September
You and Leach sit in one of MetaHuman's meeting rooms, waiting for the other participants to arrive for September's monthly budget meeting. The two of you are watching TV.
"MetaHuman Incorporated has always been a source of great interest in the business world," says the show's presenter. "Yet this year in particular has been dramatic. In January, following the disappearance of Anaru Katariki, the CEO position shifted to Roman Halama ., a relative unknown. The Sophic Investor team has been watching for—"
"This will air tonight?" you say.
Leach nods.
"We're a little pressed for time here," you tell him. "Skip to the end."
He does so.
"—summary of MetaHuman is, on the whole, a mixed bag. The company is loved in some sectors, hated in others. For now, it's hard to predict how they'll do in the future."
You frown. You'd hoped for a better evaluation, something that would bring fresh investment to the company. But you're unlikely to see it, given this mediocre appraisal.
Next
The rest of the meeting's participants—Winston, Electra, and Claudette—arrive, and take their places around the table.
"Good vacation?" Claudette asks you.
"Eventful," you say. "You?"
"It's difficult for me to take a vacation, really," she says. She taps the side of her head. "Even when I'm supposed to be relaxing, my brain is always working, working." She grimaces. "Gives me terrible insomnia, sometimes."
"Let's start," says Winston. "I think we can keep this short, today. Anybody mind if we open with the budget allocation?"
"Fine by me," you answer.
"One point, before we get into that," says Electra. "We're currently watching our new friends at ORPHEUS—by the way, it's extremely hard to spy on psychics. Anyway, we've been helping with their psychic augmentation treatments, and it seems some of their work could be beneficial to our own Psi-activator Enhancement. I've already forwarded all relevant details to Claudette."
You nod, pleased with this unexpected bonus.
Next
Leach chips in. "I'll bring up a piece of news I came across, if I may. You remember Professor Nemesis, who interviewed for the HOR position in January? He's been witnessed committing a rather violent murder, somewhere in Texas. He's currently a fugitive from justice."
"Not recruiting him was a shrewd choice, it seems," says Electra. "We may have dodged a rather embarrassing bullet."
Next