The Corporate Apocalypse: Jakarta's Survival Guide to Cosmic

Chapter 15: Forced Recruitment and the Ghost Paycheck Pyramid

The rumble in North Jakarta no longer sounded like waves; it sounded like millions of industrial paper shredders working in unison. The blood-red sky wasn't just an apocalyptic backdrop; it was a 'delete' command running in the background of reality. Before Rendy’s eyes, distant buildings began to fragment into gray particles, as if someone were using a Photoshop eraser at 100% opacity.

"WE’RE RUNNING OUT OF TIME!" Rendy yelled, his voice nearly drowned out by the howling wind carrying the scent of burnt wiring. "Everyone, open Chapter 20! We need a mass recruitment drive!"

Alana wiped sweat and digital dust from her forehead. "Ren, you seriously want to stack these zombies into a ladder? That makes zero sense physics-wise! They're rotting meat, not bricks!"

Rendy opened his book with shaking hands. The page emitted a sharp neon-blue glow, displaying an architectural blueprint that violated every law Newton ever wrote.

'Chapter 20: Vertical Structure Management: Building a Career Ladder from the Ground Up. Tip #101: "Employees are the foundation of the company." Literally. Zombies who have lost their egos are the most stable construction materials because they won't complain about the workload or the lack of overtime pay. Use "Loyalty Glue" (Zombie Slime) and "Bureaucracy Cables" to bind them into a single vision.'

"I don't need the laws of physics, Al! I need corporate law!" Rendy leaped onto a slab of concrete that hadn't been deleted yet. He thrust the book into the air. "GONDRONG! JULING! START THE ORIENTATION!"

Bang Gondrong, whose forehead was still red from the 'APPROVED' stamp, grabbed a megaphone from a tilted police cruiser. "ALRIGHT, LISTEN UP, YOU FORMER CIVIL SERVANTS, CORPORATE SLAVES, AND THE PERMANENTLY UNEMPLOYED! LISTEN TO ME!"

Thousands of zombies around the HI Roundabout turned in unison. Without the CEO’s patch, they were like computers in Safe Mode—slow and confused, but ready for basic input.

"WE’RE STARTING THE BIGGEST PROJECT IN HISTORY!" Gondrong bellowed, the veins in his neck popping. "WE’RE ALL GETTING A PROMOTION TO THE SKY TOGETHER! WHO WANTS TO BE THE FOUNDATION? RAISE YOUR HANDS!"

Miraculously, because Rendy's book was emitting a "Managerial Instruction" frequency, thousands of zombies raised their hands. They began to shuffle closer, forming a massive ring around the Welcome Monument.

"Al, use the copper cables and steel winches from the SUV! We need to tie them row by row!" Rendy commanded.

Alana moved fast. With the agility of a survivor used to dancing with death, she looped massive cables around the waists of the first row of zombies. "I can't believe I'm the foreman for a tower made of corpses," she muttered, but her hands worked with surgical precision.

The insane construction began. Following Coach Udin’s instructions, the zombies started climbing over each other. They didn't bite; they didn't shove. They just... stacked. The second row locked their legs onto the first row's shoulders. They gripped each other’s hands, forming a mesh of flesh reinforced by Rendy’s bureaucratic cables.

"Keep going! Don't stop! Nobody gets a day off!" Juling shouted, aiming his discount-aisle flashlight upward to light the workspace.

But as the structure reached a height of a hundred feet—about five stories high—the temperature plummeted. This time, it wasn't the smell of nostalgia, but the smell of... an overdue water bill. The shame of a declined debit card in front of a cashier. The terror of seeing your first gray hair in the mirror while your savings account sits at zero.

This was "The Fear of Tomorrow."

The sky split open, revealing faceless silhouettes draped in black robes shaped like crashing market graphs. They glided down, whispering words sharper than razors into the ears of the survivors.

"You are going to fail, Rendy..." a heavy voice hissed in his ear. "You think that photocopied book is going to save you? You are just a C-minus student living in a pipe dream. Once you reach the top, the CEO is just going to laugh and delete you with a Backspace key."

