She stood at the window, staring at the city below whilst she waited. Skyscrapers merged backwards in every direction, a futuristic landscape of metal and glass. Vehicles buzzed on clean flat streets, a high speed monorail wound its way around buildings. There were no flying cars, hover technology had been somewhat abandoned until recently, now the first wave of cars were out but only rose a few feet from the ground. However, the city was awash with bright screens, advertising the latest must have commodities, displaying breaking news stories, citing the greatness of Princips Ltd.
This was not a world she had built from scratch, getting her hands dirty on every corner, this was a world she had inherited, one she would not let go of. She told herself that this is what she was protecting, when in truth it was her own life that concerned her. But she needed to get into character, sincerity had always been a problem. If her acting was good and she remembered to look for clues on others' faces, surely she could feign it.
Kendra turned at the sound of a beep, the doors at the other side of the room slid open. As daylight flooded through the large window, all Martha saw was a black female shape. It made her think of a demon, here to rape and pillage the world's natural resources. Maybe it was not a trick of the light, maybe this was just how Martha saw Kendra. Martha had hoped to be a little late to the meeting, wanting others to be in the room when she arrived, just looking across at that woman made her feel sick.
"Good afternoon, please take a seat," Kendra said, all thoughts of sincerity having drained from her body.
Martha did not make eye contact, wanting to avoid a conversation, avoid forced interest. She hurried to her usual seat and sat down. Sensing her presence, a hatch in the table slid back, and a tablet rose out. 'Welcome Martha,' was emblazoned across the screen under the Princips logo. Before she picked it up the doors slid open once more. Appearing to take part in a benign conversation, Casper and Ukrit walked in. They clocked Martha and nodded to her, out of respect they offered Kendra the same courtesy. Both sat in their unofficial seats, never allotted but ones they always used. The conversation stopped with Kendra standing at the head of the table. She was like the stern teacher to their scared children. The silence ebbed and flowed around the room whilst they waited for the last directors to appear. A few minutes later, Derik Alkan and Fatir El-Sayed ambled through the door on doddery legs, old directors from an ancient past, each easily in their eighties. They were referred to as the silent partners, saying little, letting the youngsters run the company, only interjecting if the course of action would drastically change the company's direction. They did, however, have a tendency to make grunting noises, sounds of disapproval. If they kept silent, you knew you were on the right track.
As they took their seats, Martha looked across sadly. The others had come in pairs, a partner in crime, someone to lean on, to discuss ideas with. She felt isolated here, as if she did not fit. She wanted to use the word lonely, but that might be too strong. The sadness turned to fear as she watched Kendra at the head of the table. She was on her own too, distant from the others. Was Martha more like Kendra than she wanted to admit? She shook the thought from her mind; no, they might both be on the edges of this group, but they were on opposite sides of the circle, opposing views, opposing personalities.
Kendra wanted to get this over with, the less talking, the smaller the chance she would make a mistake. 'Those infernal relics take so long to sit down, why can't they hurry up and die?' she thought.
With everyone ready, sitting in silence, tablet in hand, only the Princips logo and their name on the screen, Kendra pressed her watch and the devices sprung into life. Lifting her hand, the holographic globe rose from the tabletop and started its slow spin. 'I suppose you are wondering why I have brought you here?' A clichéd start to any hastily arranged meeting, but she could think of no other way to introduce the topic. Her, semi rhetorical, question was met with more silence.
As she scanned them, Kendra noticed only Ukrit looked at her. A smirk came across her face, she really did have power, they feared her, maybe she could bully them into voting her way, dispense with the necessity of a hacker. It would save her money, save her leaving an exposing data trail. Yes, he would threaten to go public, but no one would question an unfortunate accident befalling him, it would just be another sad day, the news would wash away in less than a week. Unless the person was famous, the public just read the story, felt sorry, then moved on.
