Anti-antithesis

Your office is your domain. Make sure it makes the right statement.

-Ad for Dynasty Makers LLC.

Entering the front portion of my office, or Kira's portion, I was greeted by a Raven wearing a little business suit and backpack, sitting on a couch, with four dice sitting around it, eating some fries. The next thing I noticed was how… rustic the fifteen by ten foot room was. Wooden floors, log wall facades, a fireplace on the far end with three chairs and the couch, a deer head and a brown bear head mounted on the walls, and her desk. The desk was very much so not rustic, a thing of minimalist thin glass and metal with a few picture frames and a tiny fake cactus.

Kira stood as I entered, smoothing her red skirt. “Good afternoon, Samurai War Games. I received notice that you wish to decorate your office?” She said, her painted smile front and center. I think I figured out that it was the smile that bothered me, not her.

I nodded. “Yeah, that's right. I have some time before my press conference tomorrow and I have nothing super urgent that needs my attention, plus I was already going to be here.” I shrugged. “Might as well make the space assigned to me mine instead of the basic cube that it is. Though, I do hope you don't expect me to match your tastes.”

Kira chuckled softly. “Of course not, sir. But I am here to answer any logistical questions you may have in the process of setting up your office.”

Opening the door to my space, I was, once more, greeted by a featureless concrete room, fifteen feet by twenty. “Before I begin, I should ask, what is the point of the office space? For other Samurai, that is. If it's meant to be an operations center, I have that in my home, and the only two offices I have been in just seem to be meeting spaces.”

“Both concepts work.” She said. “For Samurai Doma, her office is just that, an office, and for Samurai Black Log it is a meeting space. I know Samurai Bub the Worker has renovated a floor to be a logistics center for taking orders and moving materials to his customers, and Samurai Laser Lasso turned hers into a dojo of sorts. This space is allocated to be whatever you desire it to be, especially for Samurai who don't already own their own real-estate. A space to separate work from home, if you will.”

That made a lot of sense, actually. Thinking of all the Samurai I know, only Bub and High Noon had known work buildings, with Bub's factory being located in the next megabuilding over, and High Noon in his Spire. And I could see the appeal in having a space dedicated to work only.

That brought a question to mind. “Kira, what do you do here? All I know of you is that you are designated my liaison and have an office space in front of mine, something I haven't seen in either Doma's or Black Log's office.”

I saw her eyes brighten slightly. “While I am your designated liaison, I do still have other work I do for The Family. Namely, I do market research for merch, public projects, and PR. Most of my day is to scroll eight different social site feeds and get a feel for the pulse of the populace in order to provide data for the public works projects that other departments focus on. And the reason neither of them have liaisons is that they decided that they didn't need any as they took positions within the Family Corporation. Its not like they need secretaries when their Protector AI could do so much more, much faster and with no errors.”

Oh, damn. That was a lot, actually. I remember Roger doing something similar at the Ci-Spi dorms, but on more financial things. And I now had more questions, but I kept them to myself for now. “Huh. That is actually impressive, if you are doing the work and not an AI. Means you are good at what you do.” I said before opening an aug file containing a 3d render of the room. My Scouts show that the praise landed well with her, which I choose to ignore and instead flicked her a link to the file.

“My basic idea for the room is to be a meeting space, like Black Log's." I started, basically muttering to myself. "The walls, floor, and ceiling will be screens so that I can show different scenes at my leisure, but more than likely the feed Morrigan has set up. As for furniture, I probably should have a desk to at least look official and such, with the portal behind it. Two chairs in front and two couches off to the side with a coffee table? Yeah, that works. I guess I could have some shelves on the walls, but what to fill them with…”

The file updated with my ideas, filling the space nicely, but the empty shelves bothered me greatly. I will fill the selves with things, if you would like. Synaptic offered. You don't have a whole lot of sentimental things, and simply filling the shelves with books doesn't suit you.

I had to agree with that. <See if you can fit the books I do have here.> I said.

“Excuse me, Samurai War Games.” Kira asked, attracting my attention. I turn my head towards her slightly to indicate I am listening. “If I may ask, what is the door frame you have set up behind your desk? The only thing behind there is the outside, and we are dozens of floors above street level.”

“Ah, right. That is a portal door that leads to my home. That way I can pop by easier just in case I am needed, or need to do something.” I answered casually. “It will not be active all the time, and only people I allow will have the ability to open it.”

Kira stayed silent as if processing that. “You have portal technologies?” she asked with a tone that implied disbelief.

“Ah, right. That's normally stuff of strategic importance, isn't it.” I said, scratching my head.

Kira nodded. “If you don't mind, would you be willing to, maybe not sell such technologies, but be willing to sell installations of such portals?”

My face scrunched up at the idea of selling portals to corps when Kira quickly spoke. “This would be a service you could offer to other Samurai on the Family Store App, not to non-Samurai. Maybe a few to The Family for use within this building? We can easily arrange payment in any form you desire. Whether that's in credits, materials, stocks, or real-estate. And I'm sure any Samurai would be willing to pay in points, as well.”

