"AH! Found it!" Kara exclaimed while rifling through the files.
She was absolutely ecstatic.
Until she opened it.
Apparently someone had inadvertantly spilled coffee on it, which conveniently destroyed the page listing her diagnosis. She could barely make out the name!
Luckily, her insurance information was intact.
Which was, conveniently, a company owned by Tharomar Enterprises.
Kara collapsed on the desk, exasperated. She was a nurse, not a detective! Even so, why did this bother her so much?
While she pondered this she went about organizing every file in the room.
She hated paperwork and filing, but that didn't mean she wasn't some kind of savant at it. To pay her way through med school she had worked as a secretary for some company or other. She wasn't really clear on the company's name or even what it did. For all she knew it was probably a dummy company set up to give some big wig a tax break.
She was glad to leave that job. Even her coworkers were pricks. They kept going on about Mission Statements and TPS reports, and two guys named Bob had come in one day and fired half the staff, including people far more qualified for their jobs than the people replacing them.
Needless to say Kara's favorite movie was Office Space.
Now that she had finished filing, she left the room and headed for the cafeteria. She was overdue for lunch.
The cafeteria was filled with guys in scrubs, and a few overweigh security guards. After getting her food, which consisted of a hamburger that looked like a philly cheesesteak, and mashed potatoes that resembled some alien fungus, she sat down at an empty table and began eating and reading the file...
Khell showed up outside Conference Room 7 at about the same time as the two elevator guards from the Chief's 'personnal guard', as he and the other regular work stiffs called them. While Khell and crew was equipped with a standard issue pistol and taser, even though Khell's wasn't quite standard anymore, the Chief's guard were loaded to bear with body armor and automatic weaponry. While relations weren't exactly warm and fuzzy between the two types of security guards they were at least all respectful of each other.
"Hey, guys," Khell whispered to the other two men as he looked from them to the closed conference room doors. "What do you say we find out if there's something interesting going on?"
"Sounds good to me," one of the guards whispered back and drew his pistol before standing to one side, ready to cover Khell's entrance. The other guard took up a similiar position as Khell shruggedand put his ear to the door.
"And this, my friends, is why I whispered," Khell whispered as he cupped his ear to the door to see if he heard anything. Hopefully if there was anybody in there they hadn't heard the incoming guards.
Statesman said let there be heroes, and there were heroes.
Lord Recluse said let there be villains, and there were villains.
NCsoft said let there be nothing, and there was nothing.
Jen walked into the cafeteria after dealing with a particularly annoying patient who had thrown his food all over her. She sighed and then saw Kara staring at her meal with a sense of unappeal. She went and sat down and handed her one of her sandwiches. "You look like you could use some real food Kara." She said with a smile. "Hospital food has never been good. I should know I got someones lunch dumped down my shirt." She saw the uncomfort on the young nurses face and smiled again. "Hey I'm not here to grade you. I just want to be friends."
(OOC: Kara's actually pretty meek FYI)
"I-I usually bring food from home, but there was a weird power outage in my apartment building while i was asleep. All my food spoiled. I've heard a local chinese place and a pizza restaurant deliver here though," Kara smiled, "I love pizza..."
((Jen is not your typical stuffy doctor who thinks nurses are slaves. She thinks that most nurses have good insight AND she is new to this hospital and has no friends.))
Jen giggled, "Pizza..that sounds a lot more appetizing than that burger. If we didn't have to work this afternoon I'd be tempted to go run tests on it to see when it died." She grew serious. "I looked over the file of that patient in 2-14. Theres not a lot in it thats useful. I was wondering if you could provide any of your observations on it."
"Oh that's easy," Kara said, irrate, "It's been tampered with. It's kinda obvious given the 'coffee' stains conveniently cover up everything but her room number, first name, and insurance information. Luckily with the insurance information I can at least look up the case file if she was involved in something traumatic. Given that she has no scars, I can tell right away the insurance company would do some fraud investigation."
