I had been a loyal company man for nearly 15 years. I was looked up to by many newer employees, and always tried to be as helpful as I could. When a new job in management opened up, everybody knew that I was the man for the job. The regional manager had been working with the company for 22 years, and was about to retire and move with his family to California to live a relaxing stress-free life, and believe me, he had earned it.

The new job had a substantially higher salary than my current one, and I was really looking forward to the raise. Even my boss all but confirmed that I was a shoe-in for the job when it opened. It was then that rumors of my boss’ daughter finally finding a husband started circulating around the offices. This was quite surprising, as his daughter was just about the ugliest woman you ever saw. Don’t get me wrong, she deserved a life just as good as everybody else, but it was somewhat surprising to hear of someone marrying her.

Soon enough, the boss was talking endlessly about his new son-in-law, how he was so great, so nice, so caring, etc. etc. etc. it was good to hear at first, but he just wouldn’t stop talking about the guy. About a week later, the boss mentioned that his new son-in-law had asked him if there were any openings at his company, he apparently was looking for work. What a coincidence, he marries the revolting daughter of a wealthy businessman, and it just so turns out that he’s looking for work.

Sure enough, the boss gave the guy the management job that I so rightfully deserved.

I was furious, but I decided that if I kept working hard, soon enough my years of hard work would be recognized and I would get my promotion. For a few weeks, everything seemed okay. One day, the new manager (who I hadn’t yet met) called me into his office. I was hoping this would have something to do with the promotion.

As I entered the office, I came upon a startling discovery. The “man” was a Quasar. It offered me a seat, and told me it had important news regarding my job. It spoke of how I had been doing a great job…but that was a problem. This was rather confusing to me, and I asked it what the problem was. It said that it intended on rising up the ranks of the company, and it did not want any competition. It fired me. That son of a bitch. The damned Quasar stole my job and ruined my career.

- Howard Williams