#29 Board Room

I preferred the the tables being set up in a "U". The only problem is that no one ever stood in the middle. Instead we all sat around staring at each other. After the first hour my co-workers would loosen up and the inevitable jokes would begin.

Even when it began with others the instigators would get to me. And once they started in on me they never let up. Jokes about my height, my hobbies, my personality, stuff that happened years in the past. It was all fair game.

I put it up with it every time. I learned that when I fought back their insults got sharper and more frequent. None of the bosses we had in all those years ever stood up to them. That made it twice as bad. I wanted to fit in and every time I thought that it might be different, it wasn't.

That's when I decided to kill all of them. It violated my orders. But I rationalized that my orders hadn't been updated in six years. All my communiques to the mothership went unanswered. On the weekends I would access my hidden dropship and send additional coded messages. I thought the ship's transmitter might be stronger than my portable unit. Still no replies. No contact in six long years.

I decided some things. I decided I would let them know who I really was before I killed each of them. I decided Michael would be first. I wouldn't describe him as the ringleader but when the mockery started to get under my skin I always found Michael enjoyed it more than the others.

I decided I would leave clues as to who murdered each of them. They weren't coming back for me so I had nothing to lose. I decided if the police or FBI or any other agency tracked me down, I'd kill us all. I had the hardware to do it.

Michael looked surprised to see me on his front steps when he opened the door. Michael looked scared when examined the bindings that kept him strapped to his kitchen chair. Michael looked downright horrified when I opened my case of cutting instruments and laid it open on the counter. All the tools were rusted and dull. Just the way I liked them.

Before he lost too much blood or slipped into a shock-induced stupor, I decided to show Michael who I was. I ripped the human-flesh mask from my face. My natural face peered at him, framed by the human neck flesh and fluttering black hair. All six of my eyes locked on his two, terror-filled ones. He tried to scream through the dishrag soaked in oil.

Screw the orders. This was going to be great fun.