Sometimes Abraham Kane felt like he was surrounded by idiots. Take the meeting he'd just cut short and stormed out of. His advisors had delayed production on the new blasters because of safety concerns. Safety concerns, on weapons! So what if they showed a tendency to self-destruct without warning? It wasn't like the Ultra Elites weren't prepared for die for their city. He got in the elevator and fumed all the way up to his office.
When the doors opened he saw Julie was standing in the observation area. Usually the sight of his daughter cheered him up but this time she wasn't alone. Claire and some gangly boy in serious need of a haircut were with her. They were pointing out landmarks through the thick glass.
He stormed over "Julie! What are these people doing here?"
"Oh, well, uh I was supposed to meet Claire and, um, her new boyfriend, Charles for lunch but I was running late so they came to pick me up." His daughter replied, not meeting his eyes.
"Tell your little friends to go. I need to see you in my office. Now." He snapped.
Claire looked upset and the boy was somehow managing to perfectly convey a wide-eyed, deer in the headlights look without visible eyes.
Julie turned to her friends and motioned them toward the elevator. "Okay, you need to leave now. I'll call if I can't make it to the café."
The boy appeared to be steeling himself for something when Claire grabbed him by the arm and said "Come on, Julie will be fine, we'll only get her in more trouble if we stay." Kane was secretly grateful. (He'd had as many apologies from idiots who shouldn't have screwed up in the first place as he could take today.) They headed toward the elevator and his daughter followed him in to his office.
"What were you thinking bringing people to the administrative floors?" He snapped.
"I just wanted to show them the view from the top of the building. Even Claire's never seen it." She said.
"That's because this floor is restricted. We can't just let anyone come up here. My private office is here. The latest prototypes are on this floor. Even if they just used one of the hall terminals they'd have access to all sorts of top secret information."
"They'd have to crack the encryption first." She muttered.
"Don't try to make excuses. You know better than that."
"We were only here a few minutes. No one even had the chance to touch anything."
Kane softened. He didn't like yelling at his daughter but she could be so naïve at times.
"Don't let it happen again. I have enough problems without worrying about my own daughter accidentally compromising the security of KaneCo."
She looked guilty at that comment. Good. It was about time she started taking things seriously.
"Run along and go have your lunch."
"Thank you, Daddy" Julie said quietly and left without looking back.
He called up the security patrol. A cadet appeared on screen and immediately saluted. "How can I help you sir?"
"Did you see two teenagers get in the express elevator for the upper level?"
"No but I just got on shift. They're probably headed for the observation area. It's a great make-out spot." The hapless cadet volunteered. "Or so I've heard." He added in rush realizing he'd said too much.
Kane logged off and felt the muscle in his eyelid start to twitch. He could fill the building with laser gates, shock bots and security sensors but what good did it do if the human element wasn't up to snuff? Was it any wonder he preferred to use machines?
It was time to see how far this problem went. He summoned the head of building security to his office and sat at his desk drumming his fingers impatiently until Tooley escorted the man in. The head of security took one look at Kane's face and said "What seems to be the problem Mr. Kane?"
"I've found security is getting lax and I want everyone retrained on access to the restricted floors. In particular I don't want any unauthorized personnel on the administration levels."
"Of course sir. Does that include the tour groups?"
Kane just snarled.
"No unauthorized personnel! Sir! I'll get right on it." The head of security said while backing out of the office as quickly as he could. He'd worked at KaneCo for over twenty years and knew the value of a hasty retreat.
Kane sighed. At this rate he wouldn't even have to worry about the Burners attacking. They could just show up at the front door and someone would wave them in and helpfully point out the best floors to find weapons. He opened the floor plan files and began considering how to beef up security. Retinal scanners? No, he hated the way those made you see spots for a few minutes after using them. Voice recognition? That should be simple; they already had most of the employees' vocal patterns on file.
"Um, Mr. Kane, what do you mean by unauthorized personnel?" Tooley asked.
"It means that no one with less than security level 5 should be on the top floors of the tower. Ever." Kane replied. Sometimes his dimwitted assistant needed things spelled out.
"Oh" Tooley commented, his face falling. "Does that mean Julie won't be coming to visit anymore?"
That stopped Kane. He liked it when his daughter stopped by. If she had to get his permission first she might think he didn't want to see her. (And if she had to be buzzed up every time it might start to attract too much attention to their relationship.) He brought up the employee files and adjusted Julie's security clearance. Her electronic access and authorization codes stayed at the level of a normal intern but now she would be able to go anywhere in the building. Then he went back to the floor plans. Maybe more drones?
Kane reflected that things were seriously wrong if Tooley was the only one who could make a good point today. First his researchers act like cowards, then his daughter acted like a scatterbrained teenager, and finally his security didn't appear to know the meaning of the word. What was KaneCo coming to? His forces were getting far too complacent. Didn't they realize there was a war going on right under their noses?