Jeremy 085; The Bureau Of Sabotage
Jeremy is given a revelation about The Bureau.
Its been a while since I explained about that name I feel its time to go over it again. The Bureau of Sabotage is an idea from one of my favorite authors. So yes, I stole it, shamelessly. Even so I gave the original author full credit for the idea back then and considering there may be new readers that haven't taken the trouble to go back that far I just want to make that clear. If you're one of those new readers and want to know the origin, you'll have to go back and do your own homework.
The next morning was another day of hectic activity at the Bureau. Routines were still up in the air with all the finishing touches being completed in the offices. Jeremy spent most of the morning setting up his office the way he wanted. Satisfied with the layout he leaned back in his chair and stared out the window.
With a bit of time to spare Jeremy set his mind to retracing his thoughts the day before. At the time he'd felt at the edge of suddenly understanding something profound. He'd had the feeling many times before. Most of them had been during his academy years. He felt again that if he could retrace his own thoughts from the day before he'd be able to complete the train of thought to catch that elusive idea he wanted. He was still smiling to himself over his mental quest when Gakota walked in.
"The network techs should be finished and have us up and running by the end of the day." The ocelot said as he sat in front of Jeremy.
He hummed in reply watching the cat lean back in the chair and lift his feet to rest on the edge of Jeremy's desk. He went so far as to clasp his paws behind his head with his elbows stretched out and up. Like most cats he looked unusually comfortable in the position. The overly familiar action brought a wide smile to Jeremy's face. They'd often do such things in clients offices to push their limits.
It was a well established move for each of them. Not only did it signal their position as outside the typical corporate structure but also let everyone know instantly just how much resistance to conventional corporate orthodoxy they could expect. Gakota was obviously setting the tone in their offices. Jeremy leaned back a bit more and lifted his feet to join the ocelot's on the desk.
"You seemed lost in thought when I came in. Something up?"
He shook his head slightly. "Just trying to tease an idea out of my head."
"Oh?" Was the reply. Looking at the feline Jeremy saw he was examining him with mild interest. "Do tell."
Jeremy understood the interest. If they were going to work together closely they'd need to know how each other meshed as part of the team. Jeremy smiled wider before explaining. "I've always been into puzzles, even as a kit. Its now a familiar feeling to have an idea just at the edge of understanding. Like, having a word on the tip of your tongue. I just have to let it finish percolating up."
Gakota laughed. To Jeremy it was a pleasant rumble full of shared humor. "I know what you mean. Sorry to have interrupted."
"That's okay, ideas comes in their own time." Jeremy replied grinning back his own humor.
The ocelot spent the next few minutes going over their plans on staffing the Bureau. There would be a number of interviews over the next few weeks. They would have to fill in several key support rolls before they were truly a functioning business. Gakota was pushing hard to get that finished as quickly as possible. As he fell silent Jeremy thought over their roles within the Bureau.
Gakota had already established his own role as finding work among the business community. It was to be Jeremy's primary job to run the scheduling and also focus on recruitment. The ocelot interrupted his train of thought again. "So, I had lunch with Jackson Buttons and Zane Rook."
"Oh?" Jeremy said. Gakota's demeanor had changed slightly at the disclosure.
The cat took a deep breath and said "Yes. They kind of dropped a surprise on me. Well, us."
Jeremy watched the feline closely as he continued.
"To give us the leeway they think we need, we're not expected to make a profit for several years. There are several reasons for this. Primarily among them, as they told me was to recreate the Bureau any way we saw fit."
Jeremy set his feet on the floor and turned his chair to face Gakota straight on. "I'm not sure I understand."
"Well, the way the Bureau was structured and run when we were within Nicholson will not exactly work as a stand alone company. Zane Rook believes we need to expand our services somewhat. The idea of being consultants only where there's a crisis is too limiting. They both asked that we think of some way to widen the footprint of what the Bureau would have to offer."
"Widen the footprint? In what way?"
"That's entirely up to us. Actually, mostly you." Gakota said. Jeremy was sure the tone of his voice imparted a bit of disillusionment as he'd replied.
"I don't understand."
"They said you'd figure it out for yourself." Was his reply. He turned his eyes from Jeremy and looked out the window, clearly indicating he'd say nothing more.
Jeremy wondered at the ocelot's reaction. He was clearly upset about something, if it seemed only slightly. He frowned and thought about the clues presented. He was obviously being tested. Gakota expected him to think things through to come to the proper conclusion. He could surmise that Jackson and Zane had almost directed him to conduct this test.
"Oh." Jeremy muttered as the pieces came together in his head.
"What?" Gakota asked. Jeremy had heard the tone before from other mentors. He was to give his answer. Now.
"So, this whole move, this is just a test?"
Gakota looked back at him. His expression indicated he'd come to the right conclusion. The cat was also unhappy. "Since you got it for yourself I can tell you the rest. We've got five years of funding. If at the end of that time we're making a profit, the company, in whatever form it has taken on is to be yours."
Jeremy was stunned. Gakota was staring at him. His upset and disappointment was clear on his face.
Gakota wasn't done. "Of course, if we're not making a profit, the Bureau is to be dissolved. All of us will be out of work. At the age I'll be then I'll be forced to retire."
"I'm sorry you're in this position." Jeremy said.
