By Carter M.

Grey eyes followed the lines of the print on the crisp piece of paper which advertised the job application. The eyes belonged to a man. His clothes, his hair, his skin were all a dull grayish color. Even his name, Guy, was grey and dull. He hated his name for this exact reason. It was his name though. If he had been a doctor, a merchant, or even just a University graduate his name would’ve at least had some flavor to it. Guy hated that his name showed how ordinary he was, and he wanted to be anything but ordinary. A woman had just walked onto the same block as him and he strained to see her nametag so he could greet her. She was middle-aged and wore a grey business suit and grey spectacles. As she neared him he finally saw her nametag.

“Hello Ms. Accountant, how are you today?” Guy said in a cheerful voice that he hoped sounded genuine.  

“And hello to you.” She paused for a moment to glance at Guy’s nametag, “Mr. Guy.” “Hope you get a job!” She said cheerfully as she began to walk away. Guy was barely able to put on a smile to hide his grimace. He hated his name, for it showed his unemployment. He wished it was like the old days, before the Grand Suppression of Sin, when people had chosen names. When the Grand Suppression of Sin had occurred, all sinful feelings had been eradicated. Chosen names also disappeared, for they were selfish and egotistical, feelings that were evil and sinful, and in result were also eradicated. So people were just named for their profession, or if you were unemployed, like in Guy’s case, you were just named for your gender. That’s why he wished people still had chosen names. If his name was Mr. John, no one would know that he was unemployed, or didn’t go to the University. Supposing that Guy decided to go to the University like every other teenager in his class, his name would at least be Mr. University Graduate. Yet he didn’t, because he was different. 

Guy was different, and he knew it. He felt things that no one he knew felt. When he saw that woman with her fancy job, he felt jealous of it. Jealousy was supposed to have been eradicated in the Grand Suppression of Sin, along with all the other sinful feelings. That is what made Guy different. Ever since he was young he felt things like anger and sadness, jealousy and embarrassment. Everyone around him only felt joy and happiness. He had considered going to a doctor, but the memory of his uncle stopped him. 

His uncle was like Guy. He had no profession or higher education, and so his name was also Guy. Uncle Guy —that’s what Guy had called him when he was still around—also felt these feelings that were supposed to have been eradicated. His Uncle Guy had gone to the doctor and explained what he was feeling, and then he was never seen by the family ever again. The government told the family he had moved out of the nation, but they all knew what that meant. No one ever ‘moved out of the nation’, unless they were troublemakers or different from the rest. And they didn’t go by choice. They were taken in the night, driven to the bombed out wastelands surrounding the nation, and left there. Then they would slowly die of radiation poisoning still around from the Great War. That’s how it was, and that’s what kept Guy from showing these other feelings. In a perfect nation, filled with perfect people, Guy thought that he would surely be found out. Yet, at the age of thirty-one, he was still alive.

Guy looked back at the paper perfectly placed onto the light post that looked straight out of the factory. In large black print it read: JOB NEEDED. Below was just a small description of the job: GUARD JOB AT THE NATIONAL BANK, NO EDUCATION REQUIREMENTS, NEEDS A RESPONSIBLE PERSON. Guy snorted at the last line of the wanted poster. Everyone who lived in the nation was responsible. All things that made people irresponsible were eradicated in the Grand Suppression of Sin. Guy was also probably the only person in the nation who would find humor in that last line, for the feelings that gave people a sense of humor were eradicated along with all the other sinful feelings. When Guy reread the flyer he realized the opportunity in front of him. The National Bank was the bank of the government. That’s where the government kept all of its most powerful and most valuable possessions. A guard job at the bank would be a very prestigious position, and if Guy could get this job, he could finally turn his life around. He would no longer be just Mr. Guy, but Mr. Guard of the National Bank. Guy thought that had a nice ring to it.

The National Bank was one of the oldest buildings in the nation. It was a large all-white building with huge pillars at the entrance. If Guy remembered his architecture lessons right, it was in the style of Greek revival. It supposedly had housed the leader of a place called America, a country that was around years before the Great War. The building reminded Guy of the underwater photos of some of the buildings in the Lost City of Rome, a city that had been long buried underwater. The National Bank was in good condition for being so old, yet there were still some signs of age. The white stone steps of the grand staircase leading up to the front entrance were cracked and chipped in some places, and Guy had to walk around a construction crew actively fixing the entranceway. Guy said to a woman  at the front that he was there for the guard job, and he was whisked away for the interview by her.

The interview was conducted in a fairly large room in the shape of an oval. A small, stout man who looked like he should be retired sat at a large wooden desk that looked as old as the building . Behind him was a portrait of the leader of the nation, and the flag too. The man at the desk was balding, and he had a thick handlebar mustache. TheHis remaining hair on his head was a similar grey color to his skin, and his grey beady eyes and grey suit all made him look like a stone statue. Guy saw his nametag and greeted the man.   

Art by Garrett S.

