Company Men

The day starts with yoga. Before a long day on the road, Max’s body needs to stretch. Blood must reach every corner of his body as the sinews are loosened to their limits. The desert air is chilled. Max finishes before the sun finishes its climb over the horizon.

Inside his office, George looks out. He sees the cubicle farm emptied. Phones still ring — too early for their owners to answer. Someone on the East Coast needs an answer now. He sips stale, cold coffee and looks down at the white sheet of paper. The words have lost all meaning.

Anders sits behind his monitor while he watches the progress bar move. It crawls before springing forward, then crawls again before stopping for a few moments. Are the pixels alive? Do they understand their own progress? Anders sips his room temperature Red Bull and then scratches his eyes. This is no way to live.