"Don't be. This is actually a dream come true for a CEO. Five full years to make it work with the freedom to make the company into whatever we wish it to be. If we fail it'll be because we fucked it up."
Jeremy frowned. "Then why are you so upset?"
"I just wish I knew about what you're about to go through before hand."
"So, they told you about..."
Gakota nodded. "The only limits on me is that you're to act as the actual COO. I can't carry you."
"Am I at least allowed to ask for your advice?"
"Always. Its the primary task of the CEO to mentor the COO into taking over the position he holds." The ocelot finally smiled. "Its going to be an interesting five years."
Jeremy couldn't help but smile back.
"So, that's pretty much where we are. Any questions?"
"Yes, do we have to run any changes we make past either of them?"
Shaking his head Gakota said "No. We're entirely in charge. The only oversight they'll impose is that we stay within the current budget, or any overruns are within reason. So, basically they'll be making sure we're not throwing money out the windows."
"Gotcha." Jeremy said. After a moment he added "You said that after five years the Bureau could be ours?"
"Yes, if the profits up to that time are enough to have returned their original investment."
Jeremy observed "So if we're profitable soon enough its ours."
Gakota started grinning. As his feet slipped from the desk he said "I'll leave you to your thoughts."
Jeremy nodded watching the cat walk from his office. Gakota had maintained an almost excessively casual posture the entire time they'd discussed the news. Jeremy stood and walked from his office. His head was full of thoughts and ideas now. It was as if a switch had been thrown.
He had been curious about the work being done to set up the network. The meerkat everyone had taken to calling Arc even before Jeremy joined the Bureau was watching the installation of the network equipment. Instead of joining him in standing over the two technicians he turned into the space across the hall from the room the equipment was being installed.
Entering the break room he saw that a little work was left to finish up. Cleaning up the break room on autopilot Jeremy thought about the ideas already fighting for attention. He knew they were largely just ideas for now. There was a large gap between an idea and a workable concept. For the moment he was simply weeding the garden of his sudden plethora of ideas.
Snorting at his own humor Jeremy turned and saw the meerkat watching him from the doorway. Pushing off from the edge of the doorframe Arc came into the break room. "Nice to see that fancy office hasn't spoiled you." he observed with a smirk.
Jeremy had been tying the tops of the trash bags filled with plastic and smaller pieces of styrofoam from the packaging of the small cooking appliances. "Nice to see you're as ballsy as ever." Jeremy replied smiling back at the male. Jeremy was pleased the small meerkat was now comfortable enough around him to start poking fun at him.
"Its a gift." Arc said picking up a pair of bags already tied at the top. Anticipating Jeremy he turned and lead the way to the freight elevators.
As they waited for the car Jeremy asked "What's up?"
Looking up at him the meerkat said "I was thinking we could use an IT division."
"The thought had occurred to me. Interested?"
He shrugged. "Yes, but I don't know that much about it."
"There are technical schools around." Jeremy said as they stepped into the elevator.
Arc replied but Jeremy's thoughts had followed the idea his own comment had sparked. "Sorry, what?"
"I said I wouldn't mind, but what about my position in The Bureau?"
"I'd have to talk with Gakota, but it could be considered an extended assignment."
Arc smiled. "I'd be interested if it were possible."
"I'm thinking its possible, but Gakota has the last word on something like this." Jeremy answered. He also wondered just how true that statement was considering his last conversation with the ocelot.
They were both occupied for a few minutes in throwing the trash into the dumpster at the back of the building. Jeremy observed that even in the business district back alleys were almost indistinguishable from any other alley.
Back in the offices Jeremy saw the network was up and the techs were going office to office making final checks. Once they were done he took to working on his computer. As often happened when he was rapt in whatever he was doing time seemed to rush by. He had turned to stare out the window collecting his thoughts for a moment and noticed it had gotten dark. Checking the time he had half an hour to get to the Thirteenth Floor for his next appointment.
By the time Jeremy was finished with his schedule at The Floor his mind was on things other than work. He arrived back at his apartment ready for sleep. Sam was sitting on the couch watching the recap of the day's news. They exchanged the usual quick greeting as Jeremy crossed to the kitchen. Pulling leftovers from the fridge and setting the microwave to heating them up he looked out to see his brother staring back at him.
"What?"
"You haven't heard?"
"Um, probably not." Jeremy admitted.
Gesturing to the television Sam said "They're at it again."
Jeremy pulled out his snack and walked over to sit next to Sam. His brother had rewound the show and replayed a portion of the program. Jeremy watched as the report detailed how a group of rats had taken to the parks again. Things had been orderly for a few hours, then another group had shown up. A group of mostly carnivores. Within minutes a riot had erupted. Police were still picking up the pieces.
Jeremy shook his head at the end of the report. "Well, that was almost predictable."
"There's more."
The next report was about a similar demonstration in Boston. The numbers there were larger than the demonstration in York. There were also smaller demonstrations in several other cities across the state. As the report ended Jeremy grunted his disapproval.
"Looks like they don't know when to quit." Sam observed.
"Well, hopefully this will die down now that the ringleaders are out of the picture."
"If history tells us anything, things like this only spread like wildfire."
Jeremy finished his snack and replied "Time will tell."
* * * *
Didn't have much time this week due to catching up on other things. We'll continue the geography tour next week.