High above in the white skies of the snowing silver city, right below the clouds from where that very snowfall emits, is a lane of traffic as pods soar with roars, though these ones are far smaller than the garbage trucks from earlier. They're instead both sized and shaped more akin to personal commercial vehicles, sedans and SUVs being the more prominent with only a few minivans sprinkled through. Most of them don't have unique colors, just shades of black and white, with a few dawning dark reds or blues to stand out though they remain the minority.
The lane sits high above the city, well above the skyscrapers as they don't even seem tall from their perspective though the ground beneath them is significantly further, the pedestrian crowds being nothing but miniscule specs. Even the main city traffic which weaves between the skyscrapers further below is small, the vehicles themselves impossible to properly examine as they're basically dots from this height as well, moving vastly slower relative to the traffic higher above. The traffic below also features multiple parallel lanes both side by side but there are also several elevation layers, though they can only be distinguished with some vehicles appearing slightly smaller than others despite having the same bodies.
Among the pods gliding high above the city is one not particularly unique, its body black like many others in an SUV form also like many others. The interior of the vehicle also sports the same black scheme with leather seats, five seats total with three in the back and two in the front, though there's only a sole passenger that being the driver herself, a woman seemingly dressed in a professional business suit as she has a black blazer on, the lapels featuring asymmetric green buttons on the upper right and bottom left side. Along the breast where the pocket square would be is a strip of green parallelogram buttons at a slant. The suit also has surgeon's cuffs with similarly green buttons, and under the blazer is a white shirt, though upon closer inspection it doesn't actually appear to be a proper buttoned up dress shirt, but rather a somewhat casual white shirt with a low cut. Under her white belt is also not a proper dress pant, as while it's black to match the blazer, it's instead more casual leggings, her suit somewhat deceptive in that manner.
Her face speaks of a European descent with light green eyes, sharpened stern, sporting rich amber hair reaching nearly to her shoulders, neatly tucked to the side behind her ear such that the bangs don't cover her face. Her focus remains ahead, specifically on the windshield which has a holographically augmented display featuring gauges along the edges for speedometers and gyroscopes represented by a three-dimensional model of the vehicle which reveals its slight bearings. Specifically on the windshield though her focus lies on one of the skyscrapers among the others, the shape itself isn't particularly unique amongst the many towers with sleek curves and interesting shapes like colossal swords poking the sky, as this one is just a standard rectangular tower. What separates it from the rest though is its height, for it's vastly taller than all others that can be seen over the city. The tower approaches as it sits not too far off the lane, and in fact once reaching the tangent of the lane and direct line to the tower, the woman drives the pod to make a turn off road, instead bolting straight for that destination.
Now on a path untraveled other than herself, she glances to the edges of the windshield which provide streaming displays of her side angles like rear view mirrors would as well as one showing the view behind the vehicle. Confirming her to now be secluded, she returns her focus back on the tower which seems to get even larger as the pod smoothly ascends, its grand scale taking more prominence.
In fact as she drives closer to the tower, there is one certain physical attribute about the shape itself that is interesting of note, as in the middle of the tower is a certain chunk that isn't solid but rather composed of an array of pillars, separating the two halves, a relatively minor detail but one that does provide a sense of unique history especially since that detail was more of a modification. Regardless, it is that chunk that the pod seems to be driving towards in specific, and the closer she reaches to it the more detail can be observed such as the fact that chunk has several open floors, and those pillars are surprisingly broad, though perhaps they need to be to carry the weight of the entire upper half.
Gradually the SUV pod approaches the middle chunk of the tower, its roar growing as it gets closer though it then significantly starts quieting or rather calming as the vehicle decelerates suddenly, as that roar initially akin to a lion's becomes more of a tapered growl, which continues to soften to a serene hum, that hum emitting once the vehicle reaches a speed of a crawl.
It achieves this speed just before passing through the pillars along the edge, more safely able to traverse what is now identified to be a parking garage of sorts as the open levels are full of parked pods scattered in lots drawn in a defined grid. The grid isn't entirely used though, as only about a fourth if not less is occupied, allowing plenty of options to be taken. Many of the pods which are present though are noticeably more luxurious or sporty than the casual bunch in the road, either being longer and sleeker or more vibrant and buff, some in fact in the backs having extrusions that resemble old spoilers.
