Chapter 21 Stamp
Joan sat at the great round table at Rakitan Industries with all of the team leaders. Although some considered them boring, these meetings were vital for keeping the different departments in communication and ensuring that their efforts were properly coordinated. Jamie, the head of the new technology team, held up a small rectangular device that fit easily in his hand. His anthracite eyes shone like the glossy enamel on the box.
"What does it do?" Joan asked.
"It functions just like a self-inking stamp, but with a twist."
Jamie placed a piece of sample plastic before him, put the rectangular object over it, and punched down on it. Then, he held up the piece of plastic for all to see. It said, "Pattel Corp." in bold, black letters.
"How will this help us?" Joan asked.
"There is a secondary stamp in here that is not visible to the naked eye at first. It injects a special chemical into the plastic that slowly eats it away. Over the course of a few weeks, the chemical converts the plastic into a powder that disintegrates on contact with the oil on human fingertips. Therefore, when a kid opens the package and starts fooling around with the toy, our message will appear," Jamie explained.
"So, do we need to wait a few weeks to find out if this actually works?"
Jamie placed another piece of plastic identical to the first one on the table and slid it to Joan. "We already have. See for yourself."
Joan picked up the piece of plastic and ran her fingers over the black lettering. A powdery white residue stuck to her fingers. She rubbed her fingers together, and the stuff disappeared. Then, she examined the plastic again. There were some grooves in it where her fingers had touched it, but it appeared to be random. She ran her fingers over it a few more times until the message, "Made in China by children like you forced into slave labor," appeared.
Joan looked up at the other people seated around the table. "How do we know that consumers will actually get the message and not just overlook it?"
Tulip straightened his glasses. "Children tend to put their fingers all over new toys, and they are more likely to read the fine print and ask questions about it. This will not fall on deaf ears."
Penguin chimed in, "All we need is one person, to talk, and then everyone will notice. It will be like spreading a rumor, only people can confirm it by checking the Christmas presents they gave their kids."
"OK. That makes sense. So, how are we going to get every Pattel product stamped before Christmas?" Joan wondered.
"Leave that to me and my team," Sean said, "We've already studied the schematics of Pattel's largest factory. The others are very similar. All we need to do is to get to the point in the assembly line where a child usually puts a sticker on the product and put our stamp there instead."
"How will the child know what to do with the stamp?"
"We'll tell them."
"I thought this was supposed to be a stealth operation."
"It is. We are going to pose as representatives from Pattel headquarters and walk right in. We are going to go right through the guards rather than around them."
"So, why bother to study the factory layout?"
"Two reasons: First, we should appear to know where we are going. Second, we should know how to get out quickly in case our true purpose is discovered," Sean replied confidently.
"Are you sure you can pull this off?" Joan asked.
"Yes. The stamp will be passed off as a money-saving technique and we will tell the factory that they will never need to order stickers again."
"You really think they'll buy that?"
"Of course," Sean answered.
"What I meant was: how long will it take Pattel Corporation to realize that their factories are no longer ordering stickers and figure out our plans?"
The room was silent for a few moments.
Then, Tulip spoke slowly. "They'll have to find out eventually, but if we want to stall them a bit, we'll put together another fake corporation. This time, it will be one that sells stamps and it won't have an address like Rakitan Industries does. Somewhere, we'll hack into Pattel's system and claim that one of their employees made the decision to switch to using stamps. We will do a crappy job setting up the second fake corporation so that when they do connect the dots, they will underestimate our abilities as hackers. As for the employee, we'll do a much more careful job with him."
"Won't that look bad on the employee when the shit hits the fan?" Joan questioned.
Everyone except Penguin looked down. "It's either them or us. We can't let one person's career stand in the way of justice," the woman with bleached blond hair said boldly.
"True," Joan admitted reluctantly, "I just don't think it's fair to subject someone to investigation when he'll just lead them to a dead end. He could be imprisoned or tortured for information when he has nothing to give."
"That's their problem, but it should still be clear that someone had some motivation behind this fiasco. I don't want Mr. Pattel claiming that this was nothing more than an accident on Global Television," Penguin clarified.
"Are you willing to take responsibility for it all on your own?"
Penguin tossed her radiant platinum blond hair. She lived for attention, especially when it involved a certain element of risk. "Absolutely."
"Good. Let's get moving then," Joan said.
The meeting broke, and the ream leaders went their separate ways. Everyone was relieved that the meeting was over and anxious to get started on their tasks.