3
Dr. Hals glanced at the interoffice memo. Three more meetings added this week, none of them about anything critical, yet he was expected to be there for each and every one, maybe even to give a presentation. Some of the staff’s purpose seemed to be solely to propagate more meetings, which in turn served only to hire additional pointless staff. If he had given much trust to evolution, Dr. Hals might have worried about the office becoming a sentient, self serving organism, able to reproduce itself. As it stood, though, it was nothing more than an irritant. The intercom beebed.
“Dr. Hals, Dr. Conley wishes to see you.”
“Thank you Clair. Tell him I’ll be down in a moment.”
“Yes sir.” What is up with the always calling everyone doctor? We know we each have PhDs in a dozen disciplines, so why rub it into everyone faces all the time? He got up from his chair and closed down his work station. It would only take at most five minutes to talk to Conley, but if company policy says to do something, you did it, or paid in blood.
He locked the door as he left his office, gave his secretary a couple of jobs to do in the mean time and made his way down the hall to Conley’s office.
It was located in probably the most sterile hall of an incredibly sterile building. Nothing, not a door, not a thermostat, not a light switch, marred the perfect dull metal of the hall. Each footstep echoed deeply in the air as well as in Hals’ brain. He hated going to Conley’s office.
“Thank you for coming so quickly Dr. Hals,” Conley said as he opened the door. “I am glad we can work together so nicely.” Hals had given up trying to figure out what it was Conley was actually trying to talk about. He was the only one on staff who had any degree in business, even if it was only a bachelors, and it left him thinking he should act how a real businessman acted. The only problem was that he had never met a real businessman, much less talked to one.
He slipped into the office, trying to avoid the piles of research on the floor. The stacks of books filled the corners almost to the ceiling while every surface was littered with random papers. Conley was sitting behind his desk, shuffling papers around, trying to look busy. The workstation monitor was off but an airy jingle came out from the speakers.
“What did you want to talk about?” Hals asked, hoping to get out before Conley got himself worked up over something trivial or nonexistent.
“I double booked myself later today. I am meeting with Director Klier at noon to discuss the new protocol.” He stopped, waiting to see if Hals would take the bait but was met with only silence. He continued, “The problem is I am supposed to meet a new contractor at eleven. I need you to take the second meeting and show the guy around the place, the general secure tour. I’m sure you still remember that, it was you who set it up before.” Hals nodded, getting impatient. “You should be able to get him out in fifteen minutes tops without sweat. I’ll set up another meeting for him to talk to the lawyers sometime later. Pretty simple, really. No problems.” It was not a question.
“No,” Hals said, taking a few deep breaths.
“Alright, then I shall see you at the staff tomorrow.” He dismissed him with a simple hand wave and began to shuffle through his papers again. The annoying tune was still playing softly over the speakers when Hals closed the door and returned to his office, his mood significantly darker than when he first left.
“Dr. Hals, Dr. Conley wishes to see you.”
“Thank you Clair. Tell him I’ll be down in a moment.”
“Yes sir.” What is up with the always calling everyone doctor? We know we each have PhDs in a dozen disciplines, so why rub it into everyone faces all the time? He got up from his chair and closed down his work station. It would only take at most five minutes to talk to Conley, but if company policy says to do something, you did it, or paid in blood.
He locked the door as he left his office, gave his secretary a couple of jobs to do in the mean time and made his way down the hall to Conley’s office.
It was located in probably the most sterile hall of an incredibly sterile building. Nothing, not a door, not a thermostat, not a light switch, marred the perfect dull metal of the hall. Each footstep echoed deeply in the air as well as in Hals’ brain. He hated going to Conley’s office.
“Thank you for coming so quickly Dr. Hals,” Conley said as he opened the door. “I am glad we can work together so nicely.” Hals had given up trying to figure out what it was Conley was actually trying to talk about. He was the only one on staff who had any degree in business, even if it was only a bachelors, and it left him thinking he should act how a real businessman acted. The only problem was that he had never met a real businessman, much less talked to one.
He slipped into the office, trying to avoid the piles of research on the floor. The stacks of books filled the corners almost to the ceiling while every surface was littered with random papers. Conley was sitting behind his desk, shuffling papers around, trying to look busy. The workstation monitor was off but an airy jingle came out from the speakers.
“What did you want to talk about?” Hals asked, hoping to get out before Conley got himself worked up over something trivial or nonexistent.
“I double booked myself later today. I am meeting with Director Klier at noon to discuss the new protocol.” He stopped, waiting to see if Hals would take the bait but was met with only silence. He continued, “The problem is I am supposed to meet a new contractor at eleven. I need you to take the second meeting and show the guy around the place, the general secure tour. I’m sure you still remember that, it was you who set it up before.” Hals nodded, getting impatient. “You should be able to get him out in fifteen minutes tops without sweat. I’ll set up another meeting for him to talk to the lawyers sometime later. Pretty simple, really. No problems.” It was not a question.
“No,” Hals said, taking a few deep breaths.
“Alright, then I shall see you at the staff tomorrow.” He dismissed him with a simple hand wave and began to shuffle through his papers again. The annoying tune was still playing softly over the speakers when Hals closed the door and returned to his office, his mood significantly darker than when he first left.
posted by J.M.R. Burgard at
3:35 PM
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