Bryson chewed on the butt of his imported cigarillo and ran some quick numbers. Normally, he’d have had a team of at least 4 extra consultants with him during the call to help crunch the figures, but ever since he got the new processor chip installed in his neural server he, was able to do his negotiations more quickly, and in relative peace.
And he did mean relative peace, as he settled comfortably in his leatherback chair.
“Fuck me, Tomo, you cant tell me that the board isn’t willing to relinquish the extra shares, I’m doing you a favor.”
The voice across the neural relay paused, then continued to rattle on the board’s protests. It paused again as the interpreter stopped to process the Chinese from across the line, then, as the words became clearer in English, Bryson snorted.
“Whatever. Tell Mr Giang he ought to be more concerned with his shareholder’s expectations than with the share price. I could publish these minutes in the next report and they’ll eat him for lunch.”
Bryson bit down hard on the cigarillo, the earthy bitter taste leaked brown oil onto his steel capped molars. Smoke trailed lazily from his nostrils as he cocked his head for a better view out of his 35th floor office window.
After the protests from the board had died down across the line, he paused, mainly for dramatic effect.
“Uh, Mr Seenal? Are you still there?” came the tinny voice in his implant. Bryson braced himself on his chair, leaning slightly to the side and looked down the telescopic viewfinder which was focused on a small black car on the street below.
“Hmmm?” Bryson blinked slightly. “Yeah, reading you loud and clear. So, do we agree to the buyout?”
The voice across the line muffled its voice as it conferred with the Board in Chinese. He could hear two or three distinct voices protesting half-heartedly before the interpreter assuaged them with Bryson’s previous clarifications. What a bunch of pissers, he thought. Too scared to make a takeover even though they had a very clear advantage.
They Had Bryson Seenal as chief negotiator.
“Uh… they need to consider. The competition… they’re very-“
“I said I’ll take care of them, Tomo. I’m already on it.”
“Yes, Mr Seenal but once they find out, they’ll act swiftly and they have er… resources.”
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Bryson sighed, he zoomed his scope further into the car until the glint of the back side window flashed in his sight.
He cocked his head to the side. “Tomo, I too have resources, its why the Board hired me right? Do they not trust me?” He asked slowly, letting his voice drop to a sinister baritone. The line went silent, and he swore he could hear the uncomfortable shuffle of asses squirming in their seats.
“We trust you, Mr Seenal, if you can guarantee that there will be no impediments to the take over – the board is putting a lot of capital on the line”.
Bryson grinned and settled his brow back into the scope, the butt of the rifle nestled comfortably against his armpit as he made a final calibration. The backseat car window had opened just a fraction. Open or closed, it wouldn’t have prevented him from doing his job. If he played this right, Begincorp would need two extra weeks to get another negotiator on talks and by then, the contracts would have already been exchanged. He’d already installed a data firewall that prevented news about a possible takeover to leak onto the stock exchange, no one would be the wiser until the next trade day opening next week.
Bryson flexed a little as the data jack from his temple adjusted the sniper rifle without him having to lift a finger. The circuitry in his temple flashed briefly as the muzzle of the rifle adjusted by 0.85mm.
“Well gentlemen, I have good news…”
He breathed, back when he was still in the Marines he would have used both hands for this, now he could comfortably flick ash and stick his hands between his legs if he wanted to. Instead, he relaxed as his neural relay released the command to pull the trigger.
There was a slight clink as a small hole crackled open on the glass of his office window. Down below, a scuffle ensued as three burly suited men scrambled out of the car. The fourth passenger was clearly not going to join them.
“I have taken care of it. Begincorp wont be at the table tomorrow. You may proceed with the buyout.”
There was a peal of muted applause from the other side of the line, followed by a sigh of relief.
“Thank you Mr Seenal, we apologise for doubting you. We will transfer the funds and your share package tomorrow after 3pm.”
Bryson nodded and carelessly jerked his head sideways, yanking the data cable jack from the side of his head. He leaned back in his leather seat and grinned. Another good job, and a sweet, sweet payout.
“I’ll be counting on it Tomo – I’ll speak to you on Monday, congrats on your new re-brand.”
And with that, he terminated the call. His rifle was gingerly lowered to the ground. He sighed as he cracked his metallic neck muscles.
The sounds of screaming and the blare of a car alarm echoed from down below. He figured he’d pack up his rented office tomorrow. He supposed he could afford to lose the deposit for the broken window.
“Ah well, the $10 mil should cover that up nicely.” He murmured to himself. Nevertheless, he’d miss the soft leather of his office chair. He could buy a new one for his yacht next week if he really felt like it.
Bryson activated the holographic HUD on his arm and flicked a few pages over until he found the website he was looking for. It blared yellow and purple as a naked Virtual Vicki twirled in mid air before dissolving into a stream of phone numbers, addresses and daily specials.
Bryson chewed on the butt of his cigarillo grinning. He’d had a hard week of work, now it was time for Friday night drinks.