Monday morning Kasper Skytte showed up for work feeling anxious. A guilty conscience battled with fear to overtake control of his body, and he had to muster all his energy to be able to focus on the task at hand. Today was allocated to sitting with the crane operator and supervising the computer-controlled sorting system in the waste silo. They had to nip problems in the bud to keep the whole incineration process from coming to a standstill. Right now that would be catastrophic in more ways than one.

At eight fifteen he walked through the bright, airy lobby and took the elevator up to his office, grabbed his work laptop, and continued on to the silo. His footsteps echoed across the metal bridge and up the stairs until he stood in front of the orange door that led to the crane operating room. He hesitated for a second before he let himself in, greeted Michael the crane operator, and took a seat next to him, with the computer on his lap and an unobstructed view of the trash.

Kasper wasn’t a big fan of looking at trash, and every time he was forced to sit here, he mostly thought about when he could leave.

“Any problems so far?” Kasper brought up the morning’s statistics on his screen.

“Nope.”

Michael wasn’t a talkative guy, and today that suited Kasper perfectly. The silence made it easy to look back and forth between the numbers and the claw. The claw moved the trash from the sluices, where the garbage trucks were emptied, over to the ovens, from left to right ad infinitum. Once he had watched it for a while, he started to see things. An umbrella frame became winter branches, a frayed plastic bag became loose hair, and black trash bags turned into severed limbs. He stood up.

“Coffee?” he asked Michael.

“Thanks, I’m good.”

Kasper poured himself a cup. He checked his phone and gratefully remembered that there was no service in this part of the plant before turning back to the window. He blew tentatively on the hot brew and took a sip. The claw glided by right in front of them with a full load, monstrous, unpleasant, and fascinating. Strange objects that had once been colorful but were now gray.

That’s when he saw it.

Kasper felt the coffee approach his windpipe. He coughed and pointed.

A second later, Michael hit the dead-man button.

“MAKE SURE YOU put on these suits, safety shoes, and a face mask before you enter the silo. The air in there isn’t fit to breathe, so keep it short. When you get in, you’ll find a plateau with a long gap on either side of it. Those gaps lead to the ovens. They’re off right now, but they’re still very hot, so keep well clear of those! As soon as you come back out, we’ll be ready to disinfect you.”