After that story with winning competition and PR boost I had to act as of mascot and company representative. Whole week I spend either making photo shots or short promotional ad videos. For a moment I have become cash cow for PR and marketing department and oh boy they did their best to milk me dry while hype is still there.
Those bastard even started making memes with me as main character. Some shit like, When your Dad crashes your house party or When you meet your girlfriend's dad or When dad finds out you breached in to his alcohol cabinet. Fucking great, from awe inspiring hero to meme hero. But for marketing and PR guys there is no such problem, PR is still PR not matter how bad it can be sometimes.
Moreover those bastards even forced me to make promotion for Kang Tao and their smart weapons. Another session of photo shoot and all that media campaign bullshit.
To be honest Kang Tao makes not bad weapons and they are really useful when dealing with rough situations in urban environment filled with civilians. But damn they lack in pure firepower aspect and can be hacked making their weapons not so reliable. While good old mechanic can keep shooting even if barrel is bent or covered in mud. Sigh, but there is nothing I can do about it. So just shut, smile and wave. Now I know how did Forrest felt when he was asked to promote ping-pong paddles but preferred different one.
I hoped that my efforts will not go in vain and I can make even eddies which will speed up my plan for getting implants I need. However, greedy finance department offered me some breadcrumbs instead of a proper slice of a cake. My ass was so butthurt that I could shoot jet fire and fly around the world like a comet. They said that major payment will be provided later as company is busy making changes and spending a lot on PR campaign. Yeah, they are trying to put a blame for that on me since I was a cause of that popularity boost.
But I saw how company share prices went up at least by few percent which is huge. Top management have at least made few hundreds of millions out of that. So after having a chat with Ron about whole situation and how to make company pay me now instead of promises of great benefits in future. Ron pulled some of his connections and said that we can find a way out if we clarify and justify to finance department that I don't plan to waste money on something useless such as luxury car or lavish party but aim to get some important implants that can increase my efficiency as Security Specialist. We even had to pull HR head as support for coming negotiation.
Few hours of very aggressive negotiations when me, Ron and HR head Jeremiah Waters had to explain them that in long term company will only benefit from paying me now. First of all, money will be invested in improving my combat and work efficiency. Second, I have long-term, 5-year contract with Trauma Team which has severe penalties in case I leave company. Therefore I will keep making money to company for next few years. Finally, I plan to purchase implants and have them implanted at our branch hospitals. Roughly saying this can be viewed as weird way of putting money from company pocket to it's another pocket.
As final trump card we have contacted PR and marketing guys which sided with us. They stated that if we will not reward and show care for our company star-representative this can cause some negative backlash which will result in decrease in stock price and other financial loses due to mismatch of PR campaign and reality.
This was a last straw that broke camels back and finance department decided to provide me with requested money. But money will be just enough to cover implants, operation and rehab as well as instead of getting bonuses they will be automatically transferred to cover part of my debt. After thinking this through I have decided to agree.
What can I say? I didn't manage grab dragon by his balls but at least managed to tickle his balls to make them shrink in fear. I might have earned some hatred from finance department but guys will kiss my ass in future as I plan to make it to top of the Trauma Teams combat specialists and earn some nice reputation. Hahah, I expect that in future they will grumble that they should have offered me so I can reach that level faster and make more money for company.
Now let's start thinking about my "build" and which implants I should get. Time to pay a visit to HQ hospital.