{ And so it ends }
- Last Part for the last IX200 event! -
Friday, November 29th 2013, 12:20pm KST. The sky above the IX200 facilities was grey and peace was slowly settling again, leaving behind nothing but destruction that the flames had caused. With occasional smoke raking into the sky, the workers stood before the building to take in the wave of devastation, the degree of the destruction and all had none but one thought in mind. “IX200 was gone.” Various emotions cluttered the air among the pulp, some most significant being sadness, anxiety for the future and hopelessness. Some workers cried and some simply stood in shock, still unable to comprehend the extent of the consequences that would follow this event.
Melancholy was the one emotion they all drew back to in the end, the dust and smoke forming a new world before their mental eye, a world in which the facilities still stood intact, shimmering in all their glory. With people busy walking and laughter echoing through the streets, people seen from the café window with a mug held to their lips. Some were working on papers or in front of a laptop while some where reading a book, others chatting away with their friend or partner. The well designed letters where now nothing but a darkened, faded image of what they used to be and everyone became painfully aware to that once more as the short trip down the memory line ended for them.
Some teared up and some simply rubbed their faces in their palms, trying to comb with the feeling of loss. All the laughter, the various memories made within the main hall, the towers, the wings and most surely the cafeteria or the staff rooms, where everyone had come together for funny games. The events, the beautiful balls, wonderlands of Disney and musicals covering the usually plain attire of the cafeteria halls- nothing but a nice memory. Masks decorating the workers faces, allowing them to slip into a role so very different from their own, love stories that had begun and ended here, friendships developed and the goodbyes to those that had left- all happening within these halls.
Three years filled with joy, pain, hard work and delightful days. Three years filled with various people coming together to work for what they treasured, work for what they found interesting and for what they believed in. All of that came to a sudden end this day. Where to go from now? None of them moved, out of fear what to face when they’d go home and wake up the next morning with nowhere to go, nowhere to be. Some would start looking for new work, some would consider offering their services on an independent level and some would still be shocked by the loss, all eyes silently on one woman and one alone. The only one remaining of those that had made this building possible in the first place, that had built up everything with her friends in the first place. She stood before them all, her gaze up at the burnt sign that still spelled out the name she had given the company, the letter I hanging off to the side slightly.
And all were asking themselves one question: Was it really over now?