This black SUV in fact is among the less extravagant, but it selects a parking spot all the same, choosing an area with fewer vehicles, secluding itself more which eases the parking process. Once the vehicle slots itself inside the space, it descends slowly to about a foot off the surface before the hum completely silences, leaving the pod to just hover in place.
Along the left side of the pod, where the front door would be, is a sudden burst as the shell vaporizes into a nanite cloud, one that the woman steps out of. She plants herself on the floor with shoes with a formal shape and material, not heels but dress shoes nonetheless with a signature white top on the throat and vamp, the rest black. She takes a few steps away from the vehicle, allowing that gap to be filled back in by the reemergence of the cloud that solidifies to form the door, leaving her to stand around in the mostly vacant parking lot.
First the woman just oddly wanders aimlessly around the parking lot, panning around, despite her having returned to this area not long before. Last time she was here though there was far more activity, for right now there are no hordes of guards among teams of employees whether in jumpsuits or formal business wear. No matter where the woman turns to face, there's no fleet of trucks including the monstrous shuttle, nothing but the small casual sedans and SUVs. There's no fanfare of welcomings, not by either of the two she personally knew.
Of course there isn't an event to particularly warrant such an audience to begin with so regardless there wouldn't be a site like that, but that very specific site would be impossible to recreate now, as not all members of the audience would be capable of holding presence again. To that, the woman frowns somberly, left alone in this void of a parking garage.
In the end, freeing their schedules achieved nothing.
Staring off blankly, the woman blinks twice to remind herself of her own presence, turning specifically towards the closest pillar to herself. She begins to stride towards it, her arms swaying from side to side, for there's nothing left to observe.
Upon reaching the pillar which is in fact rather large as it's about five feet in radius, surprisingly a portion of the exterior in front of her vaporizes to reveal a hollow chromatic interior, but there is a surface lined up with the parking surface for her to stand on, although it's bright white instead of dark gray.
After entering the pillar, a hologram projects in front of her similar to an elevator panel, and she presses one of the buttons before letting the panel wave away. She turns to find the opening she stepped through to enclose once again, and soon after the floor beneath her begins to ascend with a hum, the elevator rising. She casually stands in the center patiently, glancing around to remind herself as the only presence in the shaft. She takes a step back as suddenly a handful of other holographic screens project in front of her, five in fact all with green borders, the windows displaying applications that resemble logs of messages like mail. Additional popup screens appear off of the mail to show reply histories with additional mail, quickly covering the woman's view as her breathing begins to weigh heavier. More and more popups cover her, leading to faster breaths, quickly drowning in these waters being the severity of the work that's been laid out for her.
In fact, other than the gentle static hum, the elevator holds quite the barren soundstage, one that is only significantly filled with the heavy rapid breathing, a singular being's breaths as well, gasping for air as if having just surfaced from the sea after a deep dive. Though perhaps she has not left the sea, and is simply trying to fill herself with air for another dive, recovering from the last while simultaneously preparing herself for the next. The desperation to recover quickly though not with the relief of freedom, but rather the dread of knowing moments later she'd be returning into the suffocating depths.
The huffs travel not very far as the shaft functions as a tight enclosure, claustrophobically tight perhaps as not many people would fit in this space, walled off by the oddly entrancing chrome wrap lit up by soft projected lighting. Despite the constant moving of the pad, there is enough light at least to provide a reflection, albeit distorted, of the single being standing within the confines of the cylinder, her black suit and striking amber bangs.
Her open hands begin to shake as she stumbles backwards, her back hitting the wall or rather its barrier, as she seeks support to bear the buffer of the information overflow. Her eyes shut as she continues her rapid breathing, although the movement of the elevation pad begins to decelerate as indication of imminent arrival, therefore she takes in one more deep breath, filling her lungs with air until reaching their capacity. She holds it for a few seconds, and then gently releases it back out. Her hands slightly relax, partially dispelling anxieties though it isn't perfect as told by the minor shaking left. Her eyes open up, filled with an unshakable unease that haunts her with slightly erratic movements.
Her hands rest by her side as the pad comes to a stop, and the wall in front of her vaporizes into a cloud, shining white light onto her human body.
Out of the elevator steps the woman and into a long wide hallway with white walls that emit a gentle luminescence. The hallway carries scattered voices most of which are too soft to articulate as walking up and down are adult men and women in formal wear speaking to one another, some pointing at holographic screens carried in front of them with distressed urges as they are in the middle of professional discussions.