I sighed and tilt my head back to think. Its not a bad offer, to be fair. It literally doesn't cost me a thing to install these portals, but I don't have any use for those things… But Bahamut and Morrigan might… And I could see Kira was both very excited about the prospect as well as a little desperation, which was interesting.

“And what do you get out of the deal?” I asked.

She flinched slightly, only noticeable because my Scouts were looking at her. She clearsed her throat quietly. “Any business opportunities you bring to the Family, I get a bonus or a raise, depending on how important the opportunity is. That, and I receive a commission on every sale, since you are the Samurai I am assigned to.”

I rolled the idea around in my head for a bit. “Sure. Get in contact with Bahamut to set it up, and I will let Morrigan know she can do business with The Family. I'm sure she will be chomping at the bit to sell her experiments, if only to see them work in the field.”

I don't need to send her anything, actually. She has stationed a part of her core matrix in my virtual meeting space, so she knows what's going on. Helpful, but I could now see the down side Synaptic mentioned. While Synaptic was always with me, she didn't bombard me with memes every couple minutes. They were very good memes, but that's beside the point.

Kira smiled a bit brighter, and the discomfort she normally gave me faded as she walked back to her office, calling legal if I had to guess. I shook my head as I look to the Raven who finished his fries. “Do I send you the file?” I whispered. It flapped its wings at me, which I took as an affirmative. The four dice spun to life, as one dove into the Raven's backpack, a stream of black materials flowing out. Scouts say it is silicon, gold, carbon, and a bunch of other elements that I stopped reading due to lack of knowledge.

I stood in awe as I watched the room fill with tech, shelves, and furniture in rapid time. Not even ten minutes later, the room is finished and the screens display the universe from the moon's surface. Synaptic had also added a water cooler and a sink to clean the glasses next to it. As I turn to admire the room, I jumped in fright as one of my walls shows a massive rock hopper penguin face looking down at me. I hear Morrigan laugh from the virtual space as the penguin waddled off.

Kira walked in and gasped, her eyes wide as she stared at the unfiltered view of the universe. It took her a solid minute before she shook herself slightly and looked to me, smiling. It didnt bother me, currently. “Our legal department is currently negotiating with Bahamut and Morrigan in regards to both the portal installations, as well as a staggering amount of general life technology. Is there anything else you need to do here today, Samurai War Games?”

“I do have a question, actually.” I said, now that I don't feel uncomfortable near her. I motioned for us to sit on my new couches, which she obliged. “Earlier, you said that Doma and Black Log had taken a position withing the Family, but didn't I do the same?”

“Yes, but also not quite.” She responded. “While you are a Samurai registered to work with the Family, you are not an employee or something similar. We do not pay you for services rendered, you are not obligated to attend quarterly meetings or attend any events we host. You still can, If you choose to, of course, but you are closer to a contracted freelancer than anything.”

“And that's different from non-associated Samurai?” I ask.

She nodded. “Yes and no, once more. Non-associated Samurai are freelancers who use our ‘free access’ services, such as antithesis detection, merch sales, and limited negotiations with corporations and local government bodies. They do not have access to The Family Store App in full, they do not receive an office, and the don't get any of the specific care package benefits. Not to mention some other benefits or restrictions that come with being tied to an organization.”

Right! Shit, the care package! I still had a purchase I could make, but all the high leveled Samurai I would want to buy something from are off planet!

“Right, that makes sense.” I said, exhaling heavily. “That should be all today, Kira. If you need anything from me, please call up Bahamut, as he is my more public facing commander.”

“Of course, Samurai War Games.” She said as she stood up.

Before she left the room, I called out. “By the way, the Raven will be staying here. Think of it as a body guard, plush, and emergency panic button. It doesn't need to eat, but it apparently likes to, so don't worry about breaking the bank to source food, just send Bahamut the bill.”

She nodded as the Raven hops to her office. “Does it have a name?” She asked.

“No, feel free to name and or gender it.” I answered as I stood. I smirked slightly at her expression as she glanced at the Raven, who took the opportunity to wave at her and caw.

Taking a breath, I signaled my car to head home as I stepped into the portal, finding myself in my room. Changing my outfit to something far less formal, tan cargo shorts and a t-shirt, this one with a Panda printed on it, I laid down in bed to relax for a bit.

<Synaptic, is there any way to buy a bioshifter from the Family of sufficient quality?>

Fascinatingly, yes. Through a combination of two different Vanguard's catalogs here in New Phoenix, it is possible to purchase a bioshifter that is compatible with the Class I one that Cari has for eight thousand points, half since Vanguard Black Log is subsidizing it.

<Sweet.> I opened the Family Store App and find the benefit package tab, placing the request and seeing that they can stop by tonight to do the upgrade, them being Samurai High Noon and Rocker Boy. I offered for them to stay for dinner, which they accepted, and I shoot a message to Baba Yaga, informing her of our dinner guests. She responded with twenty pictures of various soups, stews, breads, and pies, which I took as an affirmative. She also sent me a message asking to talk about some girls at the Niltmore Hotel Cody was running.

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