Fill: Time In Lieu Of Part 3/?squidwhiskNovember 10 2010, 23:23:42 UTC
Sebastian puffed up like a pissed off goose. Squawk. Squawk. Squawk. John sighed. And they were back to this again. He slammed his hand onto the table. "Children!" The flower arrangement wilted. Everyone shut up.
Sebastian scowled dangerously and both Anthea and Harry stared at him mutinously.
John cleared his throat. "I think that Seb’s steps towards diversifying his portfolio are very admirable. There is no reason we cannot enjoy one-on-one consultations." Was this what having children was like? Probably. Sebastian’s glare slowly subsided. He -was- the youngest and while an adult in every other sense he had a weakness for reacting to Anthea’s and Harry’s goading.
"I thought we couldn’t afford to spend time doing one-on-one consultations." Harry frowned. Her pretty face shattered by the expression.
"Right. that is what I wanted to talk about today. "
Anthea raised an eyebrow before slipping her BlackBerry into her purse and turning her full attention to John. It was kind of creepy.
"I'm taking a vacation." John continued.
"WHAT?! You can't do that!" Harriet's shout seemed to summarize the general consensus of everyone else at the table.
"Why not?"
"John. Do not be ridiculous.” Anthea’s words were clipped. “Think of what the shareholders will say, let alone the CEO. They are never going to go for this, you are their top producer! I mean, just look at the past century: diabetes, cardiovascular disease, cancer, motor vehicles (you were the first to realize how masterfully they would collide)." Anthea looked like she might be suffering from a heart attack herself.
"Nope. I'm taking the next century off. Anthea, you can run the meetings. Just send me the minutes."
Harry turned to Sebastian. "This is why I drink. This. Right here."
Sebastian looked like he had just swallowed a lemon. "John, if this is due to the stress that I inadvertently caused you over the pool, I am so so sorry. So sorry. I will make it up to you in any way I can. I can drop the Tower of London on Jim, will that make you stay?”
“Seb, that is very sweet, but really unnecessary. It is just a vacation.”
“You can’t vacation. We’ll get pulverized if you leave! Do you know why I’m diversifying? It’s because organized conflict is going down. A century ago, I had empires beating the shit out of one another all over the world. Today I’m left with one maybe two reliable continents and even that’ll soon be sorted. I’m not even going to get into the bullshit with immunization.” Sebastian paused so everyone could have a moment of respectful silence for Anthea’s loss.
"Well, I have a theory."
"A theory? Lovely. Will this theory save the Board from complete ruin?" Anthea sounded incredulous.
"I don't think we have stakeholders anymore. I frankly don't think anyone cares. When was the last time anyone reviewed your numbers?" John eyed his compatriots. Three blank stares greeted him in return.
Sebastian leaned back in his chair, his arms crossed over his chest. "So you think we have been left to what, babysit an abandoned toy that was no longer interesting?"
"Exactly. I mean look at us; We’re smart enough and powerful enough to rule everything, but the desire to rule was carefully bred out of us. Other than Harry (well done, by the way!) all we do is obsessively follow a handful of intelligent humans because that is all we have left, because our natural leadership has abandoned us. So bullocks it. I'm taking a vacation. See what I can do when half my consciousness is not taken up with scheming and counting dead humans. I'm outsourcing my entire operation back to the humans, maybe to China. Possibly to Coca-Cola."
Sebastian scowled dangerously and both Anthea and Harry stared at him mutinously.
John cleared his throat. "I think that Seb’s steps towards diversifying his portfolio are very admirable. There is no reason we cannot enjoy one-on-one consultations." Was this what having children was like? Probably. Sebastian’s glare slowly subsided. He -was- the youngest and while an adult in every other sense he had a weakness for reacting to Anthea’s and Harry’s goading.
"I thought we couldn’t afford to spend time doing one-on-one consultations." Harry frowned. Her pretty face shattered by the expression.
"Right. that is what I wanted to talk about today. "
Anthea raised an eyebrow before slipping her BlackBerry into her purse and turning her full attention to John. It was kind of creepy.
"I'm taking a vacation." John continued.
"WHAT?! You can't do that!" Harriet's shout seemed to summarize the general consensus of everyone else at the table.
"Why not?"
"John. Do not be ridiculous.” Anthea’s words were clipped. “Think of what the shareholders will say, let alone the CEO. They are never going to go for this, you are their top producer! I mean, just look at the past century: diabetes, cardiovascular disease, cancer, motor vehicles (you were the first to realize how masterfully they would collide)." Anthea looked like she might be suffering from a heart attack herself.
"Nope. I'm taking the next century off. Anthea, you can run the meetings. Just send me the minutes."
Harry turned to Sebastian. "This is why I drink. This. Right here."
Sebastian looked like he had just swallowed a lemon. "John, if this is due to the stress that I inadvertently caused you over the pool, I am so so sorry. So sorry. I will make it up to you in any way I can. I can drop the Tower of London on Jim, will that make you stay?”
“Seb, that is very sweet, but really unnecessary. It is just a vacation.”
“You can’t vacation. We’ll get pulverized if you leave! Do you know why I’m diversifying? It’s because organized conflict is going down. A century ago, I had empires beating the shit out of one another all over the world. Today I’m left with one maybe two reliable continents and even that’ll soon be sorted. I’m not even going to get into the bullshit with immunization.” Sebastian paused so everyone could have a moment of respectful silence for Anthea’s loss.
"Well, I have a theory."
"A theory? Lovely. Will this theory save the Board from complete ruin?" Anthea sounded incredulous.
"I don't think we have stakeholders anymore. I frankly don't think anyone cares. When was the last time anyone reviewed your numbers?" John eyed his compatriots. Three blank stares greeted him in return.
Sebastian leaned back in his chair, his arms crossed over his chest. "So you think we have been left to what, babysit an abandoned toy that was no longer interesting?"
"Exactly. I mean look at us; We’re smart enough and powerful enough to rule everything, but the desire to rule was carefully bred out of us. Other than Harry (well done, by the way!) all we do is obsessively follow a handful of intelligent humans because that is all we have left, because our natural leadership has abandoned us. So bullocks it. I'm taking a vacation. See what I can do when half my consciousness is not taken up with scheming and counting dead humans. I'm outsourcing my entire operation back to the humans, maybe to China. Possibly to Coca-Cola."
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