"We never finished our discussion on the Exitium Proposal." Kendra looked to Martha, her storming out had halted proceedings when discussing what to do to with the slums. Martha knew she was right to leave when she did, potentially the way she did it was not the best, but she had nothing to apologise for. Why then, did she feel as if she had done wrong? Why did she try to hide by slumping into her seat? "It is clear, though, that there are differing views and the final outcome will be some time away. I, for one, am not relishing a long drawn out discussion with bickering and infighting. Therefore I give a proposal, a rather extreme one you might say. On your tablets are two possible futures for the slums, the first talks of eradication, the second redevelopment. They are at opposite ends of the spectrum. I propose we hold a legally binding vote, whichever is chosen by the majority is the course of action we will take." Kendra paused for dramatic effect. "Take your time, read the details, we can then take a vote on whether we will have a vote." She forced a laugh to appear more sympathetic, but it convinced no one.
Martha looked at the detail, starting with the redevelopment option. It was an amazing offer, no expense spared; new houses, amenities such as gyms, cinemas and shops, roads laid between the cities and slums, clean water, jobs given with extensive pay, and a team of city guards to oversee it all. This was exactly what she would ask for, exactly what those who wanted to unseat Kendra thought should happen. Bringing the slums into the fold, making sure the people living there were not second-class citizens. Yes it would take a long time to achieve, yes they would need to be careful how they sold it to the mega city inhabitants, but this was progress, this was morally right.
She gagged, halfway through the other proposal now. It was the stuff of nightmares, a horror story you told yourself was only a movie as you left the cinema. Only one phrase could sum it up, total annihilation. 'All of this over a drug, all of this to extend one person's life,' Martha thought, holding back tears as well as bile.
As she got to the end she could contain her thoughts no more, "how can you even contemplate doing this?" It came out louder that she expected. All eyes turned to her. She wanted to stand up, scream, throw the tablet once more. But that reaction had only made Kendra distrust her more. If she could not protest physically, she would have to do it verbally. "It's sick, treating people in this way."
"Well, if that is what you think, then you know how to vote," Kendra spat back.
"I shouldn't be made to vote," Martha cried. "Even thinking of killing an innocent human being is an insult," she suddenly realised she had stool up, she was now the centre of attention, the main attraction in a show she did not want to be part of. Her impetus, her argument, failed. She felt naked, laid bare in front of a panel of judges.
"If you do not want to vote, then you don't have to," Kendra took command, even when attacked she seemed to come out the stronger.
"How dare you," Martha's back was up once more, her blood boiled and the steam it created rushed to her brain. "As if I wouldn't vote, as if I wouldn't try to stop your little plan, your scheme..."
"Martha," Ukrit's voice sounded unusually loud, the shock stopped Martha in her tracks. "We know you have passion, but you must trust in democracy." His voice told of the importance of each having their own vote, their own say, but his eyes betrayed to her his true feelings. Not to reveal what she knew. With an embarrassed nod she sat down.
Martha breathed deeply, secretly thanking Ukrit, had it not been for his intervention she may have blurted out secrets, her understanding of what Kendra had been doing behind their back. Then it would be game over. As she scanned the room, she weighed up how the others would vote. Derik and Fatir would surely vote to redevelop the slums, they were of the old system that thought the food produced, and slaves brought into the mega cities, were vital to how the system worked. Lose the cattle and the entire world would tumble down. Next she came to Ukrit and Jasper, if they were telling her the truth, and she was not a hundred percent sure they were, they would vote for redevelopment. That would mean it would pass even without her vote. If they were lying, they may vote the other way, in which case Kendra's vote would leave it at three a piece. As CEO she would have the deciding vote and that meant an end to the slums. Martha's legs bounced nervously, she wiggled her fingers to stop them clenching. This could be the most important decision of her life. The more she considered, the more she realised there would be no better offer on the table. It was now or never, agree to the vote and get it right and she could make a real impact on this world. That thought, that dream becoming reality, was too big an opportunity to miss. So, when they cast the vote, she raised her hand. So did everyone bar the two relics. That was it then, in a few days time there would be a vote in secret using special booths set up for such important policy decisions. In a few days time they would make a new future, one where all were equal. Martha strode out of the board room, head held high, unable to shake the smile painted across her face.