"What do you think?" Kara continued.
Jen smiled a rather scary smile. "I think we need to look beyond the obvious. Something is wrong or she wouldn't be here. I won't have time today because I have to go over to Tharomar and fill out some financial paperwork and insurance forms of my own, but lets do it tomorrow after rounds. I'll meet you in her room say 11 AM?"
"What the hell happened to you?"
Penny glumly took the Walk of Shame through the lines of cubicles, her co-workers peering out in curious morbid fascination at the battered, bruised, and bleeding girl as she stalked, red-faced, to her desk.
"...uhfellunnasters..." she mumbled, barely audibly.
"Didn't catch that last part." Ryan said with a smirk, leaning on her desk with his cup of coffee.
"I FELL DOWN THE STAIRS." Penny yelled, clearly enunciating every syllable and placing her laptop down before she crushed it in anger.
"That's why I always take the elevator." her manager commented as he walked by.
Penny glared at the spot he had disappeared with nothing less than utter loathing for a split second before reaching up to her hair, which was now messed up out of its loose bun, and removing the ponytail holder. She shook the chestnut waves loose upon her shoulders and middle back, and began putting it back up with a sigh.
Penny turned away from her co-workers. "Listen, don't you guys have work to do? Or at least to accumulate and stack on my desk?"
"Ooooooh...." Tina murmured and retreated to her cubicle. "Someone's going to get dinged on attitude in her next performance review."
"Whatever."
If there was one thing Penny was confident of, it was her job security. If she were fired, her division would collapse in on itself. That was something she was certain of. The amount of information she processed and handled, the number of customers she had relationships with, well...Though the assistant was the lowest rung on the ladder, she was an essential one.
She hesitated, and reached up to carefully touch the now-swollen welt on her cheek.
"[censored], I'm gonna have a hell of a black eye for the next two days." she remarked glumly, booting up the laptop to work with the transcription.
Japancakes.
Art - Theme 005 - Seeking Solace
OOC: All of a sudden Penny is reminding me of my mom's job. Without her, almost nothing would get done and if it did get done it'd probably be wrong.
Statesman said let there be heroes, and there were heroes.
Lord Recluse said let there be villains, and there were villains.
NCsoft said let there be nothing, and there was nothing.
With a dramatic flourish of her hand, Morgan Calloway keyed the last "Ctrl+S" to save the outline of her marketing campaign for the new Z-Chip program. The announcement had taken her by surprise - to her considerable annoyance - but the chip itself was a marketer's dream. Sure, there were alarming, almost sinister aspects, if one considered the military possibilities of complete weather control. And it wasn't as if her plan ignored those possibilities, with a strategy for approaching several polities without (she hoped) violating an US technology export restrictions.
The marketing upsides were breathtaking. Drawing on her memory of some European history classes she'd taken as an undergrad, Morgan recalled that the warm period that preceded the Fourteenth Century's "mini ice age" had been referred to as the "Time of Plenty." This had formed the basis of her overall theme: "Ushering in a new Age of Plenty."
This campaign, this product, coudln't miss. Morgan's opinion of her stock options, which she had previosulyu though to be too large a portion of her compensation package, rose considerably.
Her stomach rumbled. SHe realized with twin shocks both that it was lunchtime already...and that she had outlined a complete marketing plan for a company-critical product in the course of three hours.
"Some plans just make themselves," she mused as she locked down her laptop.
"And in this moment, I will not run.
It is my place to stand.
We few shall carry hope
Within our bloodied hands."
"Then I guess I'll just contact the insurance company about her. Shouldn't be too much trouble, since I just need information," Kara explained, "So I better get right on that! See you tomorrow, Doctor."
Kara got up and left the table, throwing the festering remains in a garbage can and making her way to the phones. At the phones was another young nurse. In every single sense of the word.
