many other state entities were also under his control. He had always tried to make absolutely sure to subdue the entire political spectrum that could oppose him, in order to guarantee his companies’ success in the market. But now he understood that his enemy wasn’t someone ignorant and corrupt whom he could bribe with a few miserable million pesos, as was his custom. This enemy was a strange breed of enemy in the history of Combia, because apparently, they had dignity and a brain. Something unimaginable in a society like his. Henry Brud realized that what was coming was going to be much worse...
