The lights were off and the blinds were down when the man stepped into the small office, shutting the door behind him. He could make out the shape of another man sitting behind a desk, but his face was hidden by the darkness.
"You wanted to see me, Sir?" the visitor asked in a slight Southern drawl.
"Yes," replied the man behind the desk. "Please, have a seat." He pointed to a chair in front of the desk. The visitor proceeded to sit on the chair's cold, wooden surface.
"So, what's this all about?" the visitor asked.
"Oh, nothing that will take too long if that's your concern," the desk man answered. "For starters, I just wanted to tell you how much I love the progress your firm has made."
"Thank you, Sir, nothing's ever too hard for us to handle."
"That is why I take a great interest in you, every single one of you." The man behind the desk paused for a second before continuing, "You have carried out tasks for us with remarkable efficiency and I was wondering if it would interest you if your company became one of us."
The visitor was taken by surprise. "One of you? What do you mean?"
The desk man replied, "Think of it as permanent employment, but with benefits and higher payouts. Not only that, but you'll also get a feeling of significance to the people of the world. More respect, more power. No other clients, just us."
The visitor scratched his head. "How much more of a payout are you gonna give us?"
"At least five times the amount we've been paying you."
The visitor needed a few seconds to think before responding, "Well, that's a mighty tempting offer and all." He struggled to find the right words. "Look, I know you mean well, but I'm afraid I'll have to decline. My company is independent to the core and it'll stay that way. It gives us a lot of freedom and wiggle-room."
The man behind the desk was silent for a minute. Then he asked, "Tell me: is it correct that your second-in-command has passed away?"
"Yes, Sir," responded the visitor. "Mark was a real good friend of mine, practically a brother."
"And he favored independence like you did?"
"Yeah. I mean it was hard when we were the only ones against hundreds of our own employees who want the kind of absorption you talked about, especially when there's more money on the table. You see, I started this company to fix the bugs in the changing world, but the thing is, so many of us are only in it for the money."
What else is new? The desk man thought to himself. He couldn't help but chuckle a bit.
The visitor continued, "I heard through the grapevine that some of them are forming a splinter group and making deals without my knowledge. Shady ones if you catch my drift."
The desk man changed the subject. "What did your second-in-command die of?"
"Liver cancer," the visitor replied. "He was diagnosed months ago and had to live with it until a week ago. He died so young, though." His eyes started to fill with tears. "His life was just… cut short. It ain't fair."
"Well, isn't that a shame," said the desk man with a hint of sympathy, "I suppose you're carrying this whole company by yourself now, correct?"
"That's right," said the visitor as he wiped away the tears, "I haven't really gotten around to finding a new right hand."
"Fascinating." The man behind the desk opened a drawer.
"Yeah, well, by tomorrow I plan to—
The visitor's thoughts were interrupted by a red light shining in his face. It was the last thing he ever saw.