Deprecated: (rune) mysql_connect(): The mysql extension is deprecated and will be removed in the future: use mysqli or PDO instead in /afs/athena.mit.edu/activity/r/rune/web_scripts/lit_view.php on line 42
Memos

TO: J. YOUNG
FROM: G. STRICKLAND
RE: H malfunction
Poor diagnostic test results found during 11 AM eval; H in need of intensive repair, software overhaul. Clear H calendar for following month. 
Strickland

TO: G. STRICKLAND 
FROM: J. YOUNG
RE: H malfunction
Hey Greg,
Thanks for letting me know. How bad were the results? If they weren’t too bad, we might not have to clear all events for the next month. We could keep the easier tasks that H can manage to complete even when partially malfunctioning.
Best,
Jimmy

TO: J. YOUNG
FROM: G. STRICKLAND
RE: H malfunction
Text-to-speech function crippled, among others. Must cancel all events.
Strickland

TO: G. STRICKLAND 
FROM: J. YOUNG
RE: H malfunction
Hi Greg,
Darn, that’s too bad. I’ll go ahead and clear H’s calendar until the 26th, then. 
Don’t stress too much about this, Greg. It’ll blow over soon.
Best,
Jimmy

Jimmy released a heavy gust of breath and slumped miserably in his chair. He wasn’t looking forward to canceling the events which he had so meticulously planned. Jimmy guiltily prayed that Greg breathed down the backs of the engineers in charge of repairs to make them fix H as fast as humanly possible. Jimmy also wished that Greg wasn’t such a humorless all-work-no-play guy. Greg’s memos always felt too short and blunt, as if he was irritated with Jimmy.

TO: J. YOUNG
FROM: G. STRICKLAND
RE: Photo ops
H repair mostly complete. Schedule additional interviews and photo ops for H to make up for lost public presence.
Strickland

TO: G. STRICKLAND 
FROM: J. YOUNG
RE: Photo ops
Good afternoon Greg,
Sure thing! Looks like the repairs went well ahead of schedule. You weren’t too hard on the repair technicians, right? 
I just lined up an interview with a kids’ science show and a few photo ops. More opportunities are in the pipeline. People will soon see H and never know it was malfunctioning. 
Best,
Jimmy

TO: J. YOUNG
FROM: G. STRICKLAND
RE: Photo ops
No technicians harmed. Don’t forget H must attend P. Press will ask questions if H not present. 
Please make memos shorter.
Strickland

TO: G. STRICKLAND 
FROM: J. YOUNG
RE: Photo ops
Hi Greg,
Yup, I have H down for Prom. The event coordinator has planned everything to a T. The dress is also gorgeous, by the way. It’s almost a shame that the dress is spent on H.
Best,
Jimmy
P.S. Was that short enough?

TO: J. YOUNG
FROM: G. STRICKLAND
RE: Photo ops
Dress covers all necessary areas?
Strickland

TO: G. STRICKLAND 
FROM: J. YOUNG
RE: Photo ops
Hi Greg,
Haha, good one! Yes, the dress covers all "private parts", so H will not be "flashing" any shiny bits.
Best,
Jimmy

Strickland’s fingers hovered over the keyboard. He almost typed "That was not a joke", but decided against it. It wasn’t worth his time. At least Young’s memos had become shorter.

TO: G. STRICKLAND 
FROM: J. YOUNG
RE: URGENT!!! FACE REPAIR
Greg,
What the HELL were those "repairs" they did to H?!?! The press is exploding with photos of H. H showed up to the kids’ science show with a face plate of a completely different shade and slightly morphed cheekbones. The media is accusing her of getting plastic surgery and seriously abusing hydroquinone in the weeks she was away from the public eye. 
Greg, you know I think highly of you as my colleague, but come on man. How could this have passed inspection? The press storm is going to be a nightmare to fix. Please change H’s face plate back as soon as possible. If repairs are not possible by Friday, I will cancel Friday’s photo ops.
Best,
Jimmy

TO: J. YOUNG
FROM: G. STRICKLAND
RE: URGENT!!! FACE REPAIR
Apologies. Plate was upgraded to a sturdier material but clearly is unacceptable. Old plate will be restored immediately.
Strickland
	
TO: G. STRICKLAND 
FROM: J. YOUNG
RE: URGENT!!! FACE REPAIR
Greg,
Thanks, especially since Prom is right around the corner. You and I both know that there’s no way we would have been able to explain the [REDACTED] daughter showing up like that. The press would have claimed that her standard of beauty was a red dress and a white face. Terrible, especially since she did that body positivity campaign last year. 
Best,
Jimmy

