PARIS STAR

This story in no way represents anything pertaining to reality, unless you see similarities, but even then, I refute all responsibility as all good bureaucrats do.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It would seem to me in the cases of many organizations, the idea of bureaucracy was created both to protect employees from doing any work as well as to provide the illusion of work by creating a cover for departments to constantly shift responsibility by volleying the work to different departments. To be short, it is the art of avoiding work in the most elegant and plausible manner.

It was due to this strategy that we the colony ship were experiencing a sense of growing abandonment, creating a sometimes complacent relationship among its members and ultimately a growing feeling of betrayal, anger and madness. Yes, madness, what else could it be called?

The captain severely encumbered by his inability to attain anything from headquarters, was experienced limited options. So that most of the communications to Headquarters, Paris Star went as such:

To PARIS STAR:
Shipping packages never received. Contacted shippers who deny responsibility. Please look into matter and report back.

PARIS STAR:
Message Copied 002161.

No one reports back.

To PARIS STAR:
Require Assistance into looking into shipping containers. Please report back.

PARIS STAR:
Message Copied 001222.

No one reports back.

To PARIS STAR:
Request permission to run diagnostics. Need master password. Please reply.

PARIS STAR:
Message copied 001865. Message sent to technical support.

No one reports back.

To PARIS STAR::
2nd Request permission to run diagnostics. Need master password. Please reply.

PARIS STAR:
Automated Message copy 001866.

No one reports back.

To PARIS STAR:
3rd Request permission to run diagnostics. Need master password. Please reply.

PARIS STAR:
Automated Message copy 002111. Technical Support: Request for full diagnostic run denied. Suggestion to reboot.

To PARIS STAR:
4th Request permission to run diagnostics. Need master password. Reboot process attempted as specified by protocol TS152 and failed. Please reply.

PARIS STAR:
Automated Message copy 002838.

No one reports back.

To PARIS STAR:
5th Urgent: work will be drastically reduced following no reply from the below request. Request permission to run diagnostics. Need master password. Reboot process attempted as specified by protocol TS152 and failed. Please reply.

PARIS STAR:
Automated Message copy 002899.

No one reports back.

As TH1 floated around the periphery of Paris Star but still far from the mother ship, alone and forgotten it’s crew members learn to request and rely less upon Paris Star. Captain Tao becomes increasingly prone to fits of sullenness and has developed the habit of creating projects which has no other objective then to discourage his team from approaching his office and soliciting his help or sharing their frustration with him. He also has adopted the peculiar habit of pulling imaginary lint from his shirt and punctuation his sentences with “and there it is. Hmph.”

He occasionally organizes meetings that speak of “adjusting to limited access allotted to them by Paris Star while simultaneously encouraging them to maintain rules and protocol” which he knows are impossible as all protocol refers back to Paris Star who is increasingly unresponsive. He himself adjusts to this situation by taking a page out of Paris Star’s strategy by becoming ever more complacent to his lack of work and copies their example of avoiding responsibility towards his team.

They struggle for a small while, learning to ask Captain Tao for less help as a feeling of frustration grows among them like a dark hidden disease under the layers of apparently healthy eyes, nose, mouth, heart. There network deteriorating, they work less frequently, until almost no work is done at all.They expect the Captain to journey over to the Main Office on their behalf as the responsible person for their office. It is all they speak of in hushed voices in the long corridors and the corners of their halls.

Tao, aware of his responsibility and his team expectations that he should confront the Main Office during an annual meeting refuses to push the issue too strongly and hopes that by not forcing managements hand, and not disrupting the beehive, as he likens them, he will in fact win himself an increase in salary, a promotion, points for not being disruptive. Likewise, if he is blamed for his team falling under expectations, he can always plead innocent and state that that they never had the necessary support of the Main Office which was required in maintaining schedule. He will play the victim and came out the stronger for it. Either way he assures himself it is win, win. He returns to his office preparing himself for continued hibernation as he refers to it.

As Captain Tao returns to Paris Star, and no change is implemented hope vanishes. His team bicker among themselves. They fight for status and power and money in this vacuum of management and work. In order to avoid multiple disruptions and growing conflicts from his staff he quickly picks favorites as to thwart people from contacting him for fairness, credit for work, and other privileges others may fight to usurp. He also appoints these favorites as gatekeepers who others are encouraged to approach instead of contacting him directly. His favorites, for the most part avoid disrupting him for fear of falling out of favor and his less fortunate employees avoid him for fear of additional work, falling further out of favor and knowing they will never attain help from him. For the most part, visits to his office and direct interface communications are drastically reduced and then, not much later, non-existent. His direct communication line becomes inaccessible. No one wonders if this is due to his own choice, new company policy, or a breakdown. There is of course no one to ask anyhow. The less favored employees avoid all contact with the favored employees, as it is probable that they do not know much more but will invent false info in order to demonstrate favored status.

Hostile aggression becomes passive aggressive, quiet attacks buried under bureaucratic madness until the day someone find the Captains door ajar and sees that his head has been removed and put in the trash seemingly months ago. sending out useless memos in his place, while quietly leaving his decaying headless body sitting in his chair.

Who has usurped the power? Or perhaps the vacuum of power?

To PARIS STAR:
Urgent, Captain Tao believe to be murdered. Colony Office members TH1 fear for their lives. Request code for immediate return to PARIS STAR.

PARIS STAR:
Message Rejected by computer process PR4481. Protocol forbids non-management from contacting management; refer back to protocol manual for full details.

Silence……