Walking amongst the crowd is the woman in the black suit, her head straight up as she ambles in a partial jog though remaining professional, although there's little confidence in her stance as elegance wasn't particularly exuding from her. As she walks down the center of the hallway, the other adults make way for her in concern, veering to the edges of the hallway to give space as she hurries forward.
Walking down the hallway alone, the woman just huffs to herself, not being physically exerted but simply struggling to keep herself from being outwardly overwhelmed. Her pace is somewhat erratic, steps not exactly timed consistently, turning at an intersection in the hallway but strafing to the right in avoidance of another worker who nearly bumps into her. That employee apologizes though her words appear as hazed murmurs, for the woman simply nods with a gentle smile but continues on ahead.
Down the end of the hallway is a visible ending with a gray door where there's fewer activity as not many people stand around, though it's her destination she hurries towards with greater haste.
She ambles her way to the end of the hall, reaching the gray door to which it vaporizes, allowing her to pass into the next room.
Past the hallway is a room with clean white walls other than the wide window on the right side that consumes the whole wall, allowing sight of the natural white skies with gentle sunlight, breathing into the room which has a long oval-shaped tabletop with a glossy white surface, and around the table are nine hovering Executive-style chairs made of black leather, four on each long end and the last on the far short end, though only four of the seats are occupied by adults dressed in formal suits. Among those four is an elderly bald man, a younger man with blonde hair tied in a bun, a woman with free long black hair, and a man with short black hair in a navy blue suit, pairs of them murmuring to themselves as if stalling.
That's when through the open doors steps in the woman with amber hair, and upon entering the room the doorway behind her is sealed shut. She continues forwards, walking past the table, past the men and women of various ages older or younger than her as there's a generally broad range though the bald one is particularly older.
All murmuring silences promptly as quickly only the soft footsteps of the woman make sound in the room as she snatches attention in an instant, circling the table until reaching the far side. She has her hands by her side slightly jittering as she stares through the window at the silver skyscrapers covering the field of the city beneath the white sky, snowfall visible even from behind the screen.
She then glances around at the seats and sheepishly greets in a forced smile, "Welcome, sorry I arrived a bit late, seems we have most-," though she immediately freezes as her smile drops to a frown, and her uplifting tone does too as she recalls, "Ah right…this is everyone."
Right off the bat, the senile man turns to the woman with a melancholic face before assuring, "You're fine Dana, traffic's been pretty rough lately, you're not too late anyways. We all just got here."
The younger man with sleek black hair chimes in with a forcefully delighted, "And it's great to see you in person again! It feels like we've seen you through a hologram for so long we weren't even sure if you were real! I think that warrants a celebration, everyone give it up to her," before he begins clapping his hands to initiate said celebration, though it catches the rest of the board members off guard as it takes an extra second for both the woman in long black hair and man in the blonde bun to begin clapping albeit off sync, and an additional second for the last older man join in though at a slower pace than the others, resulting in none of the clapping being susynced. All the clapping slows down awkwardly as the board members find embarrassment, leading to a painful decay as one by one different members stop until it's only the man in the navy blue suit who seconds later stops too.
All four of the members just awkwardly stare back at Dana who stares at them with a muddled frown, as the clapping didn't seem to provide her any sense of relief but rather push her deeper to discomfort. She sighs before then propping up a delicate smile to thank, "Thanks Vince, it's…good to be back," before then seating herself at the table on the far end.
Upon sitting, her gaze pans around the meeting room, reregistering the four members around her, for only half the seats around the table are occupied. That gentle smile degrades in her scan, the backs of the Executive seats tall enough that she can count each of the empty chairs from above the table, recalling what names would fill each of them.
She however catches herself in her drift with quick blinks and a jerk of the head, returning her gaze to the four remainders before putting up another smile and declaring, "Well guess there's a lot to catch up on, I uh…well here I guess we can start with you, Mari," before turning to face the woman.
At once the other three members also turn to the same woman who's been granted the center of attention, though she seems caught off guard as she nearly jolts before hastily recollecting herself with a straightened posture. She coughs to clear her throat before beginning, "Ahem, I guess I can start, why not. So uh…well last we talked the main project I was taking lead on was Instalivery but we haven't really been able to get any government communication in a while, I mean not like it's always been great but it's been truly static now. Then again I guess that loss of communication isn't the greatest problem we have now…."
