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"Okay. Everyone you know what's going on. Inform your subgroups I want to begin as soon as we can." Mr. Carter spoke in a calm and commanding tone. His voice seemed much to young for the more than eighty year old lynx.

He was brief in telling us what he wanted. Wyatt was right, he wanted a new station, larger than the others and more like a big tourist attraction in space. I'm not sure what Mr. Carter has planned exactly though, or why I needed to be here, it was mostly an address of what he wanted us to come up with. Basically a general habitat with a permanent population of at least a thousand. Which over seven hundred more than the single population of any of the existing stations right now. Wyatt and Jason seemed pretty excited about the whole thing. I guess its like an engineer's dream or something.

The lynx remained silent only for a moment, "You're dismissed." A clutter of mumbles swept over a few of the furs not quite elated by the project. My ears flicked to the sound of papers, tablets, and laptops being quietly filed away into various bags and folders. I was a little slower than the others, I had a lot of my assets papers strewn out in front of me. Most of the other members had left by the lime I finally stood up. "Mr. Blake. May I see you for a moment before you go?" the lynx called out to me. My ears flicked again at the small an polite voice. He wasn't as much asking a question, but politely demanding that I stay behind when everyone else leaves.

I glanced quickly and casually at the door before returning my attention to the lynx. "Yes, sir." I spoke politely and sat my remaining papers down on the table in front of me. Mr. Carter waited for the other members of the meeting to finish packing their things and leave us in privacy before he addressed me again.

"How long have you served with the assets office Mr. Blake?" his voice was as calm as it always is. I've never had the pleasure to speak to him directly, outside of a few other meetings like this one, but they weren't really one on one conversations.

"A little over two years now." I stated, "I was taken on shortly after graduating from university in Boston."

"What was your field of study?" he asked. A rather odd conversation considering I'm only an assets liaison.

"Vectra afforded me my education. All of my information should be in the employee database." I stated, sounding much like a technical manual. His rather blank face didn't seem very thrilled at my answer. "But I triple majored in Business Management, Theoretical Physics, and Aerospace Engineering. Earning a doctorate in the last two and an masters in the first. I did so on a recommendation by my education councilor here."

"You have two doctorates but you don't use your title." He pointed out.

"I don't work in either field or in research so its not very appropriate." I stated.

"You're quite accomplished for someone so young Mr. Blake." I couldn't quite get a clear fix on where he was going with this. He wasn't giving me any clues in his movements or inflections, mostly keeping the same iconic and demanding look. "How much do you know about the orbital control center here?"

"I'm familiar with how it operates and what is required of it, yes." I said bluntly.

"The current director and a few senior officers of the orbital control center are stepping down." He said. His inflections showed a little more depth, like he was trying to prepare for something. He took a few slow and fluid steps towards me. "I need furs who I can trust and who can get things done. I've assembled a list of furs who I believe are just what's needed. But I need someone to lead that team. I believe that someone is you Mr. Blake. Can I trust you?"

We were practically muzzle to muzzle now, except for his shorter height compared to mine. His serious expression sent a chill up my spine. "I... I don't know what to say sir..."

"Do you think your up for the challenge?" he asked me sternly.

"Well..." How could I say no? "I..."

"Good." He said curtly. Did I ever actually have an option? It feels like that was his plan all along. He handed me a pad with a list of names on the screen. "This is my list, you may recognize a few names on it. As acting director its your job to inform your team. The assets office has already been notified of your transfer."

I glanced over the list of names presented to me on the pad. Jessica Jones, Jonathan Taylor, Harper Mae, Jason Guthrie, Wyatt Buchanan, and Caiden Carter. Mostly people who were at the meeting, but there were also a few I didn't know. I don't know Caiden Carter and Harper Mae, they may have been some of the other furs at the meeting that I didn't know. "I'll begin working on it immediately sir." I told him.

"Mr. Blake," he spoke loud and proud before a smile slowly overtook his muzzle, "lighten up. Being so uptight isn't a good look for you." He paced to the other side of the room and rested his paws on the chair at the head of the table. "Why don't you come to my home for dinner one night. I'm certain my wife would love the opportunity to entertain. Feel free to bring your girlfriend or wife or whichever a young dashing fellow like your self has."

"I'm not sure if my mate would be welcome." I said meekly. I'm not even sure why I'm almost trying to conceal it here of all places. Its not like I really expect most furs to be as hostile or uncomfortable as my family.

"Why ever not, Mr. Blake?" he cocked his head politely. His ears folded instinctively in an interested manner common to many cats. It's a social cue I never really got from Benji, so its definitely a welcome sign.

"Well my girlfriend isn't as much girl as..." I began.

"Shame on you Mr. Blake." The elder lynx scolded. My ears folded back immediately in response and my tail stopped dead in its tracks. "To think I would be as bigoted as to think of you any differently, just because of whom you're in love with. You are in love with him, aren't you?"

"Yes. Very much so sir." I answered.

