 |
| cover art copyright 2025 Acacia Gallagher |
THE MOOD WAR
by Secret Hippie, Eric Gallagher
Copyright © 2025 Eric Gallagher
All rights reserved
Secret Hippie a Trademark of Eric Gallagher
The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.
No part of this book may be reproduced, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without express written permission of the publisher.
ISBN-13: 9781234567890
ISBN-10: 1477123456
Cover design by: Acacia Gallagher
Library of Congress Control Number: 2018675309
Printed in the United States of America
Version 0 - First Edition.
For Tucker Mostrom, who wanted me to write a war story.
Human Resources Subject 31, Robert Daniel Cruzak
The Mood War Incident
MOOD WAR: DAY ZERO
[I] Details from Interview 2 in Cell 3C
ICC Detention Center, the Hague
Scheveningen, the Netherlands
HR-T1: Do you know why you are here?
Cruzak: You said this is a human resources meeting.
HR-T1: (Clears throat.) Certainly that is true. We must find out what happened.
Cruzak: I told you the other day.
HR-T1: That was not complete. Also, (sound of a throat clearing) our conversation occurred when you were in the medical area waiting to be released. You were on painkilling drugs. Now you are not. By human resources rules, you are free to speak into a recorder.
Cruzak: This is the official account then, our talk today?
HR-T1: Official, yes. The process will take more than a day, Mister Cruzak. Even a week is too short a time to expect. My guidance shows this will be a long process.
Cruzak: Am I still getting paid?
HR-T1: This matters? (The interviewer pauses. She speaks slower.) Yes, you continue to get paid throughout the human resources investigation. This question makes me unsure that you understand the situation.
Cruzak: We were building a railroad and got attacked. This is an investigation about it. Is there more to explain?
HR-T1: You said that you were shot by a UN soldier. That is not correct according to the event summary I have. Already there are things that must be clarified. The incident is being discussed in public. That makes things different than when we first met. It is more urgent to my supervisors.
(Movement noises. Upon review, the interviewer indicated that she moved the heavy table between her and the subject.)
You want an explanation. Well, I have been given an interview script and assigned reading. I am a translator most usually, but I have been told that I must begin the human resources fact finding process.
Cruzak: A translator. Is that why you have such a good accent?
HR-T1: I do not have an accent.
Cruzak: You barely have one but I can hear it. French, maybe?
HR-T1: Your UN identification says you are Canadian. Do you speak French?
Cruzak: No, not really.
HR-T1: Then let us continue. I have done the required reading.
Cruzak: But you’re a translator.
HR-T1: There are many of you involved in the fight. We have only so many human resources investigators. I understand the process as it has been summarized. You are required to fill out ST-103 about your injuries, ST-149 for lost personal items. You may want to fill out form ST-19 to report other staff for misconduct.
Cruzak: That’s a lot.
HR-T1: No, Mister Cruzak. It is the beginning. There are many more forms and processes. Some of them are for me, like the ST-222. But you don’t need to concern yourself with the ones filled out by the human resources officers. I have been given a full list.
Cruzak: Just so long as we get through this.
HR-T1: Of course. That is not a question. (Footstep sounds appear on the transcript recording. They are light and brief, followed by the movement of a chair.)
Cruzak: I’ve got to warn you, I’m not great at filling in forms. I have to transcribe stuff. You know, talk it out first. Or draw it. I’m okay with diagrams.
HR-T1: Well, you are a mechanic, yes? This is to be expected.
Cruzak: Do you want me to draw a diagram of the fighting? I mean, our place on the mountain and stuff.
HR-T1: Not at this time. The United Nations has collected overhead photos, I understand, although I have not been allowed to see them.
Cruzak: Why wouldn’t you review them before all these questions?
HR-T1: Perhaps I will be given such materials later. I do not know. For now, I have a list of preliminary topic areas. Based on your responses to these, my instructions are to ask follow up questions in order to clarify your account. My supervisors will review the transcripts of our sessions. If they feel you have not provided sufficient clarity or I have not asked for information they need, I will return to you with more questions on the same topic.
Cruzak: Fair enough. Fire away.
HR-T1: Fortunately, I know this is an idiom.
Cruzak: Right.
HR-T1: First, we should correct your earlier account. You said that you were shot by a UN soldier. That cannot be true. You are a UN employee.
Cruzak: You picked me up from the hospital suite. Why else would you think that was?
(Sixteen seconds of pause, some small noises from movement. The interviewer reports she was inspecting the head bruises on the Cruzak subject.)
HR-T1: You also said you were shot by an unknown person. Your wounds are probably from that. (Rattles paper.)
Cruzak: Did I say unknown?
HR-T1: You did. That was yesterday, off the record.
Cruzak: (Slightly interrupting.) Because that’s not quite right. I know who it was. We all did, after a while. But we never had the sniper’s name.
HR-T1: No mention of snipers in my notes today. So it is back to the U.N. soldier you mentioned. He had smart weapons. The weapons should have refused to fire on you.
Cruzak: That’s right.
HR-T1: So when were you shot?
Cruzak: I was shot right then. It was the second time I took a bullet in the fighting. Third. Fourth?
HR-T1: You were shot right at that moment? As the soldiers came to your position?
Cruzak: Pretty much, yeah.
HR-T1: When was the first time?
Cruzak: I thought you didn’t want to hear about that.
No comments:
Post a Comment