The Warehouse by Rob Hart

 


The Warehouse presents a nightmarish future world made all the more ghastly and sinister since its future isn't too far distant and much of the nightmare is already in the making.

We're in 2040 or thereabouts, and it's global warming with a vengeance: cities like Dubai and Cairo have become uninhabitable, their citizens turned refugees. Rising water levels have destroyed Venice, and Miami is nearly flooded off the map. Worldwide oppressive heat—(we can infer much of the globe registers temperatures over 115 degrees)—means, unless absolutely necessary, venturing outside has become virtually unthinkable.

The Warehouse features two main characters, rotating back and forth from their respective points of view: Paxton, a former prison guard in New York for fifteen year who has spent his off hours developing his own business – he invented a gizmo that makes the perfect hard-boiled egg, and Zinnia, an expert in all phases of combat with a killer instinct who employs her skills as a seasoned warrior in corporate espionage.

At the opening of the novel, along with many others, Paxton and Zinnia take a bus rumbling across the desolate, scorching American hinterland to seek employment in the world of a MotherCloud, a colossal warehouse for Cloud, the largest company in the US. The MotherCloud warehouse is surrounded by tech facilities, dormitories, shopping/entertainment malls, schools, and a hospital, all kept cool by green energy. Paxton introduces himself to attractive Zinnia and wonders if he'll have an opportunity to meet her again once in MotherCloud.

Turns out, the pair are among the lucky ones given a job and not sent home (I'm being ironic here; please see below). Paxton will join the ranks of security guards (blue shirts) and Zinnia has been assigned as a warehouse picker (red shirts), something of a surprise since, with her strong background with computers, she thought she'd be used as a tech person (brown shirts).

Actually, The Warehouse features a third main character: Gibson Wells, the founder and CEO of Cloud. Although Wells is worth $304.9 billion (the third richest man in the world), he's on the cusp of losing it all since he has pancreatic cancer and will die in less than a year. We get Wells' reflections on his life, Cloud, and overall philosophy in the form of ongoing entries on his blog.

Back on Paxton and Zinnia. The pair do indeed meet once inside MotherCloud. Their day-to-day workaday grind and developing relationship drive much of the novel's drama, especially Zinnia's secret plans to extract the needed information for her mysterious employer, probably a prime competitor to Cloud, information regarding Cloud's questionable green energy source, granting the mega company millions of dollars in tax exemptions.

The Warehouse is a thriller. You'll eagerly keep turning those pages to find out what happens to Paxton and Zinnia. However, since the novel is also a cautionary tale of a possible near-future dystopia, here's a list of a number of ways Cloud is depicted as a dehumanizing horror show.

The Ultimate Strong-Arm - Cloud owns an entire range of industries well beyond their warehouse operation, including everything from farms to media to microchips. As a result, they employ a whopping 30 million employees. Wells is very proud that he convinced the government to stop interfering in important ways with Cloud. This resulted in the countrywide unemployment rate dropping from 28% to 3%. Quite impressive, for sure, Mr. Wells, but there's a definite trade-off: without government regulations, Cloud can treat employees however they want, no matter how abusive.

Slam! - When Paxton gets off the bus and enters the Cloud facility, he can see an older man at the end of the line barred from entrance. A Cloud employee tells the old man he's gotta want to work at Cloud so much he'd never be the last in line. Do you detect a tincture of brutality?

Total Control, One - Each employee is assigned a tiny dormitory room on the Cloud campus. Wells is very proud of this arrangement, which has drastically reduced all the carbon dioxide pollution generated by employees driving their cars back and forth to work.

Total Control, Two - Each employee must wear a company-issued computerized wristband at all times upon leaving their dormitory room. Thus, Cloud can track every single employee 24/7. The wristband displays the wearer's star rating (you dare not drop below three stars). Additionally, a bar constantly transitions from green to yellow. If it turns yellow, you must work faster to return it to green. If your rating drops from yellow to red more than once – you're fired.

Work, Work, Work - The 40 hour work week is a past luxury. According to Wells, you gotta have ambition, which translates into working 60 or 70 hours every week. Overtime pay? Don't even ask. And if you complain, you're always free to leave.

Safety Last - Warehouse pickers can use safety clips when they climb up to the upper shelves, but since the clips take time to snap on and off, employees hardly ever use them. After all, they could lose valuable seconds and drop further down on their yellow bar. One lady tells Zinnia she's in a wheelchair since she took a nasty fall as a picker. But, she says, Cloud took good care of her; she now works at a computer as part of tech support.

Hospital - Zinnia dislocates her shoulder and requires a hospital visit. A man promptly relocates her shoulder and advises against the hospital unless she wishes to risk her star rating. He emphasizes that the hospital is reserved for severe injuries. If one is capable of walking or simply unwell, it's preferable to opt for a painkiller and continue with work.

Drones - Wells undertook a significant business risk by investing in cutting-edge drone technology. His gamble proved successful: nowadays, Cloud reigns supreme. Cloud is the company capable of offering customers throughout the entire US with lightning-fast service. Any employee showing even a hint of trouble is promptly assigned to the warehouse roof, where they must endure 10-12 hour shifts amidst scorching heat. Their responsibility? Loading cargo onto thousands of drones.

Big Fish Eats Little Fish – Paxton is resentful since Cloud drove him out of his hard-boiled-egg business back when he was CEO of his own company. Cloud destroyed many small business in its quest for complete domination. As Wells continually drives home, when it comes to business, “the market decides” and he wasn't proud he had to break a few eggs to make an omelet, but, dang, it's the end result that counts. And, with Cloud, so claims Wells, the world is a better place.

Cloud Media – With all their TV stations and other mass media, Cloud is Fox taken to the extreme. There's a TV in every dormitory room with every station being a Cloud station. The brainwashing is complete.

White Managers - Zinnia finds herself confronted with Rick's persistent attempts at sexual abuse in the dormitory. She soon realizes that Rick's status as a manager (indicated by his white shirt) enables him to act with impunity, as exploiting women seems to be an unspoken privilege associated with attaining a higher position and embodying the ideal of a "Cloud man." A Latino supervisor informs Zinnia that managerial roles are exclusively reserved for white men. Racist and sexist, you might ask? Absolutely! However, Cloud has positioned itself far beyond the reach of state laws or government regulations.

Getting To Know You - Cloud does its best to prevent employees from forming into groups or developing meaningful relationships. To maintain complete control over every phase of its employees' lives, Cloud discourages interpersonal connections or in-depth conversations that are outside the scope of one's job. Recall I mentioned that Cloud is a dehumanizing horror show back there. This last bullet seals the deal for the truth of this statement.

Rob Hart has written a gem, a compelling captivating novel for our time. Highly recommended.


American author Rob Hart

Rob has dedicated his novel to Maria Fernandes. Rob writes "Maria Fernandes worked part time at three separate Dunkin' Donuts located in New Jersey, and in 2014, while sleeping in her car between shifts, accidentally suffocated on gas fumes. She was struggling to pay $550 a month on her basement apartment. That same year, according to the Boston Globe, Dunkin' Brands then CEO, Nigel Travis, earned $10.2 million. More than anyone or anything else, Maria's story beats at the heart of this book."