THE ONE DISC

I was outside, on the phone to Rory, when I saw it, glistening with rain drops and lying on the cobbled stones by the car park - a compact disc - a Maxell CD-R with 700MB/80 mins of memory that would spin up to 52X. It was in a plastic sleeve, and someone had written the words: "SHORT STORIES 1" on it, with a Sharpie.

I didn't say anything to Rory. I just crouched down and picked it up, intrigued.

This is like one of those situations they dream up for those cyber-security training surveys:

You find a CD in the car park. It seems to contain short stories, written by someone who works in your building. You don't know who. Do you...

a) Hand it in at reception?
b) Take it home and open it?
c) Go back to your desk and open it on your work computer so you can figure out who it belongs to?

Well. What would you do? In the end I emailed reception:

--

Hi.

I found a compact disc today in the car park, in a plastic sleeve. Someone has written: “Short Stories 1” on it, so I assume it’s somebody’s creative output (there is no way I’m opening it!)

In the unlikely event that anyone here is looking for it, the disc is with me, on my desk.

Thanks,

Matt

--

They haven't forwarded it to anyone, so I'm assuming that unless the secret author asks by chance, this disc will remain in my possession, tantalisingly on my desk.

What if it contains some brilliant undiscovered work? What if 'Short Stories 1' is packed with tales of adventure, romance, danger, and plucky battles, or sci-fi on an HG Wells level of epic imagination?

What if it's malware in a plastic sleeve that could take down our network? What if it's just packed with viruses and trojans and ransomware?

And so 'Short Stories 1' remains undiscovered on my desk - the great enigma of not-ever-being-able-to-know. My best bet is to find an old machine that's isolated from any network and no-one would miss if it blue-screened forever. Unplugged from the internet with wireless and bluetooth disabled, it should make a suitable sandbox.

Lot of effort though, isn't it, just for someone's lost creative writing? I wonder what the story really is, how it came to be lost in the car park, and who might be looking for it, and why. There is a part of me that thinks I should just put the disc back where I found it, but now that I've emailed reception... I don't think that's a good idea either.

Maybe I'll just keep using it as a coaster, caught forever in the chasm of the unknown writer. Oh, I wish it had never come to me...

But then, "so do all who live to see such times."

Time for a cuppa, I reckon.