Wall Street Station is one of the most exclusive, elegant and ornate places in all of Sirus. Within this monument to extravagance, there is Grey Sector, the headquarters of IND. Designed by the most expensive and well-known architects in the sector, it is luxurious to a degree that is unapproached anywhere else. The security for Grey Sector is also unrivaled. Everyone entering or exiting has to go through a full body scan, as well as retinal identification. Within Grey Section, the only communication signals are run through the in-house network and all external signals are blocked. While Grey Section takes up 12 levels of the station, most people will only ever have a chance to see level one. On level one is the reception center, as well as conference rooms and a lounge.
This morning, Otis Jethro, the new President of IND was spending his morning on level one, taking meetings with several vendors and clients, checking into the details of the company he had just been brought in to run. It wasn't new and it wasn't as if Jethro wasn't intimately knowledgeable with the specifics of the company, it had been his home for the better part of 15 years. But he had been away for 5 years and a lot seems to have happened in that time.
Jethro was hoping he would hear from Mr. Faulkenrath soon. The man had been involved with IC in running IND's interests and if Jethro really wanted to get a handle on what had happened while he had been away, Faulkenrath would be the one to talk to.
Matthias D. Falkenrath's private shuttle entered docking mode with Wall Street Station. His travel from Rheinland space was rather uneventful, yet he always had matters to solve, even during transit.
The Rheinlander took a small box from his pocket and dropped two pills on his palm before closing the box again and leaving it in a private place on his shuttle. His high-stress job was extremely demanding, he had to remain sharp, cunning and smiling all the time. So like most of his colleagues he had to consume soft drugs almost daily. After all these years he developed an addiction but he always told himself that it is a necessary sacrifice.
As his shuttle made one final turn before entering one of IND's private docking hangars of Wall Street, the two Bounty Hunters who escorted him from Rheinland finally broke formation and headed their way. Five minutes later, Matthias exited his shuttle and headed to the first checkpoint.
"Matthias D. Falkenrath, 135462138, Junior Executive."
He said to the machine while he was submitted on the casual retinal scan. After his credentials were verified he entered the Grey Sector and proceeded to the reception center.
Jethro was sitting in one of the conference rooms, He preferred working on this level on days that he had meetings instead of working in his office on level 12. Jethro's comm beeped. "Mr. Jethro, Mr. Faulkenrath has just arrived in reception." the receptionist said. "Excellent, I'll be right there." He responded quickly.
Jethro got up and headed into the reception area. Faulkenrath was waiting by the counter.
"Mr. Faulkenrath, good to see you again, I hope your trip was uneventful." he said offering his hand out to the other man.
Matthias was searching for familiar faces while waiting for Jethro by the counter. Once the new President arrived, the two men warmly shook hands.
"Oh yes, quite boring I would say, sir."
Matthias said before asking.
"Have you found any changes in the Grey Sector since your last tenure here?"
"Changes isn't quite the right term for it. IND changes, but it seems to always stay the same, I guess the same could be said for Grey Sector. Please, come with me into the conference room."
The two men walked into the large room. It's was a bit strange to see Jethro working on a table meant for 30 people. At the far end of the table, papers and folders and datapads littered the table. Jethro directed the other man to have a seat at the other end of the table. He walked to the beverage station and came back with two coffee. Sitting next to Mr. Faulkenrath he handed the man a cup.
"Mr. Faulkenrath," Jethro began, "I was hoping you would be able to brief me on the current status of contracts and operations at IND?"
"Thank you."
Matthias said to the man while trying to recognize who he was. He then turned to Jethro and started the briefing.
"IND's commercial value was steadily shrinking the past 4 years. Antagonism with Interspace Commerce in some areas and inability to fully exploit IND's legal status with Gallia were the primary reasons according to analyst research.
Of course the biggest hit was in early 822 A.S. with the release of a fake IND commercial. The Hackers have not formally assumed responsibility but there are staggeringly few people in Sirius who can make a transmission, like this commercial seem as if it originated from an Oita relay node. Anyway, with this commercial and smaller issues with Rheinland, the corporate image and stock value of IND rapidly fell... this is when IC saw the opportunity to purchase the majority of IND stock.
