Free Hostile Takeover by Patrick E. McLean Page B

strategy for keeping the madness of the world at bay appeared in his mind. Now that he understood it, he saw it as a logical and inevitable evolution.

    On the screen, most of the plant was burning. The light from the flames made it easier to see the figure that was the source of the destruction. He strode into the foreground without fear. His skintight costume had no cape. His arms and legs were accented with lightning bolts; a larger lightning bolt on his chest contained the letters “PB.” The man running the laptop froze the feed and left that picture on screen. There was silence as the entire room considered their new opponent.
    "Lead?" asked Topper, immediately thinking of the symbol for lead on the periodic table. "This guy's name is Lead Man?" Topper realized that this was a joke too far. "Okay, okay people. We gotta think. Does anybody know this guy?"
    "Well, he's not a hero, or he wouldn't be destroying the factory," said someone.
    "Un-hunh," said Topper, "What else? Research, we have to find out who this LeadMan is and how we ground him out but good."
    "Uh, sir?" said an intern in the back. "Lead doesn't even conduct electricity all that well."
    "Yeah, yeah, clearly the guy's idiom needs some work. Now I want everybody on this guy until—"
    "Klibanov," said Edwin. Nobody really heard it, but the entire room fell silent at the sound of Edwin's voice. "We need Klibanov."
    "Oh, boy," said Topper heavily, "okay, everybody back to work. Your President of Vice can handle this."
    No one moved, they just stood around staring at the image on the screen.
    "C'mon!" Topper screamed, "What are you all standing around for? We got work to do!"
    A woman from the reinsurance division gave voice to the question on everybody's mind. "Does this mean we're actually going to pay a claim? Pay out money, I mean?" This was a first. Since Edwin had acquired the company, Omdemnity had not paid a single insurance claim. It was contrary to the business model. An insurance company was an organization designed for the accumulation of cash. To think that they would actually pay a claim was heresy.
    Edwin stood up, buttoned his jacket and said, "I assure you all, we will not be the only ones paying for this incident. You know your jobs. Do them."
    As the room emptied, Topper stayed close to Edwin. "E, what can I do?"
    "Review our contract with United Motors. See if we can limit the damage."
    "I tried to put those loopholes in there big fella, but you made me take them out, remember?"
    "Topper, please."
    Topper nodded and shuffled from the room. In the hallway he stopped and made a yawn and stretch that was twice his size. He wasn't used to being up this early in the morning. Not sober anyway. As he lowered his arms and the world came back into focus, he saw Jerry sitting on a chair all alone at the end of the hallway. He had cupped his head in his hands and looked like he was crying.
    "Ah, shit," said Topper. This wasn't good. He hoped that none of the other adjustors had seen Jerry like this. The way they were trained to pounce on weakness, Jerry wouldn't stand a chance.
    "Hey," Topper started, smacking Jerry in the shin, "what gives?"
    Jerry looked down. There were no tears in his eyes, but he looked just awful. "Oh, it's you. Uh, you know. Nothing, it's all fine. I, uh—"
    "Jerry, what is it?" Topper said with uncharacteristic tenderness.
    "Ah, it's my kid. Jerry Junior. He's home sick. I got him this week and now he's all alone."
    "Sick?"
    "Yeah, he caught a cold sitting on the front steps when—"
    "Jerry, I took care of that."
    "I know, I heard. Thank you."
    "Yeah, that guy pissed me off. So what are you doing here?"
    "Well, the manual says…"
    "Ahh," Topper cut him off with a wave of his hand, "I've heard just about enough of that manual. Has everybody lost their minds? Go home Jerry. Go take care of your kid."
    "Well, I don't think I should."
    "Jerry, your President of Vice commands it."
    "But it will catch up with me. You know,