Perplexed by the ominous cliffhanger, Dana leans forward before inquiring, "What's…the greater problem-?"
Taking a deep breath to reset herself to a calm state, Mari elucidates in a hesitant voice, "Well…that team's lost their lead engineers and designers, and our entire department is missing nearly its entire budget wing. Luckily that Instalivery team was probably one of the larger ones under our department because we've already had to shut down quite a few other teams, notably Skyball. Currently we're looking into transferring other teams into the Instalivery group but it's a bit shaky since we need to go through extensive training, especially for the replacement leads who'll need to be equipped to carry on with the project. So right now we're not really in a position to make negotiations anyways."
Her mouth hanging open from bewilderment to the rather grave news, Dana just lowers her head in contemplation, but in a few moments she forms the response: "Oh…I see. Well…I guess that makes sense, Skyball looked promising but I understand, Instalivery I feel we were so close so trying to push it past the finish line would be nice. Yeah I imagine we'll need to lose some teams, but try to make a list of projects we'd want to prioritize so we can try delegating there too, you had a lot going on so condensing it all into a single team just isn't right."
She shakes her head before turning to the blonde man and continuing, "But anyways I want to move this meeting along so let's not dwell in the details yet, Namar, how is…uh…how is Sunnet doing?"
Shaking his head, the man with the blonde bun has already engraved the tone of his response, but he furthers it in his dreary explanation, "Like Mari, no government response, regardless of the successful deployment we ended up losing that test satellite so the mission was deemed a failure. Unfortunately we're in a position where we may need to return to the drawing board since our current strategy just doesn't look viable anymore, but without our lead designers, we're stuck too. Thing is we can't just pull designers from other groups either, Sunnet was a specialized project, we'd probably need to end up trying to find replacements from outside. But even if we could, the general consensus from the board is we're starting to lean on…well ...."
Namar glances at the window before returning his stare to Dana to then deliver: "We're leaning on scrapping the project in its entirety," to which Dana's eyes immediately widen and she stands from her chair, slamming her hands on the desk before exclaiming, "WAIT WHAT?! No way, that project was practically complete, literally all there was left to do is deployment but development of all the technologies and securing resources was finished, there's no way it can just be abandoned now!"
Namar and the other board members watch with frowns as Dana throws her arm up while arguing, "I mean if anything now more than ever we should be pushing for Sunnet, at a time when people need connectivity the most! I'm fine even sacrificing some other teams to make it happen, but there's no reason we should need to abandon it!"
"Dana," interjects the older man, pulling her attention towards him to hear him sympathize, "We know Project Sunnet was like your baby, but honestly Namar is doing something special being able to keep his projects going because the majority of them are being canceled. None of us want to do this, we just have to."
Gritting her teeth before wincing in anguish, Dana shakes her head before facing Namar again to seek, "Come on, can you please try to find an alternative, there has to be a way to keep this going, why do we even need a full redesign anyways, just better security measures perhaps but redesign sounds needless."
Namar shakes his head and protests albeit with little passion, " You don't get it Dana, the deployment was a complete and utter failure. Getting a green light for another test will be astronomically difficult, certainly impossible if we just approach them with the same design. But even if the design changes, there's a solid chance we've already sunk the project with that first test, remember we cost them military personnel, that's not something that they just easily forgive. It'll remain a touchy subject for whoever knows how long, you know they love their grudges."
Namar sighs before lowering his head to gaze directly at the table below him as he concludes, "Any advancement in that project is just…going to be way too resource intensive to have even a slim chance of working, it's a gamble we just can't afford now. It's probably the most unrealistic project of that department right now, everyone's hesitant to let it go forward, and besides if anything since the team was so large we could at least use them to divert resources into other teams who desperately need more hands."
"But we can't-!" Dana strikes back, but when it comes the time for her to manifest her rebuttal, nothing manages to formulate in time. She just stands up desperately, her arm still raised, but with no proper argument able to be articulated, especially when faced with this extent of logistical problems.
Instead, her arm slowly drops to her side as her head lowers too, and she lets out a heavy huff of air before somberly delegating, "We can talk about this more extensively another time, maybe I can get a meeting with that department board and figure things out on that turf. But…thanks Namar, for the sake of this meeting that's probably the most we need to get through."
She then seats herself back down after the somewhat erratic jump, cooling herself down with another deep breath, wiping her forehead and parting her bangs away from her face as if to try bettering her presentability.