“Morning Mr. Head of the National Bank,” Guy said in a cheerful voice.

“Evening Mr. Guy,” the man said, pointing to his watch that looked very expensive. His voice was gruff and his tone reminded Guy of when a teacher would correct him in grade school. 

“Ah yes, my mistake,” Guy said with a fake chuckle, immediately disliking this man.

“Do you think you have what it takes to guard what lies in this bank?”

“Yes sir, I think I do.”

“Very well then, can you start tomorrow?”

“Yes sir.” 

“Good, come at eight tomorrow, sharp.”

“Yes sir.”

“Dissmissed.”

At that Guy left the oval-shaped room. It had been the shortest and easiest interview he had ever been in. The man had barely even asked any questions. Though Guy wasn’t going to complain, he was just happy to have this job. This was his first full-time job, and it was a prestigious one too. He couldn’t wait until his name would officially change. He knew it would take a couple of months for his name to change, and also to get the surgery. The nametags that everybody wore were stitched into the skin of the wearer to ensure their longevity. It was a simple and painless procedure, though the waitlist for the surgery was endlessly long. Some had to wait weeks, others months.  Guy just hoped he wasn’t going to be the latter.

Guy arrived at Living Space #1029. It was a large complex, and tall too. One had to strain their neck to see the very top. Guy thought it to be very ugly though, a vertical block of steel with small windows etched into it.  He walked through the entrance into the main lobby. It was dull, the walls all painted an ashy grey color. A large silver elevator sat in the middle of the room, surrounded by multiple pale and lifeless plants. He was transported to his room in a matter of seconds, for it was only on the seventy-fifth floor. Guy stepped out and into the communal living room. Unlike private homes owned by the richest of the rich, most everyone in the nation lived in these communal apartments. He walked past the bathrooms and to the door to his room. He flashed the keycard and entered. It was a small room, furnished sparsely. The only piece of furniture was his bed. He turned to put his coat in the small closet and then laid on his bed thinking of the day to come, he fell asleep thinking.        

The next morning, Guy arrived at the National Bank at eight, just like the man had asked. The construction crew had finished fixing the entranceway and were now working on some of the windows. As he entered he was greeted by the same woman that he had been greeted by the day before. She led him to a small office near the oval one he had done his interview in. There he met with a surprisingly young man who appeared to be making himself busy with a small silver pen. The man seemed to be only in his twenties, younger than Guy. He was tall and thin, wearing a grey golf shirt that seemed many sizes too big. His hair was such a light color of grey that it almost looked white. As for his skin, it was the palest Guy had ever seen. The young man introduced himself as Mr. Head of National Bank Security. Guy said that he was the new hire, and the young man immediately lit up.

“Oh so they finally picked someone!” he The young man said excitedly. 

“Yeah,” Replied Guy, mildly amused at the young man’s enthusiasm.  

“Well, welcome to the National Bank!” The young man threw up his arms in an inviting gesture.

“Um thanks.”

“Now lets see…” The young man had opened a desk drawer and started rummaging through it.

“Here we go, I knew I had one in here!” The young man had pulled out a dark grey uniform with GUARD emblazoned on the back in big white letters. “Put this on, and then I’ll show you around!” 

After Guy had finished changing in the toilet room, the young man began to show him around. He led Guy to a huge metal door, in which he unlocked with an old fashioned key the size of his hand. The National Bank was old, but it was well kept. The entrance room and the office spaces he had seen had been pretty nice. Though what was behind this door was the opposite of nice. As the thick door opened slowly, it revealed a long hallway that seemed to have no end. The floor, the ceiling, and the walls were all metal. Guy assumed that it would be a very shiny hallway if not for the lack of light and the extensive amount of grime. In the dark light Guy could faintly see something on the wall, it was an old fashioned telephone. It was grey and had a dial with numbers on it. He had only seen pictures of telephones like these. The young man pulled down a lever and dim lights came on, barely illuminating the hallway. Though now Guy could see doors lining the sides of the hallway. They went on and on until he couldn’t see any further. “Welcome to your new workspace!” The young man said cheerfully. 

“W-what is this place?” aAsked Guy, still overwhelmed by the site that lay in front of him. It was the ugliest, saddest, and most decrepit place he had ever seen.  

“Welcome to the Vault!”

“So this is where the government keeps all their stuff…” Guy looked around at the many doors, seeing that they were very similar to the one that he went through to get to the Vault. The only difference was that the doors in the Vault were all covered in what looked like a thick paste of slime and dirt.  

“Yup!” “Theres some really top secret stuff in here!” 

“Then why doesn’t the government clean up this place?” Guy looked around with a disgusted look on his face.

“Don’t know, don’t care!” The young man seemed to always be in a good mood. “Well, I’ll leave you to it, the instruction manual and keys  are on the chair!” With that, the young man left and shut the huge metal door. 