"Please" he held up his paw, "call me Mr. William, or even Mr. Carter if you prefer. If you love him I don't see any reason why I should think differently of the two of you. I'm sure my wife will be just as glad to entertain the two of you, just as she would any other guests." He walked over to the tinted smart glass wall. From here we could clearly look out into the rotunda garden which starkly contrasted the frigid temperatures outside. "Why do you think I chose to name this city Morgan? Morgan out of all the names I could have given it, I could even have named it Vectra City just like Vectra University and the Vectra Foundation. But I chose Morgan. Why?"

"I don't know Mr. William." I answered truthfully. It never seemed awkward until now, now that he's pointed it out to me. My eyes tracked him as he paced back and forth in front of the window.

"I had a son, named Morgan." He said proudly, "He's been dead for nearly forty years now. Killed in the evacuation of Saigon at the end of the Vietnam War." He picked up a pitcher of water from the conference table and poured himself a glass. He lifted the small glass vessel to his lips and took a long sip. He gulped audibly from across the room. "I built this city in remembrance of him. I wanted it to be a place where furs from every species, every religion, and every orientation would be welcome in a grand assortment of sports, art, and entertainment. You see, I didn't know a key fact about my son until after he was gone, and I had the grim task of going through his belongings. It was hard to accept but there was the proof sitting in front of me, my son... he was gay. He had entire notebooks of hand drawn porn and romance, every single piece of it was homosexual. My wife refused to believe it and that's what led to the downfall of my first marriage. Ever since Vectra's stance on homosexuality was set, although it wasn't very clear to the public at the time. Society's view on the subject was much different than it is now. Even so I've fired over five hundred and thirty regional managers since 1979 for discriminating against homosexual employees. Back then that was something completely unthinkable for a company to do, but we did it. There is room for everyone in this world." He took another drink from the glass in his paws. "Now, Mr. Blake, would you and your mate like to come to my home for dinner with my family? It would be a great honor to have you."

"I guess I can't refuse." I said. I certainly wasn't expecting the mostly mild mannered lynx to rant me out. It was rather interesting to hear nonetheless.

"Good." The cat sat down in his chair and took another gulp of water. "How does this Friday sound?"

"My little brother is coming to town Friday morning." I brushed my fingers through my hair as I spoke, "I should be able to make it that evening though."

"Good. I'll have one of my assistants get you the details." The old lynx smiled at me. "I believe you have some employees to transfer Mr. Blake." I just stood there and stared at him like an idiot until he decided to say something again. "Mr. well actually I believe its Director Blake now," I jumped at his voice, "So, Director Blake, that means you can leave if you want."

"Oh! Yes." I said, sounding almost surprised at him. "Thank you Mr. Carter I will get on that immediately." I threw my computer bag over my shoulder and grabbed a pawful of my papers. I quickly shuffled my way out the meeting room trying not to drop any of my documents or the pad Mr. Carter gave me.

I managed to get most of the way down the hallway and most of my papers in my bag when I felt my cellphone begin vibrating in my pocket. I pulled myself into a little lounge alcove along the side of the corridor. I just threw my papers down on the little coffee counter in disarray. My paw dove into my pocket and pulled out the little vibrating box. I flicked the hair out of my eyes and looked down at the glowing screen, it showed the familiar nickname and picture of my sexy wolf boyfriend.

I touched my pink finger pad to the cold glass screen and swiped the bright green button to answer. "Hello, love!" I said brightly as I held the device up to my ear. I was feeling a little cheeky when I picked up, I guess. I'm sure Benji doesn't mind. He loves it when I call him things like that when I pick up.

"Hey babe!" I heard the distorted voice of my mate through the speaker I was holding against my ear. "How's work going?" His voice sounded like he was a little upset about something. Normally, I can tell really easily what my wolf is feeling from the way he sounds or looks, I picked it up quite easily with him compared to other men I've been with.

"It's going pretty well." I said a little lackluster compared to how its really been going. I've gotten more than just your typical promotion. "I've got a lot to tell you when I get home. How's your day been going." I held the phone between my shoulder and the side of my head, so I could free both of my paws. I held up my computer bag with one of my paws, and with the other I began fiddling with the mess of papers.

"Not so well." He said, this time I could feel that he was sad about something.

"What's wrong?" the pitch of my voice went up in genuine concern for my wolf.

"I can't talk about my patients without their consent." He lectured me on that a few times. "Its been a busy morning to say the least. I probably wont get home until late tonight."

"Do you want me to pick you up after work?" I asked, not wanting to leave him to his own devices when I can help it.

"Yeah. If you can." He said glumly. "Kinda want to see you."

"Sure." I consoled him. I tried to keep my voice as calm and soothing as I could for him. "I'll be there to pick you up right after work, okay?"

"Sure."

"Are you sure you're okay Benji?" I asked in concern.

"Yeah, I'll be fine." He assured me, "I'm just upset and angry at... something."

"Hey!" I said loudly to get his attention, "I love you."

"Love you too, babe." He replies, still lacking enthusiasm.

"I'll see you after work." I repeated to ingrain it in a little further.

"Yeah. See you." He deadpanned.

"See you love." I concluded. Sitting down the papers I took the phone into my pink paw pads and pressed the end call. What on earth could be the matter with my wolf?