After doing such, she turns to face the man with sleek black hair with a warm smile to more calmly ask, "So Vince, how's everything going with Project Beacon, if I recall correctly that was the big project you were being put on, you seemed actually kind of excited to take that on one?"
More than even Mari did, Vince nearly leaps out of his seat in fright to the sudden focus on him, shocking Dana even from just how violent that reaction was. Adding to the concern, Vince frantically diverts, "Uh..uhm…any chance I could be skipped today-? Or like, do you think we could discuss this…privately or-...."
Blinking twice from bewilderment to the strange request, Dana tilts her head before blindly asking, "Huh…? Vince, the point of these meetings is so we're all kept in the loop, it'd be best if we could all hear what you have to share. And it sounds like if anything, this is something we should know."
She then turns to glance at both Mari and Namar before lightly jesting, "Besides, it can't be any worse than what we've already talked about so you're fine."
"I-....," Vince stumbles, though freezes again with the lowering of his head and a frown, oddly in deep despair, a few loose strands of hair poking out of head, uncombed.
All other members including Dana watching him, the old man turns to Dana before mentioning in a whisper as he leans in, "I didn't hear anything from him before so I don't think anything that bad happened."
Before Dana can respond after having leaned in, Vince finally raises his head and voice to declare frantically, "I-...our-...our department is sort of going through some turbulence right now."
Namar glances at Dana before Vince to then insight, "Well all of ours are, as you heard before. It's expected, really it'd be weird if nothing was wrong. What's the deal?"
"No I mean,..." trails Vince before his voice whimpers.
Gulping to clear his throat, Vince winces before revealing, "Our teams were hit hard, as in very hard. As in practically all of our teams have been either completely ceased or reduced to just a couple employees. Every team isn't only frozen, but there's no plan on how we're going to move forward, especially when most of the department board is also gone."
He lowers his head as he pushes through in misery, "Our entire department…is hardly being strung together…. The vast majority of our employees are gone, there's a skeleton crew now and what remains of the board and management doesn't seem to be confident in getting anywhere. And it doesn't help that this morning, Samthra, one of our board members, gave me her resignation. It's not just some big teams, the entire department is collapsing…and everything under it."
Astounded by the surprisingly worse news, Dana just sits in silent shock, appalled just the same as the other members who didn't anticipate such a report.
Receiving that silence, Vince turns his head to the side before apologizing, "I'm sorry I-...I didn't mean to lose everything…I've been trying so hard to find any solution but the remains we have from the teams left can't really be combined for anything, especially with how our department works, skillsets aren't easily transferable between teams."
Frowning at that depressive report, Dana shakes her head and attempts to uplift as she raises back to her feet, "Don't worry, we can make this work, I'm sorry I didn't realize how hard you were hit. But we can make it work, we'll either relocate from other departments or start looking into the outside, but I'm sure we can make this work so-."
"Maybe you all can….," interjects Vince in a murmur as he oddly rises from his own seat, standing up on his two feet to which the four others turn to him in perplexion.
All eyes on Vince, the man gazes at the floor by his feet to take in one more huff before raising his head straight to Dana upon the announcement: "I'm sorry Dana, but before you got here I had already written up my resignation, it's been sent to you."
Shocked glances are cast between the other members in silence from the surprise of such a statement, and they turn to Dana who leans forward on the table to softly protest with a frown: "Wait Vince…there's no way…you can't drop out now…. We need you more than ever, and we will make it work. I promise we'll find a way Vince, please just stay for like a week, a couple weeks, we'll figure it out."
Yet despite those pleas, Vince simply shakes his head and declines, "I'm sorry Dana, I've done my best to stick around and do the best I can, and sure in the past we've always managed to get over those hurdles, but this…this is something else. I just, I can't sit here on this board as the leader of a dead department, and I'm sorry but even if you were to somehow make it work, you'd basically be rebuilding the department from scratch. At that point, you may as well find a new lead too."
He turns to face the other three members, his head panning to gaze between them as he thanks, "Thanks for all the memories here, really my time here has been nothing short of life changing. And I wish you good luck with all your endeavors whatever it may be. I know you can all make it work, I know it."
Yet alas he returns his gaze to Dana to finalize, "But I can't stay here any more. If you excuse me, I'd like an early departure from this meeting."