Rendy stumbled. His vision went blurry. Visions of future failure—ending up a bum in a ruined world, watching Alana starve, or becoming a forgotten zombie—battered his mental state.

Beside him, Gondrong suddenly dropped his megaphone. His eyes went dead. "I... I can't do it. The future is just too dark. Why should I break my back climbing if I am just going to end up poor anyway?"

"Bang! Gondrong! Wake up!" Juling screamed, though he was starting to shake himself.

Even Alana stopped pulling the cables. She stared at her filthy, trembling hands. "Ren... what if we are really just delaying the inevitable? What if tomorrow just does not exist?"

The impact of "Fear of Tomorrow" caused the zombie pyramid to wobble. The zombies acting as the foundation lost their drive and went limp. The massive structure began to tilt toward the ruins of Hotel Indonesia.

"SHUT THE HELL UP, ALL OF YOU!" Rendy roared, not at his friends, but at the black shadows in the sky.

Rendy threw open his book to a chapter he had never dared to read: 'Chapter 21: Existential Crisis Management. Strategy: "Fake It Till You Make It". The future is an unrealized asset. If tomorrow haunts you, send it a bill. Anxiety is just the interest paid on a debt that might never come due. Block these emotional debt collectors with the Power of Today.'

Rendy tore a blank page from his book, scribbled something with a red marker, and folded it into a paper airplane.

"ALANA! GONDRONG! LISTEN TO ME!" Rendy screamed at the top of his lungs. "THE FUTURE IS JUST A PROJECTION THAT HAS NOT BEEN APPROVED YET! STOP PAYING INTEREST ON A LOAN YOU NEVER TOOK OUT!"

Rendy launched the paper airplane at one of the black shadows. When it made contact, the paper exploded into giant glowing text: [INVOICE: HEADSPACE RENTAL F*E - $1,000,000,000 PER SECOND].

The shadow let out a digital shriek, as if zapped by bureaucratic electricity. It could not process the concept of "Anxiety Collections."

"Gondrong! You want to see your future?!" Rendy grabbed Gondrong by the collar. "Your future is the guy who just saved the world while wearing a floral housecoat! That is cooler than any bank job you could ever land!"

Gondrong blinked. Slowly, his consciousness returned. "You are right... I am... I am the foreman of the apocalypse. You will not find that job title on LinkedIn!"

Alana looked up at Rendy. "And me?"

"You are the Director of Security, and I am taking you out for the best corn fritters in the CEO’s office later!" Rendy grinned. "Move! Pull the cables! Use the Runner-type zombies in the middle for a speed boost!"

With their spirits reignited, the construction resumed. Alana fired a steel-cable arrow at the top of the building that had not yet been deleted to serve as an anchor. The zombies moved faster, inspired by Rendy’s total disregard for the logic of the future.

The giant staircase grew at an incredible rate. One hundred meters... two hundred meters... punching through the red clouds.

"Look! We are almost through the data atmosphere!" Juling shouted.

Up there, a massive gold elevator door floated in the void, reading: [OFFICE OF THE CEO - NO TRESPASSING WITHOUT APPOINTMENT].

"Get your heads straight," Rendy checked his bag, making sure the sardines and leftover corn fritters were still there. "We are not just here for an explanation. We are here to demand severance pay because this apocalypse has us working overtime without a paycheck."

The zombie pyramid shuddered as its peak touched the threshold of the golden elevator. The data tsunami below was already devouring the city, but Rendy and his team were already beyond the reach of the Delete command.

Rendy pressed the 'Up' button on the golden door using his book.

"Identity detected: Rendy, Anomaly Manager," a robotic female voice echoed. "Status: Corporate Invasion in Progress. Decision: Please enter. The CEO is awaiting your presentation on failure."

The doors slid open. A blinding white light swallowed the four of them. Rendy stepped in first, clutching Coach Udin’s book, which now bore the title: "HOW TO FIRE A PSEUDO-GOD FROM THE REALITY CORPORATION".

The apocalypse had just entered the executive boardroom, and Rendy did not plan on being polite.