Forbidden Link

11. Suicide Thing

"Oh, that's right, sir. It turns out that the government has clarified the existence of the link this morning.”

"My mother was watching television and called me right away."

“Actually my cousin said that his girlfriend clicked the link when he was really depressed. My family and I didn't believe my cousin's words until today's news was finally broadcast. Our family chat group is busy discussing my cousin's boyfriend."

Each piece of information provided by employees had gradually shaken Farrell's paradigm of what was normal. People like Farrell really hate change, especially when it involves an extreme change in culture such as firing staff and replacing them with robots. And this forbidden link was one of the extreme things that Farrell's mind could not accept.

Since childhood he had known that there was a big difference between the fictional films he watched and real life. He could distinguish that the adventure of a character in the film into the unreal world was a mere lie made by the storyteller. Knowing that the government had clarified the existence of this forbidden link, Farrell's heart still couldn't accept it.

After hearing chatter from employees about the forbidden link, Farrell had been no longer focused on his work. In order to avoid talk from his employees, Farrell had used an empty meeting room as a place to find out about forbidden links. Usually he could use his father's CEO room to do other things outside of work. However, his father's arrival this time had made Farrell choose another place that did not attract the attention of many people.

And the first thing Farrell had been looking for when he was alone was news about Kaira Donati, the sister of his best friend, Alex. It was only several minutes before Farrell knew that Kaira had been on television this morning and that information made Farrell dared to call Alex to ask his friend’s condition.

Farrell's mind was distracted because the presenter was discussing what he had been thinking, namely the forbidden link. Even the extroverted presenter cleverly includes the latest information about forbidden link in his presentation section. With the addition of information that should not have been prepared yesterday -because information about the validity of the forbidden link was only available today-, the presenter informed about the impact of forbidden links on today's life.

“I wish you could see how horrible it is when your friend passes out next to you when he presses that link. But what do you think about why so many people end up clicking on the link, including your friends?”

Farrell's gaze immediately focused on the presenter who had just shown a short Theytube video about the news this morning. Farrell had to fight the sudden discomfort again that came when saw that people were so relaxed about the Forbidden Link's existence. Like Alex when he had met at lunch before and this presenter.

“There is a lot of information that says that before the victims clicked on the link, they were thought to have suffered from severe depression. You must remember that a while ago there were so many suicides in Quintice City. The increase is not surprising if there are so many cases of mass layoffs in various companies these days.”

Farrell's chest felt tightened when he heard the presenter discuss all the things he was thinking. However, all the things discussed by the presenter matched the criteria of his best friend. Alexandre Lynx, an unemployed man who was recently fired by his company. So that all the sentences spoken by the presenter seemed to tell the future of Alex who would press the link instead of trying to commit suicide.

“Why did they try to kill themselves? The reason is because they want to use the easier way and don't try to find a solution. They do the shortcut to their life. So… besides I want to remind you as the government says 'never press the link'. Of course the fine is expensive. You don't want to burden your family because of that, do you?” The presenter chuckled at his own words even though no one else in the room followed his laughter. “Well… We also have to find solutions to the problems we face. We as well as the sales team are working on various ways to increase sales, but we must fight for it together. All departments in this company must work together without running away from problems. We can't…”

The presenter immediately stopped his words as soon as someone from behind the room raised their hand as a sign of wanting to speak. After changing his surprised face into a relaxed smile again, the presenter gave space to the person who raised his hand to speak.

“Yes, Mr. Farrell. Is there any question I can answer? Or you only want to give your opinion about this.”

“Is there anything else that could trigger these people to press the link other than depression?”

Farrell's question made dozens of people in the meeting room confused, including the presenter himself. Although the presenter tried to neutralize the question by praising Farrell for listening in detail, the panicked face of the presenter could not be hidden. His smile even looked like a machine that had a bug by doing the same command over and over again.

The presenter could not answer. Several people in the room questioned the meaning of Farrell's question. But no one responded to his question so Farrell continued, “Other than depression, it could be that these people are just curious. Not only curious, maybe these people want to help their friends who had entered the link. You don't know, do you? Maybe you don't know this because you just picked up some news from this morning. But you should look for more news about this company. Why are you thinking that you are the most correct in saying that your department is the only one dealing with this sales drop? You should often look at what is going on around you and not judge yourself."

Some people seemed to be nodding with a smile trying to hide. But most of them only pay attention to the changes in the atmosphere that occur in the meeting room in silence. The audience was full with the newcomer so they could not respond to the presenter's mistake anyway. While almost everyone was already looking at the presenter who was trying to apologize for his words and give the excuse, a woman was looking at Farrell with a frown on her face.

Farrell, who was aware that he was being watched from a distance, looked at the woman. While smiling Farrell gave a hand gesture that signaled Leona who was looking at him to calm down. Of course Leona was confused by Farrell's actions. It was unusual for Farrell to argue with someone who was outside the context of his job as finance manager. Moreover, the presenter has not yet entered into the core of the problem and has just given a prologue.

If the presenter used to give a smile to the participants in the meeting room, this time he just tried to give the best possible presentation. And the presenter really avoided the possibility of meeting face to face with Farrell. Farrell didn't care. Actually Farrell was quite uncomfortable when debating something in public like earlier so he needed time to calm his mind and heart. Farrell's face that looked cold in the eyes of others at that time did not actually represent that he was paying close attention to the presentation. Quite the opposite. Farrell had started daydreaming again after he spoke.

Farrell's annoyance with the presenter was not only based on his invalid information, but also because of a scene that occurred when he was alone in twelfth grade with Alex. If before speaking in public Farrell had remembered what happened a few hours earlier, this time Farrell remembered his past when he was a high school student.

"Hey Farrell."

Farrell, who had been trying to sweep as fast as he could, could only glance in annoyance when he had seen that the person who had been supposed to help him picket was just sitting on the table looking up at the classroom ceiling. Unwilling to work alone, Farrell had slapped Alex, the only person with him in the class, with a broom. Usually Alex would reply right away or at least respond enthusiastically. But this time Farrell just saw a gloomy face.

"What's wrong, Al?"

"Even though I'm very close to my sister, there are times when I can't understand what my sister's problem is," replied Alex while moving the broom he had only been holding in his hand.

"He's very introverted, isn't she?"

“Even more introverted than you. I don't know how he kept her thoughts on her all this time. But once she spoke her thoughts… I was speechless.”

"Her thoughts?" While waiting for an answer from Alex who seemed difficult to answer, Farrell tried to sit on the table opposite Alex. He didn't care how much time was wasted doing this picket and Leona waited for him at the school cafe. His twin's annoyed face while waiting was gone when he realized that Alex was having a hard time.

“She… said she wanted to suicide.”