She looked very much like one of those 'prestige' nurses, children of rich doctors or other upper class families that basically got their way through med school paid for them, doing no actual work beyond the actual nurse training. Kara secretly despised them, given she was basically clipping coupons and going to night school six days a week to earn her diploma before she turned twenty-three (she was twenty-four now, quite an achievement actually. Being a bit of a savant at organization and other menial chores allowed her to skip a few grades in elementary school) while these girls skated through med school on their parents' laurels.
"I'd like to use the phone, please," Kara asked sweetly. This particular nurse she actually hated, because she embodied everything that she felt was wrong with society. Worse yet, she was from California too, which made Kara look bad too.
"Could you, like, hold on? I'm talking to my boyfriend," the nurse said.
"Please, it's rather important. And hospital related," Kara continued, still sweet as sugar.
"Like, NO! I'm on break! I don't have to!" the nurse replied.
Kara couldn't believe this girl's audacity. Worse yet, she was actually YOUNGER than Kara! Which she, again, attributed to the girl's parents paying her way through school.
"When you're on break, you need to use your cell phone..." Kara cited.
"Yeah right, that thing's expensive!" the nurse said dismissively.
Funny, I don't remember my cell phone being all that expensive for me...maybe because I don't blab on it for hours on end... Kara thought to herself.
Kara had had it. She'd get that phone if it killed her.
"Look, if you don't get off that phone right now I'll tell the director that you're using hospital property for personal purposes. And I'll also personally make it my mission to ensure you're assigned to every anal bleeder, every incontinent, every projectile vomiter, and every patient in need of a bed pan in this hospital," Kara threatened, her mood changing.
The nurse froze. This tactic frequently worked on these girls, and Kara could actually back up the threat too, if she needed to.
"Fine," the nurse said, and grudgingly handed over the phone.
"Thank you," Kara said sweetly again, taking the phone and dialing the number for the insurance company.
"Uh," the nurse said, not leaving, "Y'know, that insurance company keeps all their files online now, you don't need to call them..."
Right on cue, Kara's call connected to an answering service...that basically told her to check online.
Kara hung up the phone and stormed over to the computer, rather annoyed now.
((I know little about programming, so forgive me. 
))
Percy sat at his desk, typing endlessly.
"Dangit!" he muttered. "Won't compile again. There's a bad variable here somewhere. . ."
Yes! There it was. Stupid thing. What value was it returning?
He checked the equation that defined it. . .
41058212025
. . . What? That didn't make any sense. . .
Wait. No, it was returning Y squared, like it was supposed to. Why had he thought those. . . other numbers had been there?
. . . He couldn't even remember what they had been. . .
And in a few seconds, he couldn't remember that anything unusual had ever happened.
((I hope this isn't too early to foreshadow anything. 
))
Grumbling sullenly at his desk, Tharomar checked the page displayed on his computer screen once more. Something here wasn't quite making sense - the Aluminum shipment from Shakhead ad come a bit late, and there seemed to be a discrepency on the actual mass value.
He made a note to have that shipment checked, then glanced at his watch again.
Hadn't there been someone scheduled to meet with him...?
"If I had Force powers, vacuum or not my cape/clothes/hair would always be blowing in the Dramatic Wind." - Tenzhi
Characters
Outside Conference Room 7
[ QUOTE ]
"Sounds good to me," one of the guards whispered back and drew his pistol before standing to one side, ready to cover Khell's entrance. The other guard took up a similiar position as Khell shruggedand put his ear to the door.
"And this, my friends, is why I whispered," Khell whispered as he cupped his ear to the door to see if he heard anything. Hopefully if there was anybody in there they hadn't heard the incoming guards.
[/ QUOTE ]
Fred stepped off the elevator and froze, seeing Khell about to go into the room with the Chiefs guard on either side of the door. Moved against the wall quickly, careful not to bang the new camera as he did so. So, I obviously missed something
he whispered. Not a faulty camera, eh?
Mr. D checked the time and decided that the meeting was over and it was time to present his information. He picked up his briefcase and walked the hidden staircase to Mr. Tharomars office.
