RoboNomics

Chapter 78 - 2016

I'm hiding. I know it's not the right thing to do. It's certainly not a mature thing to do. But the thought of seeing any of their faces churns my stomach.

I can't face my employees, the ones who told me that I'm not fit to do my job. If that's the case, I won't. I'll stay here, under the covers, far away from any of them.

I roll over and see Austin's back. He lies across the cavernous distance that's grown between us ever since we started sleeping in this New Roman king bed.

I know that Rupert will call me again today, and I know Austin will insist that I take the call. With each day that passes, Rupert grows more anxious and more persistent. Most days I avoid his calls.

Just as I foresaw, my phone starts buzzing on the nightstand. I pick up the call, not bothering to get out of bed.

Rupert's face appears on the screen of my FlexPhone.

"Staying home again today?" He skips greeting me.

I groan in response.

"I see," Rupert says. "Ms. Anderson, I'm going to have to insist that you come to work today."

My eyes widen. "Insist?" I spring onto my elbows.

"You have duties, Ms. Anderson. You have responsibilities."

"I know. I just...I just can't. Not after what happened." I sink back into the bed.

"You can and you must."

"You don't understand," I wail.

"No, Ms. Anderson. It's you who doesn't understand," he retorts sharply. "You are the majority owner. You are the chairwoman and CEO of the iTronics Group. Your father left you wealth, yes. But he also left you a great responsibility. You have a duty to the company, to its employees and shareholders. You must return to work. Whatever humiliation you feel, you need to put it aside. Either that, or sell your shares. If this is how you'll act, then it would be best for the company if you stepped down."

"Step down? You mean, quit? So you think they're right about all of this, do you?"

"Of course not. But apparently you do, and I'm shocked at it. I never thought I'd see the day when an Anderson was a quitter."

"You're not going to make this easy for me, are you?"

When the call ends, I consider what Rupert said. Ever since the disastrous budget meeting, I've thought about how Salvino told me I wasn't fit to run iTronics.

If I quit, Austin and I would have enough money to last our entire lives. We could settle here, or sell the house and live in another domed neighborhood. I've been so engrossed in adopting Donald's life and in being the daughter he wanted that I haven't even thought about our other choices.

What do I know about running a massive multi-billion dollar corporation, anyway? Aren't I just playing at it? Rupert said something about duty. What duty do I really have to a dead man I never met?

But Rupert also mentioned responsibilities. The word reminds me of Mitra and of the day that she, a relative stranger, wept in my office at the thought of the family she left behind. I cringe at the thought of how I let her down.

You are his daughter. That's what Mitra said to me.

Even if I excuse myself from running his company, fulfilling his plans for the future of the corporation, I can't excuse myself from life.

I can't just live in this world knowing the mess I left in the other. The mess that the Anderson Foundation for Earth was supposed to clean up. Even as I lay here, wallowing for days, I can't shake my conscience.

#

"Look, Andrea, I know you don't want to go to work. But you need to get out of this room. You need to get out of bed."

I sink back into the bed and throw the covers over my head. It's the end of another long day of napping and generally feeling sorry for myself. I don't feel up to going anywhere.

"Come on, Andrea. It'll be fun," Austin insists. He's trying to convince me to come to an art opening with him.

"I don't know."

"Andrea! It's enough already, okay? I know this has been hard for you and I know you don't...approve of my interests. But we've been here for nearly six months and you haven't even really socialized yet!"

It's true. It would be nice to meet fellow citizens of New Rome in a setting that doesn't involve shaking hands with executives or taking corporate tours.

Apparently, I've been missing out on the New Roman social life while I acclimatized to such mundane things as the Darian calendar: the way to keep time on this planet with its six hundred and eighty eight-day year.

And it's an art opening. How long has it been since I've indulged in any culturally edifying activity?

I tear the covers from my face. "Let me see that invite again?"

Austin hands me his FlexPhone. Since arriving at our new home, Austin has been fascinated with the Pantheon. It's been replicated here on Mars, with two modern wings: Deimos, the angled layer to the west and Phobos, its curved layer to the east.

That's where we'd go tonight. The glossy e-flyer indicates that the event starts in a couple hours.

"Okay," I relent. "Just give me a chance to get decent."

(Continued in Chapter 79...)