TO: J. YOUNG
FROM: G. STRICKLAND
RE: URGENT!!! FACE REPAIR
Reminder: we do not use the term [REDACTED] or any of its related terms in memo communication, for security. Instead, use P-series terms.
Strickland

TO: G. STRICKLAND 
FROM: J. YOUNG
RE: URGENT!!! FACE REPAIR
Hi Greg,
Right, my bad, thanks for the reminder. We can’t have the Pinnacle’s daughter showing up with a different face. People would start figuring things out. People would start calling election fraud, saying that Pinnacle used H to paint himself as a family man and win the votes of sympathetic parents. Foreign governments would never trust us again. 
Best,
Jimmy

TO: J. YOUNG
FROM: G. STRICKLAND
RE: URGENT!!! FACE REPAIR
Agree. Face fixed now. 
Strickland

Strickland frowned grimly. Clearly, Young didn’t get the point. 
The company memos left a paper trail that would cause major scandals if ever revealed to the public. Short, coded, obscure memos were favorable because they would be less revealing if released and less incriminating in court. Strickland’s memos were always succinct. Young, with his youthful exuberance, wrote memos with plenty of contextual details and unnecessary information.
Strickland weighed his options. He didn’t like either one. 

TO: H. HOUSER
FROM: G. STRICKLAND
RE: Young
Suggest termination of J. Young. His memos are too long, pose security risk.
Strickland

TO: G. STRICKLAND
FROM: H. HOUSER
RE: Young
You sure? You two seem to work well together.
Houser

TO: H. HOUSER
FROM: G. STRICKLAND
RE: Young
Yes. Should offer him opportunity to voluntarily resign. If not, remove him. Abbott may be of help. Cannot let him continue to be a risk.
Strickland

When Jimmy received the notification that he was asked to resign, he felt bitter. Bitter, because Greg must have finally found Jimmy too annoying to bear. Bitter, because he received the notice from an anonymous company sender. Bitter, because he was asked to leave the company in a memo of just eleven puny words. 

Nine years later.

Strickland sat across the table from his attorney. Both men bore silvering hair. Strickland’s uniform was wrinkled and itchy. He shifted uncomfortably in his seat. 
"Here’s a list of everyone who’s been indicted along with you." The lawyer slid a crisp white sheet of paper across the table’s icy surface.
Strickland scanned the list. At the top, 
Abbott, Logan
In the middle, 
Houser, Howard
Further down, 
Strickland, Gregory
All the names he expected. Strickland didn’t want to check the bottom of the list. 

Young, James

Strickland tasted sand in his mouth. 
"James Young?" he queried quietly. "I don’t recognize that name."
"Someone who worked with you for a few months, a long time ago. His memos were very revealing. The worst evidence in the case," came the sniffed reply.
"What’s he indicted for?"
"Same as you. Practically everything."
Strickland slid his eyes closed. The sand in his mouth turned sour. Bile. 
"You alright?"
"Yes."
Silence. 
"How did this happen?" Strickland asked. 
"What do you mean?"
"All of this. The case. The reveal. The evidence."
"Well, people realized over time that Harriett wasn’t quite normal. Conspiracy theorists looked at photo and video evidence on the internet and pieced together the truth, but no one believed them until the memos leaked. You know the rest. The world blew up when they found out that the leader of our country had a fake, robotic daughter. Actually, it wouldn’t have been so bad if the memos had-"
A sharp ping from the lawyer’s phone stole his attention. Strickland watched him snatch the phone and start scanning a new email. It must have had to do with the case, given how the lawyer read ravenously. After a long pause, without turning his gaze from the phone, the lawyer finally spoke. 
"Oh, wait, didn’t you just ask about James Young? Apparently, the charges against him have been dropped."
Strickland couldn’t breathe. The lawyer continued reading from his phone.
"Why?"
"Well, apparently they’ve uncovered enough new evidence to somehow exonerate him. I’m not sure how or why. It has something to do with how he left the company just before things became worse. Actually, wait, let me read…yeah, if he’d stayed on just a few more months, then he really would be getting the same treatment as you. They haven’t told me the details yet."
Strickland let out a heavy sigh and closed his eyes again.
"What are you thinking?" The attorney’s gaze finally flickered over to Strickland but found nothing more than the typical stressed client.  
"Nothing," came the easy lie.
Strickland, behind his closed eyelids, visualized the face of the man who he had met just once. A young boy with peach fuzz on his ruddy cheeks. A kid who wrote long memos. 
Strickland knew he himself was beyond saving. The court would easily rule that. Strickland sighed once more, for saving one man. One sigh, for saving James Young.

Yi Jun Yang