As he entered he removed his sunglasses, exposing his piercing and currently green eyes. Sir. He said in greeting, giving almost a bow before he stood waiting for a signal to continue. I have reports ready as you requested. As always I will make my report as brief as possible and allow you to view the details on the disks.
A small hand gesture from Mr. Tharomar indicated it was time to continue.
Mr. D handed over the first optical disk. The Z-chip data that had been suspected stolen was recovered with a 97.5% chance of zero exposure. The perpetrator was an independent operative in concert with one of our low-level lab techs. Both have been put on permanent leave. Mr. D used one of the euphemisms for killing. The data was recovered but no specific sponsor for the activity was identified. However, many signs point to Crey, and my information network indicated that the operative had done work for Crey in the past.
Mr. D paused as Mr. Tharomar considered the issue, then a brief nod indicated he should continue and he handed over the next disk.
Aeon Corp has been quite active lately but is still dealing with so much internal strife that they have difficulty moving forward or taking any direct action against us. The only notable issue was that a Mr. Larry Haines, formerly employed by Tharomar who had a tragic mental breakdown and was in an institution, was taken by Aeon Corp and given employment. Fortunately we had subjected Mr. Haines to our mind-wipe drugs and his recall should be only approximately 14.22%. Still this is of concern considering the degree of information that he had access to while in Tharomar employ.
Once again there was a pause until Mr. Tharomar gave the signal to continue.
Mr. D went over some recent acquisitions from other companies both large and small. Some of the technological information was rather important and could help some projects significantly. One minor detail; the Family seems to be taking more of a cut from shipments out of the Rogue Isles. Should I contact our Arachnos liaison and see if anything can be done?
Finally Mr. D ended with the Crey Corp report. Besides some typical minor espionage and multiple foiled attempts by Crey to operatives get hired by Tharomar, there was little of note. The last piece was important. Sir, I do believe you were correct in your estimation of potential sabotage at our launch pad or rail. There has been a lot of buzz between Crey and some of their known operatives with that sort of experience. Signs point to an attempt to make the sabotage look like an industrial accident and not only cause damage to the resources but also make it a public relations disaster.
He closed his briefcase with a click and tapped a few more buttons on his hand-held computer. I have redirected significant resources in an attempt to uncover any Crey plots but I am not sure that we can cover all possible avenues.
Mr. D finished and waited patiently for any instructions.
"Shut up Mr. Burton, you are not brought upon this world to get it!" - Lo Pan
@MadGremlin
"Hey Fred," Khell said as the other security guard showed up. "Just can't be to sure and this was mostly his idea anyway."
Khell tossed a thumb at the guard to his left before turning and pushing open the doors. The two doors swung inward and then banged lightly against the doorstops on either side. Khell looked around, sighed, and relaxed.
"Nothing to see," he said. "Why don't you hurry up and re-install the camera so we can get to where we're supposed to be. The Chief might be patient but I doubt Mr. Tharomar is."
Statesman said let there be heroes, and there were heroes.
Lord Recluse said let there be villains, and there were villains.
NCsoft said let there be nothing, and there was nothing.
"Good work." Tharomar leaned back in his chair, "I trust everything looked like an accident, as always."
He considered the issues one after another, "Mr. Haines, hm? I see he still takes his medication. It would be tragic if his next perscription turned out to be fatal, wouldn't you agree?"
The order to poison the poor man with the addled mind to death was obvious, "Doctor a few medical records, and it should be only a formality to have him die of an overdose of something of which he should only have taken a tiny amount. That or an allergic reaction, the two seem to go hand in hand.
"As to the family problem, I don't think we need to involve Arachnos in this. it would be far more economical to supply the Mooks with a little edge. Just enough to balance the odds. The Family should be back to dealing with their own problems in no time."
"Crey...they've been too nosey lately. See if you can manage to get some dirt on them to Freedom Corps. With the right amount of quiet money, they should have a few capes and maybe even a formal investigation breathing down the Countess' neck in no time at all."
