"And so with consideration to our strategic objectives, the delivery pipeline is detailed in section 9...". Tris had been momentarily jerked out of a comfortable haze by the voice. He stared at his computer, vaguely comprehending a few more sentences to confirm that they had no relevance to him before relaxing again. He was present in the meeting only in the loosest possible sense, a set of initials representing him in a little box on the screen. He checked the time. Somehow only 45 minutes had passed into this 2 hour snooze fest which he didn't care about and didn't need to contribute to. If anyone asked afterwards (and they wouldn't) he could just regurgitate something on how enlightening it was to learn about 'Delivering an integrated experience' or 'aligning products to the global strategy'.

1) What the hell does that mean anyway?

Meetings like this were usually an opportunity to catch up on social media or add to his impressive doodle collection, blissfully ignorant of anything else going on around him. He was pretty sure the only person who cared was the person chairing, and maybe even they realised how pointless this all was. The most complex thought sparked so far was the occasional idle critique on whatever was being shown on screen.

2) What is this wall of text on the slides hoping to achieve?

The only purpose of going to these meetings seemed to be to prove his existence within this lumbering behemoth of a company. He found an odd sense of solidarity among the pages and pages of initials making up the rest of the attendees. All suffering through this together, it was almost heart-warming. Occasionally his eyes would be drawn to a flash of colour where a select few individuals had made the outlandish decision to include a picture.

3) Who would bother to upload something to this anyway?

Its not mandatory, no one cares. The no cameras rule apparently had something to do with bandwidth but to Tris it was just a glorious excuse to sit at home in casual loungewear, mindlessly snacking and reclining with his feet up. He certainly wasn't going to start complaining, but he couldn't help but wonder

4) What are the others doing right now?

Is anyone actually out there waiting on the edge of their seats, desperate to hear about the next quarterly projections. Tris shuddered at the image of kind of person who would. Those psychotically motivated go-getters who appeared in all the training videos, explaining the company's code of conduct with the same tone one would use to announce everyone was receiving free puppies, inevitably with a jaunty beat repeating endlessly in the background.

5) How would anyone find the energy to care?

In that moment, there was a sudden movement on the screen as the next slide was finally revealed and this one actually had a visualisation. An utterly bewildering mass of shapes and arrows with a dazzling array of colours in an effort to describe some arcane process flow. Excitement over he shifted his focus back to the attendees panel, if only to save his poor eyes from the strain of staring at it any longer.

One of the photos caught his attention. A man with dark brown hair and a receding hairline, though he still seemed relatively young. Maybe it was the genuine look of happiness which had been captured in the moment, a smile that reached his eyes. A warm, sunny day, blue skies, somewhere near the sea perhaps. It was a good photo. Tris stared longingly out of the window at the grim reality of late January.

6) Where would you rather be?

And as Tris looked closer, the image started to take on a more sinister aspect. There was something unsettling in having this perfect moment frozen in time, captured and compressed down into an inch of space. An image of something which was long gone and never coming back, its only function now to be a reminder of happier times. Tris straightened a bit as the depressing thought latched on refused to leave him, and still, in the background the voice continued on.

He moved onto another photo. A woman in a colourful dress, set indoors this time, the harsh lighting only emphasising her sunburnt skin. She was laughing out in response to something happening just out of frame.

7) Are you laughing now?

Once again the image seemed to warp and shift the more attention he paid. The look of joy replaced by the agony of having to hold that pose for more than a few seconds. Tris looked away and the moment of dread that had held him in place faded. This was obviously just a symptom of his immense boredom, his mind playing tricks. These were all his colleagues, enduring this same pointless exercise, probably with phones and ultra-processed snack bars to hand.

What he needed now was to focus on something else, do something more productive. He went to minimise the tab and return to whatever he had been working on before this meeting started but hesitated. He couldn't actually recall what that was. He must have been doing something or talking to someone.

8) When had he last spoken to an actual person?

He couldn't remember. He tried to bring to mind a familiar face or conversation but all he could hear now was that voice through his headphones. It was at the same time somehow both crystal clear and totally incomprehensible. If he concentrated hard enough he could pick out the individual words but combined together they held no meaning.

He scanned up and down the pages and pages of initials with desperation now, looking anything or anyone he could recognise. There must be someone out there among the hundreds of attendees who was real that he could put a face to. But where before there were photos and letters, now he only saw shadows. Phantom figures listening in, but no one tangible he could reach out to. No signs of life in the sea of indifference.

9) Is there anybody out there?!

There was nothing left now but the voice burrowing its way into his mind. He wanted to leave but he couldn't. He wanted to scream out but was muted. He wanted to switch on his camera and wave for help, but darkness crept from the edges of his vision until the screen was obscured. Tears rolled down his face as he stared unblinking, until even the voice had faded into a barely perceptible hum. All that existed was the haze now. Time, thought and Tris had ceased to be.

"So that brings an end to this meeting. Are there any questions?"