I took a deep breath as the helicopter began its descend down on an industrial park area, and once again was I captured by the sheer size of this place... This monolith, this creation that mankind couldn’t even dare to claim if they actually fear their creator.
One of the quotes I’ve read online was "If this place were any greater, the tower of Babel would be insignificant."
Even before the rotor blades slowed, I could feel the air around us thick with a kind of corporate sterility.
The fresh sll of ozone, jet fuel, and money. The kind of sll that reminded that I was standing on sothing that costs more per square ter than my entire existence.
From the rooftop, the Sonder Interactive Headquarters stretched out below like an entire city by itself... a structure that’s three kiloters long and three wide? The size of a small town with total wi-fi coverage.
I stepped out of the helicopter, the wind tugging at my dress, and for a second I couldn’t tell where the ground ended and the skyline began.
The rooftop itself was painted in clean white stripes, seperating the landing zones, maintenance tracks, small green patches of fake grass, even a tiny staff-only garden at the corner with succulents arranged like they were auditioning for a magazine spread.
I rembered coming here once, five years ago, during a public tour that the company hosted every 3 years.
I was eighteen and just got off highschool, broke, depressed, and desperate to touch anything that might make feel like I belonged sowhere when Darkmoon Adventure haven’t got any new updates.
I still rember standing in the reception hall back then, the sll of lavender and sothing citrusy greeting before the receptionist even did.
I thought it was soone’s perfu until I found out they literally engineered a "signature fragrance" for their front desk. Because of course they did, when you have billions, you would want your own brand of oxygen.
Back then, I was overwheld by everything, thinking that working in this place would be the crown jewel of my life... And yeah, maybe if I land a job here, it would actually be a crown jewel, but I can’t see myself being happy with an actual job that contributes to society’s cashflow.
I recalled that the model of the building would be right in the middle of the main hall; a perfect 1:300 scale of the headquarters, made of titanium, glass, and holographic projectors showing little animated figures walking between halls.
I rember staring at it for five minutes straight as the tour guide spoke with grace and confidence, watching the digital trees sway in their miniature wind, before soone politely asked to move aside so "actual guests" could see.
One of the more humiliating experiences in my life, yes, but it happened probably because I was not grooming myself properly back then and they were repulsed by my existence since the start, but couldn’t kick out.
From up here, I could almost trace where each section was. There was the main atrium which was wide enough to fit a comrcial jet if they ever wanted to test one.
The atrium was connected to four sprawling halls, each thed after humanity’s "great innovations" including: Fire, Wheels, Wings, and Computers.
I never really understood why "Fire" was one of the four until I saw the literal wall of flickering holographic flas in that section, illustrating the "birth of society" and "birth of progress." It was poetic, I guess, or maybe just pretentious... h, probably both.
The "Wheels" hall was all about movent and invention, from the first stone wheel to quantum gyros and neural servos.
"Wings" celebrated exploration, thed after birds, planes, drones, and eventually the dream of space travel.
"Computers" was, obviously, the shrine, history of thought turned into data, tricking rocks into making masterpieces.
Every hall was massive, filled with interactive displays, and lit by sunlight filtered through perfectly angled glass panels.
It was hard to rember the sunlight of that day when today, I arrived in darkness, a changed woman, more... Tolerant and stable, I think; I want to think. I believe; I want to believe.
When I first toured the place, I thought it was kind of funny by how they used taphors and sculptures and art pieces to remind themselves how humanity crawled, rolled, flew, and thought.
Sowhere below the halls were the cafeterias, the bars, the lounges, the gaming rooms, and probably ten more recreational spaces I couldn’t even imagine... If you think of anything, absolutely anything whatsoever; gym, pool, snack room, empty white room with nothing inside just to sit and stare, bedroom for overnight stay,... They have it, yes, they absolutely, definitely, totally have one.
Plus ten different things you didn’t imagine them having.
Then there was the park in the middle of the place, around one kiloter square, fenced by glass and surrounded by offices.
From up here, I could see its miniature canopy of imported trees, chosen specifically for the climate. Sakura beside pine beside olive. Everything was manicured to be "global," like they wanted to simulate the whole Earth within their compound.
It was overwhelming in my opinion. The place didn’t feel designed for humans, and at tis, I wondered if the Sonders were playing god.
There were outdoor terraces where employees could drink during golden hour, shaded walkways looping through artificial ponds, and a glass elevator that traveled from the first floor to the fiftieth in under ten seconds.
Even the stairs had this spiral design that made you feel like ascending them was a spiritual journey through nirvana.
I rember seeing them once and thinking that if I trip on these, will they pay my family a huge sum large enough to last a lift ti?
And they said there were thirty thousand workers in this building alone.
Thirty thousand.
That’s a small town, an entire population count compressed into a ball.
Security guards, janitors, cafeteria workers, engineers, coders, PR managers, therapists, translators, and even "environntal coordinators" whose sole job was to make sure the koi fish in the pond didn’t get bored... At least they’re not as useless as the ones on top though.
They employ way too much, I thought.
From here, the industrial park surrounding the headquarters stretched endlessly as I leaned over the railing to get a good look while the wind blew over my hair. Warehouses, labs, other companies orbiting Sonder Interactive Inc. like lesser moons.
The roads glowed faintly under lamplight, cars moving in lines, which indicate there were still people here... I thought it’d be dead empty since, well, industrial park, duh, no residency here, right? Yet sowhere far off, I could hear the hum of drones delivering packages.
I didn’t understand the philosophy behind this building... Everything! The layout, the symtry, the open green areas, the impossible neatness. People said it was designed with "flow and clarity" in mind.
That everything, from the placent of benches to the color of the walls, followed a thodical logic, because the Sonders hired great engineers around the world to design this place.
The wind was colder now.
"Let’s go, Cory." Eirlys spoke, "Nothing to see here."
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