The Enigma Gamers - A CATS Tale

Summit was imposing with a swarthy complexion, dark hair, broad shoulders, about 1.73 meters tall with dark eyes that didn’t miss much. He was an accomplished private investigator from the CATS organization. He also had an excellent command of several languages that included Russian, Chinese, Japanese, Italian, and Indian of course based on his heritage, with some limited Arabic dialects too. Right now, it was his King’s English that was being tested to the maximum.

Marvin, the now secured trucker, bellowed, “Thanks to your near fatal incompetence, Bluto, I’m stuck here trying to explain why I broke security protocol. This is all academic, since the Constellation facilities are trashed so effectively I’m out of a job anyway! It‘ll take weeks to clean up what we both saw!

“Whatever automation SNAFU you guys have has basically shutdown the distribution channel for this whole region. Because of your just-in-time model of retail efficiency, all 350 stores depending on stuff coming in will be out of stock in roughly 72 hours.”

Before the guards could rail again at the taunt from Marvin, Summit quickly interjected, “You know, you put yourself at a lot of risk by penetrating the perimeter to retrieve your personal belongings. What if this was a military facility and these guards were armed? They would have been obliged to shoot you. As it was, they were within their operational rights to work you over with their batons, but they didn’t even do that. You’re actually pretty lucky to be only inconvenienced because of your violation of the rules.

”Now, if you can take a deep breath and tell me what you saw, I think I can get some people on the phone to get you released. Then you can go and enjoy your personal possessions that you risked your life to recover.”

The rational statements and well-offered words had the desired effect on everyone. All tempers that were dangerously high started to subside.

After a few minutes of calming, Marvin quietly offered, “I just wanted to get my things so I could call my wife Olivia and hear her voice. I have doctor bills pilling up after her last surgery, and I’ve been doing as much overtime as the company allows. So, yeah, I’m over-tired, pushed to the limit, and I acted like a jerk! Thanks for not killing me, Bluto.

“Let me tell you what I saw going on inside the warehouse. I’ve never seen one, but I would imagine this is what the carnage looks like after a tornado has swept through a city. This is going to cause a lot of grief for a lot of folks.”