Horror takes form on Dana's shape as defeat wells in her eyes, failing to grasp at the strings that slowly are pulled away from her, her body still as she desperately seeks an alternative, any manner in which she can retain what is quickly slipping away from her. Yet as she stands before the board, all of whom now face her, the sense of inevitability draws on her, the fighting spirit dwindling inside, the reality declaring itself.
As she winces in bitterness of the only option she has, she lowers her head before uttering, "You're free to dismiss yourself, Vince."
Like clockwork each of the board members turn their gaze from Dana to Vince, watching as he clenches his teeth as if to prevent himself from letting any rejective desires take control of him, as he instead delivers a firm nod. He spins around and strolls towards the gray door of the meeting room, the four watching him out, every step echoing in the otherwise silent room.
Upon intimate proximity, the door bursts into a stormy gray cloud, spreading out in dispersal until it paves his exit back into the white hallway.
Immediately as Vince takes his first step towards the corridor, Dana raises her head before making a last desperate plea, "Vince, the door back to the executive board is always open for you, I just want you to know that. You have my Connect, you just need to give me the word and you're back."
Stopped in place, Vince lowers his head with a frown, still clenching his teeth, sealing his mouth shut. Though he temporarily uplifts the blockade to pass out a breath before suggesting, "Thanks Dana, but you should find someone else to take that door. You're a great leader, you'll find someone."
Just like that, he raises his head straight and resumes his walk, passing through the frame out to the hallway, and seconds later the cloud particles are reemitted to fill the frame, reinstating the solid door once again.
Thus only four remain in the meeting room in total, not even half the board left.
Even after the departure, Dana remains standing over the table, her hands firmly gripping the edge, just staring straight at the door in devastation. The other three executives face her in silence, understanding the weight of this loss especially at the worst time possible, just another twist of the knife.
Both Namar and Mari glance at each other with frowns, deciding to keep to themselves, similar as the elder man facing down at his feet, but that's until he looks up to Dana before mentioning with an uplifting spirit, "Oh right I forgot to mention, so we also got hit pretty hard, lost suites of studios and some pretty big names in terms of both actors and directors, we weren't doing too hot just a couple days ago. But just yesterday I was able to make some deals with Galactic, and at least we have a pretty heavy contract on the horizon. It'll let us share our talents so it should fill the gaps we have. There'll be some new faces and leaders but their records are promising, in fact if everything goes as planned we might be able to resume production on Season 13 of The Guys maybe in a few weeks! Just need to handle some recasting is all but I think Angie has been hard at work finding them and she seems confident."
"Omor…please…," Dana mutters under her breath in a tone almost desperately irritated, her body not having changed postures, her head still fixed to the door where her gaze is.
The old man, Omor, swivels his chair slightly to better face her as with a smile he assures, "We're going through some trouble, yes I admit, but really give it some time and I think we're going to land on our feet if we just-."
"Omor, please just shut up," suddenly orders Dana, a directive that terrifies all three of the members with shock, Omor falling to silence immediately for such language was not one he'd have ever expected to be uttered by the woman who had previously shown herself as a rather timid successor.
Even Namar raises his head up to her before calming, "Hey Dana come on, don't be like that, we're all trying here-," before Dana flings her arms and interjects, "I don't care, I don't," which once again silences the group.
Her sharp green eyes under a scrunched forehead, rage visible in her breaths like a dragon's with the weight to burst flames, Dana glares over the group before declaring, "We were- are meant to be one of the few corporates out there who are actually focused on providing something good for people. That's what Meh-, that's what Rohan founded this company on, we are supposed to be the beacon that pioneers the advancements that matter. X-Prints should be associated with things like breakthrough research in Exmatter, efforts to bridge detached communities, and sure I know we need a flow to fund those projects so it's fine that we make toys to get that funding and so maybe there are people out there who see us as the 'company that makes their favorite show,' but that can't be all we are."
Standing up straight as her hands slip to her side, Dana begins pacing back and forth behind her chair to reflect, "Right now people need help more than ever, there are countless towns out there underpopulated where the survivors are slowly starving because they don't have the supply lines they need. People need resources, safety, tools we are supposed to be able to provide. We're supposed to be there when there's a crisis, offering solutions- no- giving solutions, and this is the time more than ever that we need to be doing that. And what, the best we're going to give them is video entertainment?"
"I mean," Omor protests reluctantly, "people need…an escape-?"
