Catching Up

-7:25 AM, December 7th, 2054-

-Sandton Foundation Secure Compound, Colorado, United States, Earth-

I dabbed my forehead with the damp towel I held in my left hand as I pressed a button on the wall panel with my right. The door to the examination room slid open.

My workout had just finished. My shirt was gone and sweat covered my body. A slight soreness pulsed with every movement.

I entered the examination room and stopped next to a man who was anxiously watching the scene before us. Upon the table was Leighton (Sirius), my padawan, undergoing his final round of treatment for his cancer.

He had been cancer free for about a month now. The nanotech that he was injected with eradicated the cancer with unbelievable speed and efficacy. He had already started to build some muscle and looked much less sickly. He even had some color to him now.

I remained silent for a moment. "How is it?"

The man was slightly startled as his head spun towards me. "Oh! Kyle, my apologies for not noticing you."

I shrugged, still slightly unsettled by his posh British accent. "It's fine. I would be surprised if a father wasn't worried."

He smiled wryly. "Indeed. When Leighton phoned me regarding his tremendous recovery, I just had to come see it for myself. I held great doubt that such progress could be made within just 2 months."

I nodded. "My padawan is a survivor. His strength is more than just his body."

Mr. Hayes chuckled. "I am yet to understand this Padawan nonsense, but it warms my hear to see someone care so deeply for my son. Just look at my boy! He already has a bit of muscle on him!"

I shook my head. "You'll understand in due time. How is Mrs. Hayes?"

He smiled as his eyes grew blank upon the window. "She remains across the pond. Our daughter is… a demanding commitment."

I chuckled. "I was an only child so I couldn't imagine."

He shrugged. "It's in a teenage girl's nature to be a thorn in their father's side."

I nodded. "So I've heard. Well, I have much to do. When you're ready to leave, let someone know. A jet will be waiting."

He smiled and turned to me. "I can't thank you enough, Kyle."

I nodded once again as I turned around. I paused before walking away. "It's the least I can do, Mr. Hayes."

I walked out of the examination room and shut the door. Sonia (Sheema, Guild Secretary) was waiting for me with a tablet. She held it out for me to take.

I smiled and dabbed my forehead once again with my towel before trading my water bottle for the tablet. "Good morning, Sonia."

She smiled and nodded. "To you as well, Kyle."

Sonia had previously called me Mr. Zimmerman. I put a stop to that quickly. My father was Mr. Zimmerman. I shouldn't be called that until I'm a married man.

I turned and started walking. "Walk with me."

She nodded and started following me as I started to read. This was the monthly briefing.

Several types of briefings had been established for the board members. Each one had different levels of information. The daily briefing was mostly current events with a sprinkling of intelligence and key developments from throughout ANV.

The weekly briefing was key intelligence points and upcoming events. Monthly briefings were for project status updates and performance metrics. The quarterly briefings were for business development and financial data. Lastly was the annual briefing which was a comprehensive force review along with the state of the organization.

Of course, there were also express briefings for urgent and major developments. They were delivered as needed.

Today was the monthly board meeting since it was the first Monday of the month. Thus, it was important that I actually read this briefing. Its contents would be discussed at the meeting.

As I read through the briefing, I glanced at Sonia. "Someone from Marriot will be at the meeting today, right?"

She nodded. "Yes, there will be someone here to present the final proposal for our strategic partnership."

I nodded. "Strategic is definitely a word for it."

Sonia chuckled. "Indeed. I've grabbed clothes for you to change into. They're hanging in the locker room on the way to the board room."

I waved my hand dismissively. "No need. It's just a board meeting."

She tilted her head. "A potential business partner will be there."

I nodded. "You are right. However, this is more of a formality to finalize some high level organizational bullshit. On top of that, this is my home. At least I'm clothed at all."

Sonia sighed and threw a crumpled-up t-shirt at me. "Whatever, I tried. She can't be mad at me."

I scoffed. "Did my aunt put you up to this?"

She nodded reluctantly. "She's been irritated that you've been showing up to board meetings in such casual clothing."

I shrugged. "Well, at least you were prepared for your inevitable failure in this task. Regardless, let her cook. I'm in this position because of my skills and connections. Not because I'm pretty. That's Skylar's job."

She sighed. "I guess you're right."

I stopped and looked back at her with a playful expression. "Hm?"

She froze and laughed nervously. "Not to say you aren't pretty. He is just always cleaned up. You know what I mean."

I laughed. "I'm fucking with you. Let's head inside."

I waved my hand and the doors slid open. The table was completely empty as everyone was chatting in clusters across the room. The board room had a large circular table with a quarter of it cut out. On the far side of the room there were floor to ceiling windows that let in plenty of natural light.

In one group was an unknown woman and my Aunt Susan (Rosalina, Grand Elder) talking on the left side of the table. Next to them was Skylar Sands (Samir, Guild Leader), Tyler Illiman (Toro, Finance Director), and Samuel White (Sammie, Vice Guild Leader).

Tristan Koch (Tyrus, Defense Director), my Uncle Paul (Paolo, Grand Elder), Karl Sigurdsson (Sigurd, Intelligence Director), Daniel Stark (Dr. Stark, Surgeon General), Gareth Wells-Brooks (Gareth, Human Resources Director), and my dad Ethan (Communications Director) were in another cluster.

The last group were my best friends Jordan Mizrahi (Jeremiah Stahn, Engineering Director) and Taylor Holdt (Tomas Oren, Social Media Chief), Gavin Jameson (Galen Ursula, Owner), Vanessa Oleander (Violet, Operations Director), and Serena Lance (Satine Demos, Asset Management Director).

Skylar turned around as I walked in and smiled. He then clapped twice as he turned to the rest of the room. "Let's take our seats and get started."

The talking quieted down as everyone shuffled towards the table. I sat down next to Vanessa, who I was in a sort of relationship with, and Gavin.

Skylar remained standing as everyone sat down. "Well, before we get to what everyone really wants to hear, there's one small item on the agenda. Are they any objections to or concerns with Leadership Directive 2.0? It's crucial that we iron that out if we have any intention of making an IPO in the future."

(IPO = Initial Public Offering, this is what a company does to gain additional funding by selling shares of the company on the stock market. Yes, this is a gross simplification.)

There was only silence in the room following his question. He smiled upon the wonderful sound of silence entering his ears. "Very well. Is there anything specific that anyone wants to cover?"

I sighed. "Come on, man. Stop teasing us!"

Everyone chuckled for a moment before Skylar held his hands up. "Alright, alright." He then turned to the woman I wasn't familiar with. "Jillian, the room is yours."

Jillian was an imposing and well-aged woman. She was gorgeous however old she was. She was about the same height as my aunt and had that blond hair blue eye combo that struck every man's heart.

She seemed to have a casual gait, but this did little to take away from the air of confidence she carried with her. Jillian was someone you wanted on your side.

She reached the front of the room and pressed a button on a remote she was holding with her thumb. On the screen, an image popped up. It was ANV's logo with an "x" and then the Marriott logo.

Jillian gestured towards it. "As you probably already know, my name is Jillian Marriott, Chairman and CEO of Marriott International. Let's get right into it."