A few weeks later I was nominated as Junior Executive, though restrained with clear instructions from IC executives. IND activities which were competing with IC businesses were merged in order to increase the overall market share.. it should be noted that most of these are part of the financial and banking sector. However the greatest interest of the purchase was the LPI stock and the Renzu firm which unlike its parent company was steadily growing.
So after the takeover, IND was vastly reorganized with its influential shipping division primarily focusing on human transportation while the... 'exotic' clientele of the past was abandoned. This reshuffling proved to be effective and after cutting excessive employee numbers in late summer, the company was starting to recover."
"Mr. Faulkenrath, As IND has been focused on Human and Luxury transport, could you give me a breakdown on the outlook for opportunity over the next fiscal year? It would really help me to work out our plans over the next 8 quarters. I want to start where we are already strong and then slowly branch out. If our strength is Human and Luxury transport, we need to know that the market isn't already saturated, leaving us no room to expand.
Jethro pulled out a packet of tobacco. "Nasty habit, does it bother you?" he said as he began to roll a cigarette.
"No problem, sir."
Matthias lied to Jethro. Of course he didn't like being a passive smoker, yet he hardly knew Jethro to know if he'd be offended or not. The Rheinlander produced a small device and placed it upon the table, moments later a hologram was projected and after a bit of browsing it was now projecting the economic plans for the next year.
"IND's reputation has remained in high levels in Sirius' upper class society. This is where we focused in the previous and current fiscal quarter and we generated an average 14% increase in business and VIP class seats across all our shuttles and inter-House transportation.
However this growth was was not balanced in all Houses, as we generated a meager 2% increase in Bretonia and Rheinland which is mostly attributed in the the dire economic situation of those two Houses.
As for the Human and Luxury transport sector, Orbital Spa and Cruise is the biggest player in this market however the sector is far from being saturated. Due to war, OSC's flagship in the tourist industry has experienced severe setbacks in both Bretonia and Kusari. In case you are unfamiliar with the term, the "OSC flagship" is referring to their prestigious and constantly advertised luxury liner industry. In addition, due to fears about the war in the Independent Worlds on the west of Liberty, it dramatically decreased the amount of tourists on their biggest revenue producer, Planet Curacao. Obviously, most tourists tend to avoid warzones. Finally, the primary branch of OSC has also made some serious mistakes as well.
Subsequently the current plan for the next fiscal year is to exploit OSC's current situation and aggressively take over traditional OSC business by offering more competitive tickets, services and travel packages."
Matthias finished his monologue. Interestingly enough he never had to look at the hologram as he was fully knowledgeable of IND's finances, perhaps knowing even more and smaller details than the graphs and statistics that were projected to Jethro and his man.
"It should be mentioned..."
The Rheinlander added with a lower volume than before and fixed his glasses while unconsciously glaring at the cigarette for a moment.
"The Human and Luxury transport is not an overly profitable one. Competition is driving the prices and margin of profits in very low levels. I do not think in the upcoming decade we will be able to reach the level of profits generated by the IND's past 'shady' activities..."
Otis was making notes as the other man listed off the benefits and openings as well as the limitations of the IND's current plans. Jethro was impressed with this Rheinlander, not normal for Jethro, as he tended to him a general dislike for his southern neighbors growing up.
Jethro's assistant Kai walked in, the older Kusari woman handed him a note and left. He looked at the note briefly, folded it over and put it in his pocket.
"Very thorough Mr. Faulkenrath, thank you. Now, to another question in my mind, Sir, you are currently employed as an Executive with IND, is it your plan to resign?"
The Rheinlander was surprised with the direct manner of Jethro's question. However he expected him to bring up this matter, sooner or later. Matthias cleared his throat first.
"As you are well-aware, the usual route taken in such cases is for me to sign a Non-Disclosure Agreement with the IND and another with Interspace Commerce, considering that the two organizations are no longer owned by the same administration. That is, of course, if you wish me to remain as a Junior Executive in IND."
Matthias paused for a moment trying to notice Jethro's facial expressions with his last comment.
"However, as IC's House Director of Rheinland, I understand that it is difficult for me to fully commit myself with IND simultaneously, for practical reasons. Wall Street is quite far from Bonn Station. Before the corporate split I had the ability to offer my services simultaneously with video uplink and remote control. Such option is no longer possible because of the NDA.
Subsequently I would like to inquire if you are interested in the renewal of my contract, albeit in a substantially different form considering the limitations I previously explained."