"Please Omor, not right now, really," Dana snaps back with a fiery tone, shooting a glare at him which again puts him down. She then shakes her head and takes a few steps back from the table, crossing her arms over her chest before raising one to place her hand beneath her chin in contemplation, a pose sustained for a few seconds, building a plan or at least trying to in this dire circumstance.
"Omor, pause where you are, freeze any negotiations you have ongoing and ice any ongoing productions. If you keep on going ahead you're going to leave everything else behind and we don't want that, right now we need to focus on our other sectors. I'm going to call in some meetings with other department boards, see what I can do. Namar and Mari are on the right track with condensing teams together, it's the only way anything can survive. I'll go from department to department to see what we can work with including your three's, try to map out our holistic inventory, and from there we can determine what projects can continue, what needs to be scrapped, and how we should start again. I foresee there being friction with how some teams will take this relocation, so in my free time I'll try to gather their insight to determine the best approach to satisfy everyone, we need to avoid the outcome of trying to mash teams that can't develop their own projects, however we do this redesignation effort we should aim to get as close as possible on the first try."
She drops both hands to her side, taking one panoramic gaze at the three board members to announce, "This meeting is adjourned, thank you everyone. I'm not sure when the next meeting will be, for all we know we might end up having very different departments soon so until then we'll build our way up, it's practically our only option."
She then begins pacing around the table, making her way towards the exit door, her hands swinging lightly back and forth as she concludes, "You're free to leave, I need to make some Connects," and thus she reaches the door that vaporizes for her, allowing passage out.
Back out of the hallway, Dana strides forth not in that clumsy, hasty stance as before though not one particularly elegant and confident, but rather one clearly exuding her stress, her steps strong and prominent though almost like stomps. Her hands close to fists, her feet not gliding but pushing against the floor, her amber bangs bouncing as her laser sharp eyes just fix forward.
She passes a few other adults dressed in their own formal attire, suit jackets and dresses, who step to the side to make way for her, some of them moving abruptly as though feeling threatened to do so. Yet she continues onward, taking a turn to continue back from the way she originally came. A holographic screen projects in front of her with a green border, the size of a tablet which she presses her fingers on in quick succession, not slowing her pace as she seems zeroed into her work.
Her path clearing, she makes her way back to the end of the white corridor where she enters the small elevator chute as defined by the chrome walls, where she's greeted with another holographic projection beside her, this one resembling an elevator panel which she glances at before pressing on the topmost button on the panel. Even then the panel persists, projecting a light onto Dana's body as if scanning her, and after doing so the light shuts off followed by the panel, before the whole elevation pad begins to ascend with a hum.
Secluded in the elevator there aren't even any other pads that can be seen for above as though the chute continues up indefinitely, Dana's breathing begins to race again as she leans her back against the chrome wall, able to properly rest as an invisible barrier prevents the oppositional movement from tugging her upwards. She grips her temples as slowly her body declines into a sitting position, a rather informal act though one she takes in the isolation she can indulge in.
Grunting to readjust her posture in an effort to find comfort, Dana sits up straight before slightly slouching forward, her legs bent almost in a cradling position, her hands still on her head.
Her fingers rub up and down to massage her head as all around her holographic screens pop up in similar resolutions to the tablet she had interfaced with, all of them with her personalized green borders. Her eyes flare brighter as each of the screens display what appear to be various chat message logs and other messaging services that automatically scroll themselves, filling bottom text boxes with messages written out in real time, multiple simultaneously. As some texts are sent as indicative of the animated text cloud appearing over the newly emptied box, those screens vanish and are replaced with new screens on similar applications, but now typing other responses.
At the same time several of the screens show calendar interfaces with small widget boxes beside them being filled with text, presumably detailing meetings she's setting up, these all being done asynchronously, as well more than ten, even twenty of these screens surround her similar to the cylindrical monitors once used in the underground cave fortress. All of these processes and feedback are ongoing concurrently, all around the old assistant who just grips her head, her wide luminescent eyes wide and staring not at any particular screen but just simply forwards.
While she had made plans she felt were most appropriate in the state they were in, she knows full well that she's now signed herself up for a whole ordeal that'd drain her of time and energy, as she was getting her hands dirty in a way that typically wasn't necessary. This was the role she agreed to ten years ago, but this was the moment when its weight felt the heaviest on her shoulders, for in this moment the entire corporation sat on her.