Audry sat in the conference room of the Everhills Rest complex clicking his pen on the table.

“I’m not happy about this. I always speak the damn truth. I’d rather come across as pretentious, than a liar,” he said to the operations officer, Claire Johannes who was sitting adjacent to him. He turned his chair around to stare out across the open world. He could just barely see the basin, shaded with crystal blue compared to the evening sepia sky.

“Look, boss man. I’m already on it. I’ll do the talking from here on out. No more interviews, no nothing.”

Audry took the blunt of everything much easier than everyone else. The thought of backing down didn’t cross his mind. The reality though was much more daunting. He had never expected he’d be outmaneuvered and exposed like he had been. Especially by a company who was hardly on the map. And maybe that’s why they did it, he thought.

“Someone that we’re supposed to trust gave secret information so that they could make some cash for being the first to know about the expo. They aired it live without me knowing. Just said it’d be an segment that would be edited later.”

“I should’ve known it was fishy,” Claire said. She had been notified of his interview while in the country of Dominicus. Not only would she have been there to coach him for his interview, she would have taken care of the legal work as well.

Audry had never felt more insulted or ignorant in his life. “Everyone involved should’ve paid more attention.”

“We’ll get to the bottom of it. I’ll do my damnedest,” she said.

Little by little the ranks of the company began to pour in.

Audry brooded at the end of the round table, the pieces were just not fitting together. He had thought of the possibilities but could not pinpoint anyone who could have leaked the information.

After the seats were filled and accountability was taken he sat in silence if not for only a moment.

All eyes were on him.

“Most of you may be aware that on the Spoken Daily show, Bradley Bean decided that he would leak very important information on the exhibition my father created. If you’re not aware, then I guess you are now. The fact though is that for them to get that information there had to have been a whistleblower.”

Claire didn’t give a second for anyone to ponder on the news before she inserted her own comment. “Whistleblower isn’t the right word. The right word is betrayer.”

“Excuse me. Pardon me for being blunt but the expo’s not that big of a deal Mr. Forge. I’m not really tracking on what the issue is,” said the company’s financial officer, John Brennan, a middle aged man with a pair of eyes that never seemed to blink.

Audry was not especially fond of Mr. Brennan at times.

“You may not know anything but you also might had been the one,” Audry said.

“Please don’t put the blame on me. I’m not even aware of the expo’s meaning. You might have some hidden feelings about it that I’m just not seeing.”

What was there not to know? Audry thought. The exhibition had been brought up in many of the company’s brainstorming projects. The company’s history was deep and full of controversy but the One Step Forward expo was known.

“I’m not giving you a sob story. I’m not trying to overreact either but that expo was important to me, okay? You should know what it is,” Audry told him.

“So you’re suggesting somebody in this conference room is at fault?” administration officer Obi Emeka asked.

Audry could not hide his anger or his disappointment with a room full of people he was meant to trust. However, the truth was the truth. “Depending on how i feel about said person, the consequences might be severe.”

The looks on their faces changed. Those who knew he had lost faith in them tried to remain stoic. Others looked guilt ridden.

“Now listen, Mr. Forge, it’s not a game of favoritism,” Mr. Brennan said, taking off his glasses.

Audry rubbed his temples, avoiding his eyebrow cut, with a long drawn sigh. It sounded childish and made him feel childish having to respond to such a statement. “None of you are my favorite. I have tried seeing you all as equals. But the higher ups might not see it that way.”

“The Board of Directors wouldn’t be very happy with a mutiny in our company now would they?” Claire stared at each person in the room. “The Chairman himself would be appalled by your actions.”

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Mr. Conroy stared into nothingness from his side of the room. He would have scolded Audry by now.

“Mr. Conroy. You’re not talking very much today,” Claire said.

“What’s there to talk about? The deed is done. His father’s prized expo is leaked. It’s better if you just roll with the punches,” Mr. Conroy muttered.

“Mr. Conroy. You must be trying to make yourself sound like the culprit,” Claire said. An attitude rose in her voice.

Audry’s first reaction would had been to rebel against Hugh Conroy but the man was right.

“He’s just blunt,” Audry muttered. “We’ve been around each other long enough to know this.”

“So you should know I wouldn’t do it,” Mr. Conroy crossed his arms. He looked at him in disbelief.

