FROM THE DESK OF MARGOT MCLAVEY
To my fellow activists in the campaign for Fluffy Rights Now:
Working with you all in the past year has been a wonderful experience. I got to work with many fine people and witness many fluffy breeding establishments. It was a joy to visit the ethical mills and meet the fluffies that were treated well. It always brought a smile to my face when they told me of their happiness first hand. I’ll never forget being in my first fluff pile!
I also felt accomplished for exposing the bad mills. Having worked in one, I got to see fluffy suffering firsthand and unfortunately took part in it. Exposing Happy Fluffy Farms and the many others afterwards was work I felt I had to do. I had to work to overcome my past in unethical fluffy breeding. It is something I will never stop working for.
While I will never stop fighting for fluffy rights I am sorry to say that my time in FRN has come to an end. I have been given the opportunity to oversee Hive operations at the Torgl-Tech Mark 2 Power Plant. I will personally be able to maintain an ethical level of treatment for the fluffies there. The owner/operator Brennan Torgl would like me to help him keep the producers for his plant happy. This is a career decision that I can’t afford not to make.
Though I will be working elsewhere, I will continue working for the rights and care of fluffies. I will be working with Mr. Torgl to maintain a high standard of care within the Hive. It will be my pleasure to keep an open line with FRN to keep them up to date on any advancements in fluffy treatment that Torgl-Tech makes. I have also been assure that I will be able to draw on my FRN experience to help in potential community outreach plans that Torgl-Tech may have.
Working with you all has been a great honor and privilege.
With love and admiration,
Margot McLavey
With great relief Margot hit the send button. The email went beyond just her home branch in Vancouver and went to the other Washington branches. Attached was a photo of her in first fluff pile. Despite her smile in the photo what she wanted at that moment was to start stomping the foals as their mothers watched. The things she did for love……
“Sorry to see you go,” Karissa said from over her shoulder. “But I guess you have to take care of yourself, too.” Margot turned to see her.
“What can I say? I get to actually take good care of fluffies for a change….” Margot said, knowing that she only had to put this front up for just another week or so at most. “I’ll still be able to help you out. Who knows? With the work I’ll do…. Maybe we’ll change fluffy care entirely!”
Karissa sighed. “We can only hope……” She looked to the thumb drive sticking in the computer. Karissa smirked “Stealing trade secrets, are we?”
Margot chuckled. “If by trade secrets, you mean pictures of my times here… I guess.” Margot pulled the drive from the laptop. “I’d rather not forget my times here, you know?”
Karissa nodded. “You did good work. I’m sure that the Hive will only get better under you.”
“I’ll do my best…” Margot promised, getting up to give her old boss a hug. In her mind she wished she was holding a knife right now……
“Keep fighting for them.” Karissa smiled as she stepped back.
Margot nodded, turning to leave. “Don’t worry…” she said as she walked away. “The fight has just begun…” As she walked out, the first thought on her mind was to hit up a drive-through of a corporate coffee house.
……
Brennan stood in front of the natural gas turbines at the control station. This was the moment he had been waiting for. The power plant was ready to produce at 90% capacity, making a sizeable contribution to the power grid. It was just in time, too. The methane produced by the Kremlin was starting to build up past the plants storage capacity. Any later and they would have to vent and face major EPA sanctions.
He looked to his employees around him and smiled. He hit a few buttons on the console in front of him as the machinery grew in its noise and intensity. Everyone watched the monitors as the energy output slowly increased. All eyes were on the diagnostics as the turbines were tested. Sure, there were several simulations that were performed, but you could never discount a visit from Murphy. The air was thick as the output stabilized at the new level. Eyes darted between screens, looking for the possible alarm.
After several minutes, it was finally confirmed. The Mark 2 was performing optimally and operations were in the green line. Brennan turned around to look at all of the technicians and investors in attendance and gave them a thumbs up. He didn’t want to over-exert his throat. They all gave applause as he nodded his approval. He motioned for the group to make their way to the conference room.
Brennan turned to the technicians on shift. He went to the console and opened a text file. He started typing:
I have had a platter of the food made just for you guys. It will be waiting in the break room. You deserve to share in the celebration just as much as the other guys. You can grab a cold one, too. Thank you for your hard work.
They read it, and nodded to him with a smile. Brennan gave a guy a pat on the shoulder. He knew that if he was going to keep people happy, he had to take care of them. He walked out, ready to head to yet another PR stunt.
……
“Gentlemen!” Brennan addressed the employees and investors gathered in his conference room. They wasted no time descending on the spread that Everett Brooks had laid out for this occasion. There were several stations of shrimp, clam, and salmon dishes prepared by local chefs; the best seafood that Washington could turn out. Of course, there had to be plenty of the local beers on ice. Champagne was overdone; you had to enjoy the local things.
