"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."