"I'm not sure, but there is a distinct possibility that it could happen on a whim. These executives are a bit extreme. And, if I get terminated, it would make it very difficult for us to continue to work this case."
"That is a valid point of view," Tom said. "So, how should we do this?"
"Dr. Barnaby could easily put out a memo saying that all hiring and firing of leadership have to go through him for prior approval, effective immediately," Richard offered. "The executives would think that someone screwed up; they would never think Alex is in any way connected to this."
Richard's solution made sense. The rest nodded in approval.
"Solved!" Tom said, rubbing his palms together. "What else is on your mind?"
"I wanted to pick your brains to see how I could be a smoker without really being one. My presence on the smoker's lawn would be beneficial; that's the only place where people open up and chat, but they will be suspicious if I don't smoke. Problem is, I never smoked in my life, and I'd rather not start now."
"There's that e-cig, right?" Steve said. "Have you heard of it?" No one offered a yes, so he continued. "Relatively new on the market, the e-cig has been around for a few years. It's an electronic cigarette, a device that delivers nicotine, without the smoke. It puts out a small puff of harmless water vapor imitating smoke. It even lights up at the end, just like a real cigarette would."
"Then, no one would notice the difference?" Alex wondered.
"I think they would notice. It's like a cigarette, but also quite different. It doesn't consume itself during use; you don't have to throw it away. However, it would help you get accepted as a smoker. You'd tell anyone who asks that you used to smoke, but had to quit smoking the real stuff because of long meetings and days without a break, and you couldn't stand it anymore. Any smoker will relate," Steve said, winking. "All smokers endure hell when they are prevented from smoking, in meetings, during flights, or in airports. They'll understand and accept you."
"I don't see why," Alex said, "Wouldn't you need to get out of the meeting, airport, and so on to smoke the e-cig?"
"No, that's exactly it," Steve clarified. "The e-cig doesn't put out any kind of smoke or smell, so it won't trigger any smoke sensors. It can be safely used indoors."
"How about the nicotine?" Tom asked. "I wouldn't ask Alex to start puffing nicotine either. It would be just as addictive as real smoke, and who knows what other side effects it might have."
"I think we could rig that thing to be nicotine-free," Brian Woods intervened.
"Thank you, Steve, for sharing your in-depth knowledge on smoking and smoking alternatives," Tom said. "I think we have a solution for this challenge. Alex, we could potentially have that set up for you and ready to use in the next couple of days."
"Thank you both," Alex said, "it will be very helpful for me. This particular work culture is strange, and I need people to open up to me."
"Strange, how?" Tom asked.
"Both executives I have spent time with are abusive, insulting, and unbelievably aggressive bastards. Sorry," she said, while a faint blush colored her cheeks, "didn't mean to use that word."
"Why? If they are indeed bastards, then you need to describe them appropriately, right?" Steve said, making everyone laugh, including Alex.
"Yes, they are. Nevertheless, the strangest thing is that no one seems to care about it or do anything about it. They are between numb — which I could potentially understand — and supportive — which I can't."
"Probably these executives have surrounded themselves with enablers, so the interactions you are seeing are unnatural," Steve said.
"Enablers? Could you please explain what you mean by that?" Alex asked. She was not familiar with the concept.
"Enablers are those who will supply the despot what he needs to make things possible for him," Steve said.
"I get that," Alex replied, "I know the definition of the word. What I don't understand is how that plays out in this situation."
"Very simple. Imagine the following conversation, taking place in a meeting. The boss says 'I hate that painting; it's ugly.' Then, enabler number one would say 'It's ugly because it's green, sir.' Enabler number two would say 'It's ugly because it's square, sir.' And so on. Is this what you're seeing?"
"Yes, definitely," Alex said. "But why would anyone do that?"
"Mostly for survival. They know they can't stand up to the despot and actually win the battle, so they build themselves a method of survival, one that would ensure that the despot picks on someone else. It's as simple as that."
"Tell me more about the bastards, Alex," Tom asked. "Do you think they are to blame for what's going on?"
"Yes, I am starting to think so, maybe just in part, if not entirely. Walker, the COO, does not want to listen to anything coming from his head of manufacturing, after he had cut the spending into the ground, forcing them to take cost out of the product. That could well be the cause for the drone failure we've seen — it could be as simple as that."
"Why did he cut spending, do you know?" Tom asked.
"Not sure. I was unaware of any financial difficulties the company might have."
"So was I," Tom confirmed. "I will ask Dr. Barnaby about it first thing tomorrow morning."
"Walker was keen on the cost thing. He kept referring to 'spending my money,' 'burning holes in my pocket,' and so on," Alex added, making quotation mark gestures with her fingers, to underline the phrases she was quoting from Walker.
"I see," Tom said, raising his eyebrows.
"Very interesting," Steve, said. "You know why, don't you?"
"Um… not sure," Alex said.
"In his mind, NanoLance is his. Manufacturing is spending his money. He is the one, or one of those who are behind the unexplained stock price fluctuations. He may be planning to take over the company. We need to carefully watch this man."
"I've set it up so that all email traffic from specific individuals gets cloned as it passes through the email server, and I get a copy of everything that they send or receive," Alex said.
"That must be a gazillion emails hitting your inbox," Brian said, "how do you manage?"
"That's true," Alex smiled, "but first of all, I didn't clone everyone's email account, just a targeted few people. Then, well, that's what evenings are for, right? It's only for a short while. I'm more worried about the budget cuts Sheppard wants me to execute in my area."
"Him too?" Tom asked.
"Yes, I was tasked with identifying and executing a 10 percent budget cut in infrastructure and support."
"Send me a copy of your P&L, and we'll work on it together," Richard offered.
"Thank you, thank you, thank you." Alex's exuberance was contagious.
"What's P&L?" Steve asked.
"Aww… you dreamer, wake up, will you? Profit and loss statement, remember? The financial tool of choice to manage departmental or companywide income and expenses," Richard clarified.
"Ah, that P&L, yes, I remember," Steve said, and everyone laughed.
"What would you expect from a shrink?" Richard continued, mercilessly.
"Whoa, buddy, stop it right there, before I quiz you on your corporate culture syndromes and related stress-induced psychological and physiological effects in employees," Steve said, making mock-aggressive gestures toward Richard.
"Tell me more," Alex intervened.
"About what?" Steve turned.
"About corporate culture. From what I have seen at NanoLance, the culture is highly dysfunctional. I know I'm there for a limited time, and with the purpose of doing a specific job, but otherwise I would have run away screaming by now. I wonder if the culture might be, even partly, to blame for this mess."
"OK, let's examine the culture a little," Steve said, all serious now and lighting up a cigar. "What is corporate culture? Not just at NanoLance, but in general?"