The Industrialist

Kranian Industries, AmdonCore Sector, Northern, Axe Central City.

***

Flanegan's face wanted to kill the kid who outshined him. His mentor, years of working under Doctor Zee, now had his eyes shifted to the young kid. A probable protégé at a very young age could rise to ranks, faster. Which probably disturbed the aspiring Electrical Tier Scientist. Moreover, a Commoner and an uneducated individual could surpass him.

"The delays happened because the operators needed another mind to solve for them, such as a TOR or a supervisor," Lance said. "Sometimes these problems are easy to solve. These short-time delays, almost insignificant will accumulate in time, making it a 20% delay on average. Therefore, allocating time to train the operators solves this problem."

"Sometimes, people are resistive to new knowledge and training. How did you manage to cascade information properly to them for only a short period?" Zee asked.

"Work manuals, Doctor Zee. I made them myself. I created a data log when I produced the prototype. It's much the same. If they knew the concept of what they were making, they knew how to handle roadblocks. Therefore, eliminating the 20% delay, and maintaining the production momentum."

Doctor Zee nodded.

"Interesting. The manuals we made that came from the research and opening team are not sufficient?" Zee asked.

Lance shook his head gently. "They were just processes without in-depth information."

Doctor Zee nodded, lazily. Somewhat doubtful of what he just said recently.

"Let me check on them, probably the research team is not paying much attention to a more detailed work. Their manuals should be comprehensive," Zee said.

"You can check on them, Doctor," Lance said. "Mister Flanegan approved them. They are useful at some point, but when facing problems, the pre-work manuals will not save the day."

"Let me check on them," Zee said. He typed something in his wrist holographic drive. Probably those digital sticky notes for him to remember what had been discussed.

"How did you manage to get back on track? In your last week's report, you have a three-day delay. But now, only for a half-day," Zee asked.

There was a slight pause from Lance. He hesitated if he would disclose his promise to the crew to compensate them for their overtime with his own money.

"Overtime, Doctor Zee." He said it.

"Overtime? We are gonna pay premium for that," Zee said.

"No need to worry. I just want to finish the target in due time so I promised the team that I would pay them overtime with my own money."

"Your own money?" Zee asked. Surprised. "You can't do that; it would be a precedent. Men talk, you know. And if they know that one of the TORs is paying overtime with his own money, then it could raise questions from other lines. We are strict about overtime here due to the premium pay, Mister Berkley."

A smile formed on Mister Flanegan, smelling a little hint of victory. But Lance had already anticipated where the conversation would tread, hence his answer almost automatically flowed out from his mouth. Almost involuntary.

"It's actually how I decided, Doctor Zee. I cannot compromise the targets because of my unorthodox approach. I gambled my money to them to catch up on our delay. It's either I will lose a few units or lose my career as a TOR because of a monumental production delay.

To my calculation, the twenty percent delay will cost us hundreds of thousands of units against my insignificant hundreds of units to pay for their overtime."

Zee shook his head, and his smile gleamed against the shiny marbled floor. His hands now went inside the pockets of his lab coat, and his shoulder had relaxed. The tension had evaporated towards the kid, but Flanegan had risen an invisible pressure waiting for him to shatter.

Flanegan was hugely defeated.

"You got me there, Mister Berkley. Do you know what I appreciated the most during your RoFlo defense presentation for Patent?... It's because of the way you calculate things. This is what I expect from you here as my co-TOR." Zee praised.

He then turned his back from the kid. A curt smile from the Industrialist left the kid at ease, signifying that his gamble had been a success.

"And by the way. You don't need to pay their overtime. Kranian management will pay for them." Zee said as he looked over his shoulder as he stopped.

"Flanegan! Come to the office at once. Lance can handle this alone."

Flanegan followed suit, his movement jittered. He knew better not to defy Doctor Zee.

Every Scientist, during the Mechanical and Electrical Tiers stint, wanted to become a Toll Operations Representative (TOR), better than becoming a Supervisor.

A TOR will receive commissions after a successful production target, even with the delays. For a hundred percent on time and in full production target, the TOR would garner five thousand units to twenty thousand units after the project. Depending solely on how the products were produced – the number of wastages, the quality, the number of complaints, and of course, the magnitude of delays.

Flanegan, as a supervisor, would only receive a salary. In his caliber, an Electrical Tier three Supervisor and working under a reputable company, he would earn as much as 2000 units per month.

To earn so lucratively, in Flanegan's position wanted to become a TOR simultaneously as a Supervisor too, to double or triple his earnings.

Lance was not solely after the commissions. He did not even ask Doctor Zee about it as he was offered the position. He just accepted it, to accelerate himself to ranks and gain confidence and fame in the highest ranks of the Corporation.

***

Apartment Zone, Steelpoint District, Axe Central

***

"Greetings, Master Lance. Welcome home!" Jasper said as Lance entered his apartment. As usual, he dug his back to his massage chair. He remembered the cushion chairs of Kranian's waiting area, it was more heaven than what he had in his room.

He squinted at his room. He missed the smell, that aromatic smell of the Aiveez plants that would fend off persistent Abominated pests. His room was empty now. Occasional soil grains still heaved his floor. He had little time to perfectly clean it, dirt-free.

Consequentially, he was used to sleeping in his couch with the Aiveez nursery in his room. He left the condition of his room, untouched for days. Maybe a week already. He could not remember.

His sight fell on the ever-chaotic piled scraps for his augmentation and fabrication. Metallic tubes, steel sheets, and scrap electronic components were chaotically placed on the floor in the corner, or leaning against the side of the wall, adjacent to his living room. His procrastination had kicked in, evidently on his scrap materials.

Because of his love for scrapping, he sometimes would visit the Scrap yards just to scavenge uncommon to rare materials or components and bring them home without further fabrication. Hence, these materials were not yet marketable unless fabricated to a desirable quality.

His Fabrication table sits idly at the corner, seemingly calling for his attention. 'It needs calibration,' He thought, he missed one calibration sequence for a week.

"Jasper, run-down 'things-to-do'" Lance said.

The hologram appeared in front of the living room.

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[1] Zelkian delivery, due in two weeks.

[2] Tyllrium Trade delivery, due in two weeks.

[3] Poison bombs assembly – 50% of target

[4] Market poison bombs – 0%

[5] In-vitro propagation of crops with Jaqi - 10% research done

[6] Transfer to Hypervista Condominiums – 0%

[7] Acquire Energy Accelerator – 0%

[8] Build Ultragenerator – 0%

[9] Mystery Girl using the Project Nightfall concept

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Looking at the Hologram, Lance sighed heavily. This list was established due for the fact that he was exhausted managing his time to squeeze his agendas.

Despite his beaten state, he hauled himself up and walked through the hologram, and went straight ahead to the Fabrication Table. Something had told him that he needed to work much harder now. However, he needed an extra hand.

"Jasper, I have good news." Lance announced.

"What is it, Master?" Jasper responded.

"I will upgrade you to Generation three AI, upgrading your cloud drives to maximum capacity, and with perpetual batteries so that you can go with me wherever I want."

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