There are things that many struggle to find equal footing with others about. Some support the idea that certain generations lack respect while others say they struggled more than the rest. Disagreements at every turn for one reason or another. It's the good thing about humanity is our individuality. We are all not the same. The one thing I feel we can all agree on, however, is that we don't trust the government.
Walking through the doors of the 'Mirror Institution', I expected it to be more of a factory than anything. After all, what would you do in a company about mirrors besides build them? The interior of the building was white with many darkened windows surrounding us. It was like some fancy interior of a building from a movie.
"Welcome aboard!" said a man with a grey suit and a a white beard. He looked like the stereotype of a rich millionaire. "You must be Felicia."
He put his hand out and I shook it. He looked like a genuinely jolly man. "Yes, it's my first day here," I said.
He spun around to face where I was looking and put his arm around my shoulder. "Let me show you around."
I walked with him up to a doorway. The doors were made of darkened glass, just like on the outside of the building. He pushed the doors open easily and he lead me down a hallway with a handful of workers passing by us, paying no mind.
"This is our testing facility," he explained as I looked around. Each door was closed and nearly impossible to see into. "Here is where we run our many tests on the reflective surfaces we put out into the world."
"Why do you need to run tests on them? Are you afraid they might not be shiny enough?" I joked. His expression didn't change to a jovial one, but on of pure seriousness.
"Do you know what we do here with our mirrors, Felicia?" he asked sternly.
I shook my head.
"We work under the government to transform mirrors into something of a camera to spy on people," he said, taking his arm off my shoulder and turning to face me. "I can tell by the way you're looking at me that you don't believe me. Let me ask you this, when you're standing in front of your mirror, so you ever feel like you're being watched?"
I hesitated. There's no way this guy was serious. He said he wanted to show me something and marched on down the hall and several twisting halls beyond that. I followed close behind him.
He lead me to this large room with seemingly hundreds of computer monitors with varying people doing normal things.
"You're spying on all these people?" I asked in shock. I was unsure if I even felt safe working here, much less returning home and standing in front of a mirror.
"We do, but only because it's a more effective way of seeing if people are hurt or committing crimes," he said. "We keep this a major secret because if any of this came out, nobody would trust being around a mirror."
I didn't like it, but I was beginning to follow the logic of this company. I looked back to the monitors and noticed something off, there were no reflections without people in them. I asked him why.
"We have an AI program running that picks up human movement. If things remain stationary for too long or nothing of interest is going on, the program sees it as obsolete and doesn't show it to us. It doesn't waste our time as much."
He went on to explain more about what the company does and we left the room so he could show me around to the area I was going to be working in.
There was something that felt morally wrong about working for this company. It was supposed to be top secret but I wanted to tell someone about it so bad. I knew, however, that if I told anyone about it I would be seen as crazy. I wasn't for that.
I carried on my day at home, watching television and dodging the mirrors in the hallways. I knew that I was always going to be paranoid walking past a mirror. Sure, they wouldn't pay much mind to me, as I was doing nothing of interest. However, I couldn't help the uncomfortable feeling of being watched.
I knew I wanted to take a shower pretty bad, as I smelled bad from the long work day, but the idea of someone spying on me and seeing me naked, steered me away from it. I ended up grabbing a towel and draping it over the mirror. I then took everything off and took a shower.
It was enjoyable, being able to wind down and relax after feeling so stressed about being spied on. I let the water run down my body, like being wrapped in a warm blanket.
I heard something from outside the bathroom door, just faintly over the running water. Someone was in my house.
I quickly turned off the water and heard someone jangling the doorknob aggressively. I tried holding back my scream as I quickly threw on my clothes. I was about to reach for the towel that hung over my mirror, but the stranger busted the door open before I could. He shot me in the chest and ran out of the building.
Walking through the doors of the 'Mirror Institution', I expected it to be more of a factory than anything. After all, what would you do in a company about mirrors besides build them? The interior of the building was white with many darkened windows surrounding us. It was like some fancy interior of a building from a movie.
"Welcome aboard!" said a man with a grey suit and a a white beard. He looked like the stereotype of a rich millionaire. "You must be Felicia."
He put his hand out and I shook it. He looked like a genuinely jolly man. "Yes, it's my first day here," I said.
He spun around to face where I was looking and put his arm around my shoulder. "Let me show you around."
I walked with him up to a doorway. The doors were made of darkened glass, just like on the outside of the building. He pushed the doors open easily and he lead me down a hallway with a handful of workers passing by us, paying no mind.
"This is our testing facility," he explained as I looked around. Each door was closed and nearly impossible to see into. "Here is where we run our many tests on the reflective surfaces we put out into the world."
"Why do you need to run tests on them? Are you afraid they might not be shiny enough?" I joked. His expression didn't change to a jovial one, but on of pure seriousness.
"Do you know what we do here with our mirrors, Felicia?" he asked sternly.
I shook my head.
"We work under the government to transform mirrors into something of a camera to spy on people," he said, taking his arm off my shoulder and turning to face me. "I can tell by the way you're looking at me that you don't believe me. Let me ask you this, when you're standing in front of your mirror, so you ever feel like you're being watched?"
I hesitated. There's no way this guy was serious. He said he wanted to show me something and marched on down the hall and several twisting halls beyond that. I followed close behind him.
He lead me to this large room with seemingly hundreds of computer monitors with varying people doing normal things.
"You're spying on all these people?" I asked in shock. I was unsure if I even felt safe working here, much less returning home and standing in front of a mirror.
"We do, but only because it's a more effective way of seeing if people are hurt or committing crimes," he said. "We keep this a major secret because if any of this came out, nobody would trust being around a mirror."
I didn't like it, but I was beginning to follow the logic of this company. I looked back to the monitors and noticed something off, there were no reflections without people in them. I asked him why.
"We have an AI program running that picks up human movement. If things remain stationary for too long or nothing of interest is going on, the program sees it as obsolete and doesn't show it to us. It doesn't waste our time as much."
He went on to explain more about what the company does and we left the room so he could show me around to the area I was going to be working in.
There was something that felt morally wrong about working for this company. It was supposed to be top secret but I wanted to tell someone about it so bad. I knew, however, that if I told anyone about it I would be seen as crazy. I wasn't for that.
I carried on my day at home, watching television and dodging the mirrors in the hallways. I knew that I was always going to be paranoid walking past a mirror. Sure, they wouldn't pay much mind to me, as I was doing nothing of interest. However, I couldn't help the uncomfortable feeling of being watched.
I knew I wanted to take a shower pretty bad, as I smelled bad from the long work day, but the idea of someone spying on me and seeing me naked, steered me away from it. I ended up grabbing a towel and draping it over the mirror. I then took everything off and took a shower.
It was enjoyable, being able to wind down and relax after feeling so stressed about being spied on. I let the water run down my body, like being wrapped in a warm blanket.
I heard something from outside the bathroom door, just faintly over the running water. Someone was in my house.
I quickly turned off the water and heard someone jangling the doorknob aggressively. I tried holding back my scream as I quickly threw on my clothes. I was about to reach for the towel that hung over my mirror, but the stranger busted the door open before I could. He shot me in the chest and ran out of the building.
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