Tharmoar turned his chair about, looking out the window into the falling snow, "So nothing from Portal Corp, hm? I cannot say why, but that bothers me..."
"If I had Force powers, vacuum or not my cape/clothes/hair would always be blowing in the Dramatic Wind." - Tenzhi
Characters
The two members of the Chief's guard hosltered their pistols, grumbling. The one who hadn't come up with the idea thwapped the other on the head sharply.
"We betta get movin'." The guard, a Pacific Islands native, urged his fellows, swinging his P-90 off of his shoulder.
Milly leaned forward, she thought she heard voices from Mr. Tharomar's office. She had stepped out down the hall to make use of the water fountain, she had just gotten back and was sure there were suddenly voices in there.
"Maybe I should knock... just to make sure." She mumbled, before tapping twice on the door nervously.
I couldn't have just heard Mr. Tharomar ordering someone killed... that kind of stuff only happens on TV. She assured herself.
((Devious, you walked right by Milly. Poor girl.))
Pinnacle
Heroes
When in danger, or in doubt; Run in circles, scream and shout.
[ QUOTE ]
"I trust everything looked like an accident, as always."
[/ QUOTE ]
Complete with trustworthy witnesses, sir. Mr. D replied without emotion.
Mr. Haines will end up with some sort of drug problem. Maybe hell accidentally take an Aeon Corp drug instead of his own. Mr. D nodded to himself as he tapped a few keys on his hand computer.
I will make sure to send some of our intelligence on Crey to a few of the overly reactive super groups in Paragon. That should grab their attention for a while.
[ QUOTE ]
Tharmoar turned his chair about, looking out the window into the falling snow, "So nothing from Portal Corp, hm? I cannot say why, but that bothers me..."
[/ QUOTE ]
Well sir, the hero attention on Portal Corp has made any attempts very difficult. We are continuing our efforts to make friends with a few borderline heroes but they are so unpredictable it is rather
difficult. Mr. D shifted, showing his first sign of nervousness. He hated to disappoint Mr. Tharomar. I will continue our efforts in that direction. He thought for a moment. Perhaps someone like the Council or the Malta Group might have some information though. Difficult and dangerous but still possible to extract information.
"Shut up Mr. Burton, you are not brought upon this world to get it!" - Lo Pan
@MadGremlin
Dr. McCourd sat back at his computer and logged in. He went through several files, of other side projects, until he came to the Z-Chip and Project Forecast. He brought up a side window which explained the application of the Z-Chip to the weather machine.
"Such a waste," he muttered to himself.
Then he brought up a second window and began looking at another design. He scratched at the whiskers on his chin, thinking he should shave, and began adding to his work. He was a decent typer. He was hoping for no interruptions. Once he got started, he usually spent several hours thinking of new projects, or different applications for current ones.
That was why the Z-chip was done in only a month and a half. He was a workaholic when it came to science. That's why he had done so well in school. He was going to test the chip before old man Thomas got a chance to see it. If his theory was correct, it would do much more.
He sat back, looking at his screen as if realizing an idea. He began typing faster, until a readout of Positron came up on his screen. He didn't have much time. He copied some of the specs from Positron's suit and quickly closed off the connection. Then he cross-referenced the specs from Positron's suit with the Z-chip installed.
"Interesting."
It was known as the Wormwood Virus. About 3 years ago, there was an unexplained viral outbreak that occurred in a town not too far from Rockwell. Those infected with the virus would experience hallucinogenic symptoms such as: Narrowing of their field of vision; Seeing and/or hearing things that were obviously not real; and a euphoric effect on the brain that caused the victims to feel as if theyd ascended to a higher plane of existence.
The political leaders of the town wanted to bring information of the virus to the attention of the government, but the medical office located at that town was under the direct control of Crey Industries, and the obvious PR potential for the virus was too good of an opportunity to pass up. In no time, private doctors under the payroll of Crey Industries developed a cure for the virus, and the town emerged from the outbreak seemingly unscathed... a fact that was the cover story on every national newspaper the next day. It was cited as just another one of Creys many good-will deeds to down-trodden communities in the United States.
