"Well, the budget, ma'am," said Eager with a wan smile, holding up a hand to forestall the disconnection. "This kind of blue sky research, there's no upper limit to how money we can burn on it. The official paperwork says that we've been running on 20MC but we've been getting that again in laundered money from elsewhere in the corporation. Sometimes more, when your predecessor has found room for it. We've been eating well in R&D, but I think if you start looking around you're going to find that the corporation has been cutting a lot of corners to make this happen. I can keep the lab going for a year theory-only on 20MC and things'll be fine, but longer than that and we'll need serious capital injections to fund the next generation of infrastructure. If we don't get that we'll start hemorrhaging the most ambitious and brilliant staff.

"Put it frankly, past few years I've been the golden boy, top priority cost is no object kind of thing, and I've built a gold-plated R&D section to match. There's nothing on earth like what I have going here - not since they shuttered NASA. And, I think, that's very specifically the idea. Good night, Ms. Kade."

*

The VI glimmered as it processed future requests. "High priority items actioned. Medium priority items as follows:
- Economic Modernization with Finance Director Angus. Key concepts: Outdated infrastructure, declining brands, deferred maintenance.
- Corporate Justice with Interior Director Trajan. Key concepts: Low morale, court backlog, organized criminal infiltration.
- Reputation Management with Ambassador Lights. Key concepts: State Nationalization agendas, misinformation compliance, environmental impact.

Note: Any of these meetings can be delegated. Simply assign the division head a budget and they will prioritize according to their own agenda."

"Schedule Interior Director Trajan for a face to face meeting in my office at eight thirty tomorrow morning." Andrea instructed the VI. "Inform the others in a nicely worded message about trust in their abilities, and get them to send me credit requests instead. Let's see how much they think they're worth."

Low morale. Court backlog. Criminal infiltration.

Of the three briefings, only one sounded like a problem that might already be inside the walls. And after a day spent learning how much of Lhotse's structure depended on hidden arrangements, Andrea found she was developing a strong preference for identifying those before they identified her. Besides, she already knew enough about the by-laws of environmental footprints of mega-corps as well as how to invest money in the right shareholders, didn't she?

Didn't she?

She sighed and brought up the VI again. It wouldn't do to be caught out by something basic.

"On second thought, make sure they send me information packets as well as their credit requests. Call it a... touchstone analysis of their departments. I just need to make sure I know what they'd want me to know, or the short version anyway."

"It is very important to realize," said Interor Director Trajan, "that justice is a consumer good."

She was a sleek, corporate creature. Company woman to the bone, the first of those you'd spoken to. Lhotse lapel pin on her suit-dress thing. Gleaming golden cybernetic arm. Orange tie, striped with black - no, wait, was that a pattern on her clothes? In all, a more expensive evolution of internal company styles.

"When the State went into remission over the Red Decades, it fell to us to provide justice for the employees and stakeholders under our protection," said Trajan. "But justice is a low-margin commodity and the marketplace is crowded. The customer base pays in loyalty - and they're discerning shoppers. If they don't like what we're offering, they'll go somewhere else. Previously, that was the State. Nowadays, it's criminal elements - though the difference between a Mega and a crime family is honestly a political distinction rather than an organizational one. There are multiple small players, along with Crown&Slate's tendrils."

She tapped the table. "Added to that, we have the resurgent State resurrecting its legal system. This is a calculated and ruthless step: Claiming and enforcing justice is a prelude to reasserting a monopoly of force, an essential step from transforming employees into citizens. If the situation continues we'll see leaks, defections, whistleblowers, organizational inertia, feet dragging and destabilize our entire internal recruiting pool. This area was almost entirely neglected by your predecessor and the situation has become acute."

She pursed her lips. "The ideal situation amongst the employees is one of a quiet, professional patriotism. A widespread feeling of moral righteousness and stability that does not need to be advertised. Given how much you've spent on corporate warfare already, a realistic solution is to create a success cult. This will naturally accelerate an existing split between wild-eyed fanatics willing to give everything to the company and demoralized second-tier dead-enders. There will be widespread negative consequences for doing this, and it won't be pretty, but it's the only way to re-establish some semblance of corporate loyalty for 20MC. That's already the ugly bandaid cheap version of my plan, so I will leave it to your imagination what a lower investment will create."

Andrea sat back in her chair and allowed the silence to linger for a few moments after Trajan finished speaking. The woman had delivered her recommendation with the confidence of somebody who had been staring at the same departmental and institutional problem for a very long time. Andrea suspected she had fallen in love with her own solution of creating a success cult, judging by the finality of her presentation. But wasn't the only gifted mind that had a say in what direction her department went. Andrea's eyes lingered on the woman while her implants quietly fed supplementary information into the corner of her vision. Tiny changes in skin temperature. Eye movement. Breathing patterns. Nothing dramatic. Nothing a human observer would call a lie. Just the familiar signs of someone discussing a topic they cared about personally. So what if Trajan believed in this pitch? That did not mean she was right to do so.

"Let's assume your diagnosis is correct." Andrea said at last. "That the State is recovering. That criminal organisations are offering competing structures of loyalty and belonging. That employees increasingly see themselves as 'individuals with options' rather than members of an institution. Fine. I'm willing to grant all of that for the sake of argument." She folded her hands together. "What I'm less willing to grant is that a success cult is the first solution that comes to mind."

Her gaze drifted briefly toward the data displays hovering above the conference table.

"Whenever someone proposes creating fanatics, my instinct is to ask what happened to all the other less dangerous options."

Because that was what bothered her. Success cults were powerful, but they were also utterly blunt instruments. They distorted information flows. They encouraged people to only report what their leadership wanted to hear. Worst of all, it rewarded plain enthusiasm over any actual semblance of expertise or accuracy. In the short term, yes, they would create momentum. But in the long term, after a few years worth of middle-management shifting and promotions and layoffs, they could create entire management layers almost entirely incapable of distinguishing reality from fantasy. And if there was one thing Andrea had learned while inheriting her predecessor's office and their prioritisation of the R&D sector, it was that reality eventually collected its debts.

"You've described a loyalty problem, that's clear." She continued. "But loyalty is an output, not an input. If employees are drifting toward the State, I want to know why. If they're turning to criminal organisations, I want to know why. If morale is collapsing, I want to know why. Not because I'm opposed to your solution. Rather, I want to understand the alternatives you've dismissed before we start engineering ideological movements inside the workforce." Her expression remained calm. "Give me options, Director. Not one option. Options." The corner of her mouth twitched upward slightly. "You're the Interior Director of one of the largest organisations on Earth. But if your answer to every staff enthusiasm problem costs me twenty MacroCredits and ends with a corporate religion, then either we're in much deeper shit than I thought, or you're taking me for a fool."