For a bit Guy just stood there and listened to the sound of the door being locked. He then looked around and saw the chair behind him. It matched the hallway, metal and grimy. On it was a thick pamphlet of papers, and a metal ring that had keys similar to the one he had seen the young man open the door with. He picked up the papers and looked at them. They were yellowed with age, and the words printed on them were faded. Guy held them up to the dim light that hung from the metallic ceiling. He could make out the words: INSTRUCTION MANUAL. Below were instructions that continued onto the other page. So Guy sat down and started reading.  The first page was instructions about the keys. The bronze one was for the entrance door to the Vault, the silver one for the doors inside the vault, and the gold one was for a specific room in the Vault. The instruction manual just said to only use that one with specific permission from the leader of the nation. Guy wondered what was so special that it needed permission from the leader. The rest of the manual was just describing what he needed to do for his job every day. He was to check every room to make sure they still had everything inside them. The manual had a short description of what was inside each room. So Guy went to the first door. He could now see that there was a number carved into the metal, and every door too. The ‘1’ was barely visible with the lack of light. After failing to unlock the door after multiple tries, Guy was able to finally do it. It was his first time using an old fashioned key. With a click the door unlocked and slowly swung open, revealing what was inside.

What was inside the first room was not very interesting. The room itself was like the hallway, metallic and covered in gunk. It was about the size of a bedroom, but filled to the brim with filing cabinets going up to the ceiling. Guy had been to an antique shop just a few months ago, where he had first seen and learned of filing cabinets. It seemed silly to Guy that such a prestigious place would sort their information with physical paper and filing cabinets, something that a person could only find in antique stores these days. The instruction manual said that there were supposed to be files in the room, and Guy opened one of the cabinets just to make sure. Inside were stacks of papers all labeled with names that Guy assumed were places, but didn’t recognize. All the other rooms were the same. Guy kept walking and walking, room after room of the same filing cabinets. Without any windows and without a watch Guy had no sense of time. He didn’t know if it had been one hour or ten.. The instruction manual just told him to check all the rooms, and he wondered how many there were.. He started to get tired, but the rooms just kept going on and on. His legs ached and he was starving. He wished for the end, but it was nowhere to be seen. Files, files, files, files, fi- Suddenly Guy saw something at the end of the hallway. The end. It was distant but visible. The next fifty or so rooms Guy rushed through, trying to get the remaining rooms done so he could finally leave. The end came nearer and nearer, until he finally had arrived. He was exhausted. At the end of the hallway there was a door. Carved into it like all the other doors was a number. It was the four hundredth and last door of the Vault. Guy unlocked it and opened the door.

What lay inside was different from the other three-hundred and ninety-nine doors. It was not the same filing cabinets his eyes had gotten to be so tired of. The room was empty except for a small metal stool. On that stool lay a small box. The box was dazzling. Even in the dim light the box shined and glimmered. It was all gold, and there were beautiful works of art engraved onto it. Guy had never seen such a beautiful thing in his life, a stark difference to the rest of the Vault. As he got closer he could see words inscribed onto the box: Ecce Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi. He had no idea what that meant, as he had never learned another language. Below the inscription was a keyhole. Guy looked at his gold key, it was a perfect match. He got out his instruction manual and reread what it said. It told him that he should not open the box unless with specific permission directly from the leader. Guy looked at it for a second, wondering what was inside. Then something stirred inside him. No one else in the nation would have felt this, for it was a sinful feeling. It was curiosity. The longer he stood there the more it gnawed at him. The temptation was so great he forgot his hunger and his exhaustion .He told himself he wasn’t supposed to open the box. He told himself over and over, but he couldn’t resist. He got out the gold key. He would only take a peek. He put it into the keyhole. It wouldn’t cause anyone harm. He unlocked the box. Guy stood there, and then opened the box. 

Guy only opened the lid just a bit, just enough to peek. Though the very second he opened it, the box lid flew fully open on its own. Suddenly an ear-piercing shriek came from the box so loud both of Guy’s eardrums burst. Then another shriek and another one. Guy could feel warm blood trickling down from his ears. He was on the dirty ground of the Vault, clenching his now bloody hands to his ears as the terrible shrieks continued . He looked up and saw a light coming from the box so blinding that his vision went black. The shrieking continued, now overlaid with unearthly voices of what sounded like pride, hatred, and jealousy, bitterness, greed, and resentment. All the sinful feelings. The shrieks and voices got fainter and fainter as they found people all over the nation, who then replaced those shrieks with their own as they felt sinful feelings they had never felt before. Guy realized what he had done and was sobbing. He had undone everything the Great Suppression of Sin had done. He had let out all the sin that had been contained in that box and poisoned the humans with it. All his life he had yearned for a world in which the Grand Suppression of Sin had never happened. A world where there were imperfections in people and life was actually interesting. Yet here he was sobbing and laying on the cold, grimy floor, covered in his own blood, and without hearing or sight. Screams echoed throughout the city as the sins found their place back into the human race.  

THE END