Unknown to the press, however, the virus was not COMPLETELY eradicated from the town. About a year after the town believed the virus was only a memory, several members of the town began to develop what was at first believed to be extreme cases of the flu. Upon inspection of the patients blood samples, however, it was revealed that the cause of their condition was, in fact, due to a mutated version of the Wormwood Virus. While the symptoms of this new version were nowhere near as severe as the original outbreak, they unfortunately proved to be inevitably fatal, as the first patient to die of the mutated strain did so 10 months after he first reported it to doctors. At first, doctors in the town believed the condition was small and isolated, but as time went on, more and more cases began to be reported, and in just 6 months, 90% of the patients who were cured of the original strain had contracted the new, mutated strain.
This was of course brought to the attention of Crey Industries; but, by that time, there was no longer any PR potential possible from the town they had saved only a year ago. The official statement to the doctors under Creys employ were to quietly distance themselves from the citizens of the town, and focus their attention on more important ventures.
Dr. Darrow, one of the leading scientists working on the possible cures for the mutated strain, was forced to search elsewhere for the resources he needed to finish his work. He sought help from Tharomar Enterprises, but didnt get much sympathy from their R & D board. However, one young supervisor, who had only joined the company several months prior, seemed to take genuine interest in Dr. Darrows work, and because of his input, it was decided that Dr. Darrow would be allowed to continue his research in Tharomars R & D lab. Of course, should the research prove to unfruitful, both Dr. Darrow AND the young supervisor would be looking for a new line of work. And thus, the relationship between Dr. Darrow and Dr. Natas began.
Muahahahahaha! You are in my grasp now, Free-dumb Phalanx! The evil Smart Alec laughed heartily, the entire Freedom Phalanx trapped in his Field of Stupidity. You thought you could outsmart me! But now, Ive got you in my grasp! And with my super-secret Stupifying Ray, Im going to turn this entire city into a bunch of brainless buffoons! Then ILL be the smartest Alec in the world! Muahahahahahahahahahaha!
You fiend! Statesman yelled. Youll never succeed! Evil can never conquer justice!
Muahahahaha! Its too late! Smart Alec said, his hand hovering over an oversized, red button. With just a push of this button, the entire city will be MINE! Muahahahahaha! Yes, once I push this button, it will all be over, and you can kiss your city good-bye! Because with just a push of this button, the entire city will be... DUMB-IFIED! Muahahahahaha!
Not so fast, foul villain! A voice rang out.
Who is that?! Smart Alec asked.
Its me... Hunter descended from the sky, his red and blue cape flowing over his super hero costume. Hunter Darrow, Official Member of the Freedom Phalanx!
No! It cant be! Smart Alec yelled, Hunters theme music playing in the background.
But it is! Take this! Hunter rushed at the villain, swinging his fist with all his might. HUNTER DARROWS.... SUPER SPECIAL... SUPER PUNCH!
Blargh! I am defeated! Smart Alec yelled, collapsing.
Thank goodness you arrived in time, Hunter Darrow! Statesman said as he and his team were freed from the Field of Stupidity. You proved once again that brawn beats brains every time! You truly are the best member of the Freedom Phalanx!
Three Cheers for Hunter! The other members cried out. Hip Hip...
Hey kid... are you alright? A voice woke Hunter from his daydream.
Huh? Hunter looked around; he was only several blocks away from the hospital, in front of an outdoor deli shop.
Youve been standing here with a goofy grin on your face for like, 5 minutes now. Do you want to buy a sandwich, or something? The shopkeeper eyed Hunter.
Uh... sorry! No thanks! Ive got to get going! Hunter quickly excused himself and ran down the walkway to the hospital once more.
Man, and I was getting to the best part, too... Hunter whined. Im so hungry... and tired... why does the hospital have to be so far away from the house?