“I want to thank all of you!” Brennan announced. For once, he was actually able to be sincere. “Thank you to the investors that gave me a chance!” he said as he held up his bottle of lager. “Thank you to the employees who worked starting at lower wages than what other companies could have paid. I’m glad that you believed in me and can now reap the benefits of your work!” He took a swig from his bottle and swallowed. “Well…. We’ve done it. We’re now producing power with a fraction of the emissions of most traditional fossil fuel plants. We’ve shown that this new technology can work and will no doubt lead to further expansion. We are already in talks of placing a Mark 3 outside of Seattle! Great times are ahead! I’ll not waste any more of your time. Eat! Drink! If any of you need a cab, we will pay for it! Stay safe! To our success!” He held out his bottle as everyone else raised theirs, and took a swig.
Brennan watched as those assembled dispersed, taking advantage of the food and beer that was being provided free of charge. He moved through the crowd, shaking the obligatory hands, hob-nobbing with the investors who were happy to see their investment being returned. He was finally solidifying his legitimacy, though he was getting tired of being called “the next Edison”. Edison was a hack….
Brennan felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned around to see the source. Fred, one of his newly hired operations engineers was standing nervously behind him. “Can I talk to you, sir?” he asked, looking very concerned. “In private?”
Shit, Brennan thought. Something might have gone wrong. He nodded, waving Fred to come with him to one of the side offices. He walked Fred in, closing the door behind them. “Ok Fred…” he said, bracing himself for some detrimental news, “What’s up?”
Fred was pacing a little. “Well…. It’s just that… It’s nothing major, sir. Not yet….” He wrung his hands as he paced, trying to think of the proper words so he didn’t try to sound like he was smarter than Brennan. “It’s just… I looked at the consumption rates from our current burn. I also compared them to current gas production levels….” He stopped pacing, facing Brennan. “It’s just… in a few months, we might need another hive. We’re currently producing a large amount of gas, but at the 90% burn, we’re going to outpace our gas production eventually….”
Great. A naïve one who wasn’t in on the loop. The Kremlin had plenty of room and Brennan already accounted for it. Many of the foals were ready to be weaned and their parents would be moved in to the Kremlin to be producers. Add that in with the occasional ferals that were led near the plant by spaghetti odors being sprayed about, the issue was going to be moot in a month or so as production would again outpace consumption.
“Fred, I just want to say that I really appreciate your eye to detail, Brennan assured him, “I can see I made a good decision in bringing you onboard. I had to tweak the process a bit because we were getting dangerously close to venting the gas. We don’t want to be fined by the EPA, right?”
“That’s not all, sir…” Fred continued. “There is a lot of waste being processed. I mean… a lot. I know that fluffies constantly eat and defecate……” He continued, not losing any of his concern. “But the amount of fertilizer components we’re shipping out… It’s just… something’s not right…”
“Fred….” Brennan spat, trying to stop him in his tracks, “You’re not a zoologist, correct? You’re strictly in the mechanical sciences?”
“Well… with a minor in organic chemistry….” Fred added, trying to sound like he wasn’t exceeding his grasp.
“Ok…” Brennan continued. “Just so you know…. Most people within the animal sciences had to get a whole new education when the fluffies came about. Everything that they came to accept as science fact suddenly had adjustments to be made.” He approached Fred, putting his hands on his shoulders. “These creatures don’t obey all natural laws. The reason? Because they’re not natural. They’re man-made organisms that have at many times defied logic and even physics. Can you think of anything natural that drowns just by looking at an ocean?!!”
Fred looked at Brennan, still concerned. “It’s just that-“
Brennan held up his hands. “I get it, Fred, alright? You’re fresh out of school and this operation just doesn’t align with your understanding of natural science. I’ll be honest with you, I’m relieved. I’m glad that you’re voicing your concerns because, from your point of view and understanding, they are valid. Please don’t think I’m discounting that…” He went to Fred’s side, walking him to the office door. “Please, just trust me when I tell you I’ve had to come up with a new process to handle things. I know about the discrepancy; I’ve planned for it. If, by next month, you see things aren’t improving, I want you knocking at my office door, ok?”
Fred looked at him, still concerned, but realizing that he had been heard. “Ok….” he said, “I was just worried when I was looking at the numbers. I didn’t want things to go south…”
Brennan nodded. “I assure you, things are going to be just fine. Now please, stop worrying. Go back into the conference room and have yourself a good time. Believe me, you’ve earned it!” Brennan patted Fred on the shoulder as he walked away, still fretting but slightly relieved.
Brennan took another swig from his lager. He was going to need another one… He turned as he saw Margot arrive from the front entryway. He walked towards her, looking around for prying eyes. When he saw none he marched right up to her. “You sent the attachment?” he asked.
Margot smiled. “You’re damn right I did. I hope it’s worth it. I hated posing in that pile of shitrats… God, I wanted to….”
She was cut off as Brennan pulled her in and gave her a forceful kiss on the lips as he embraced her. He pulled back, looking into her shocked face. “You’re the best babe….” he told her, kissing her again. He took her hand. “Now, let’s go meet some people. I’d like to introduce my new Overseer of Fluffy Care….”
She smiled as she walked with him to the conference room. Things were about to get fun……