“Well we’re not leaving this room until we find out who it was. Things will be getting pretty stupid here shortly,” Audry said tossing his pen on the table. It bounced across the surface until it landed in the center.

“I’m not trying to jump up the chain here or anything but Mrs. Johannes doesn’t seem entirely faithful to the company either,” Mr. Brennan claimed.

Claire crossed her arms. “After all that I’ve done for it?”

“You and Polruszechia seem to be having a pretty friendly relationship. It goes against all of our policies,” Mr. Brennan said.

“I’m the company’s ambassador for a reason. If you want to live the rest of your life on the streets, asking for spare change I suggest you cut the bullshit. You’re messing with the wrong woman.”

The debate abruptly ended when the Chairman himself walked through the frosted glass doors.

Mr. Emeka had been the first to greet the Chairman.

Ms. Lilith Dolores averted her attention away. It was as if the presence of the man in the room created fear. But surely it was respect.

“I know you’re not too fond of that Frankie fella over in Checagou. What about him?” Mr. Brennan asked. His very demeanor was aimed at Audry.

“I don’t let Frankie know anything,” Audry spat back. “It’s not Frankie.”

“I’d agree,” Claire said.

The Chairman looked around. His eyes seemed off even if there was nothing particularly noticeable about them. “It’s the receptionist, Meredith.”

“Meredith? Mr. Chairman that’s a little far fetched isn’t it?” Mr. Brennan questioned.

Questioning the Chairman was something not many people did. Audry had done it before but his situation was different. Mr. Brennan’s life was far more disposable.

“Meredith is your hire Mr. Brennan. Yet she was the one who managed to maintain a large portion of documentation regarding Mr. Forge’s Project Skorpio. It seems to me she was fed the information. Which is precisely what happened. I’m not stupid John.”

Mr. Brennan grew pale as the walls. If he was any more scared he would have passed as a ghost. Even then, death wasn’t very far from his doorstep for his mutiny.

“See me in my office John.”

“Mr. Chairman I’m not sure this is fair. It’s not my fault,” Mr. Brennan argued even as he was slowly getting up from his seat.

The elusive man in the room left just as quickly as he entered. Audry knew that Mr. John Brennan would never sit in that room again. Furthermore, his name would be forgotten.

It was just the prize for playing the unbeatable game.

The game that Audry had been winning at for a very long time.

. . . .

It was the next morning when Audry sat at his kitchen table eating a bowl of maple and brown sugar flavored oatmeal with a tall glass of water.

The news played on the overhead television taking complete advantage of the exhibition’s leak. Audry had already come to grips that it was already out there.

The faint smell of cinnamon lingered in the air. It reminded him of his grandmother’s cinnamon rolls.

“Sir.” Quinn said.

“What?”

“About the other day. I had given it some thought and decided to apologize.”

Audry had only exchanged a few words with his AI companion. It was strange hearing that from him.

“Since when do you apologize? The damage with the leak has been done,” Audry told him.

“I recall the argument not being about the event.”

“Well I’m not particularly in the right mood or head space to be thinking about it.”

“It was about how you’ve changed. How you are difficult to read. How you’ve lost functionality and what really makes you who you are, Mr. Forge.”

Audry shook his head, tapping the spoon against the bowl like a nervous tic. “Yeah, that’s it right there.”

“I seemed to have blamed you for things you had lost control over long ago. I’m wrong for my words.”

Quinn’s apology could make a grown man wince and grind his teeth. But Audry understood it.

“A lot of people are Quinn. Don’t even think too hard on it. We’ll be back in an argument about what’s wrong with me if you think too hard.”

“I’m not sure how I could think softer sir. But I could try.”

“Is that a joke?”

“Not that I’m self-aware of,” Quinn said.

“Then half of what I just said went right over your head.”

Quinn joked. “If I had a head, that is.”

“Yeah about that. I’m nearly done with the beta testing of your new shell. You might not benefit from it entirely but I’m leaving it open for upgrades. Just don’t go giving yourself a horse-sized dick or something stupid like that,” Audry said, eating a spoonful of oatmeal. His eyebrow still throbbed as he laughed at the voice from above.

“My humor isn't that bad sir.”

“If you were anything like old Quinn you probably would have some. But your robotic ass is just about as dry as they come,” Audry chuckled.

“Ouch, sir. I had that coming.”

Audry took a refreshing gulp of water, gently slammed it on the marble table, and smiled. “You sure did.”