Supplemental Galactic Protectorate Fanfic
Evening was falling and Jen was tired. All she really wanted to do was leave to pick her daughter up and go home and snuggle with Leenie and the Cats infront of the TV. But there was still stuff to be done. She'd gotten an email requesting her assistance on a young girl whose memory was being inexplicably erased. The case was in a small free clinic half way across town. The case intrigued her. The first thing to go was the short term memory. The asking for an extra glass of milk at lunch, things like that. In 2 days it had gone from short term memory loss to the beginnings of long term memory loss. The girls parents had panicked and had brought her to the free clinic. The doctor there had then called Jen in for a consult. Sighing and looking at the clock Jen noticed that it was 3:30 and already it was starting to snow harder. "Well the good news is that you won't have to contend with anyone on the roads." She laughed to herself. At that precise moment her pager went off. She looked at it and saw,
"Go to Tharomar Headquarters for a meeting."
She sighed. "Oh of all the times to do this. I'd better call and tell them I'll come in tomorrow for that consult." She got her phone out and called the clinic. "Yes this is Dr Morse, I had a consult with Dr Eberling scheduled for this afternoon. I am afraid I'm not going to make it. I just got a page for a mandatory meeting."
"Alright Doctor. Thanks for notifying us. We will let Dr Eberling know. What day would you like to re-schedule?"
"What days good for Dr Eberling. I can come by tomorrow after work." Jen said.
"That will be fine. We'll let her know." The nurse said and hung up. Jen grabbed her light coat and walked outside wishing once again for her boots as the snow melted into her stockings. She got into her car and started to drive. "I'm so glad that I got my license up in Fairbanks." She muttered watching another car slide into a lightpost. She waved and got the finger back. 15 minutes later she pulled into Tharomar headquarters. Parking in the guest parking area she got out, stepped in a puddle and gritted her teeth. "This better be worth it." She muttered walking inside. She walked up to the desk. "Yes my names Jen Morse. I'm a doctor over at the hospital. I was paged and asked to come here for a meeting but they didn't say who. Could you check for me and then inform them that I'm here?"
Can I help you? Vanessa looked up to see a young man, early twenties, thin build in a black suit with a white shirt standing in front of her desk. He had a visitor badge.
Oh, yes, Ryan Creese. Im in sales. Im supposed to meet with Clarence Thomas. I just got in from L.A. and Id like to get settled before I fall behind. He could tell by the way Vanessa was frantically looking through the appointment schedule that she had no idea who he was or why he was there. He took off his sunglasses and ran a hand through his short, black hair. I was hired by Tharomar, Im inside sales. I should be starting tomorrow. He added these things hoping it would jog her memory, but he felt it was pointless. The girls appearance suggested one who was out of her depth and desperately trying to tread water.
Youre appointment isnt until tomorrow. She finally found the record and looked up at him.
Id prefer to get a head start, if you wouldnt mind seeing if Mr. Thomas can fit me in. Its just a meet and greet handshake thing. Should take just a few seconds to find out who I report to. Ryan was smooth and high powered. Hed believed every single seminar speaker hed ever been to on how to sell things. Quick, direct, to the point.
He worked for a company called Armory, selling weapons to the highest bidder for a long time, until Tharomar made a better offer. His personal secretary, Anna, had found him a little apartment southeast of Prosperity, in what she referred to as a quiet neighborhood. Just before he left, he made sure to hand deliver her severance pay. He was going for a surprise, and she sure did look surprised.
She wouldnt be the only woman hed be surprising this week, as Vanessa seemed puzzled as to whether or not she should put through Ryans request.
Ryan smiled reassuringly and leaned across her desk. Look, Im not selling anything while Im standing here, so do you think hes going to want to talk to me for five seconds so I can start earning him money or wait for a day because you dont want to ask him if he has any free time?
He could see Vanessas expression changing. He smiled back at her and said, Ill have a seat and wait for his answer.