#23 Big Plans

"I wanted to thank you again Mr. Krei for this opportunity to meet with you. It's truly an honor."

The rich blonde man named Alistair Krei chuckled immensely at the flattering remark. "Why thank you, Miss…" he awkwardly paused as he fleeted his eyes to the application on his desk. "Miss Keoba. My time is valuable, but I can always spare 10 minutes here or there for promising researchers." He then flashed one of his signature smiles to let the young woman across from him know he saw value in her (or rather something valuable from her).

The person being interviewed appeared to be in her early 20s, wearing an all-black suit and a black half-cut fold over hair cut with a streak of red in it. She grinned right back at the CEO, not letting her true identity of Trina Obake shine through.

"All the same, thank you. Now, I'm sure you've seen from my résumé the contributions I've made to the next generation of automated drones for the Nile delivery program," the well-dressed woman highlighted as she maintained a confident posture.

Krei nodded and replied, "Yes, impressive robotics and it's always nice whenever they can reduce the hassle of everyday things." He then glanced over the papers on his desk again, causing him to miss the small twitch of anger that crept across Trina's face, caused by the notion that robots were meant to serve humans. She quickly recovered as the blonde man returned his attention to her.

"And I see that you graduated from the University of Austinpol with honors, quite a feat," he complimented while interlacing his fingers.

"Why, I'm glad you think so. It certainly took a lot of time and effort to achieve it, but I believe in getting things done right the first time; just a lesson my father taught me," Trina smoothly replied. In order to better ensure she got the job, the scheming robot hacked into all the necessary databases and falsified their records. She knew of Krei's spotty record with employees and figured they wouldn't dig too deep into her past as long as she could be of service to them; if they did call any fake previous employees, she too had a plan in place where they'd reach a sophisticated voice recording system that should answer all their questions (if she didn't pick up the phone herself that is).

"Well, it sounds like your father was a hard worker who believed in success, and that's something I can get behind. Now, it also said you've done some work for the government. Anything you'd care to share or was it all NDA stuff?" Krei casually asked.

"No problem sir. While I can't go into the exact schematics or purpose, I did have a 6-month contract with the Department of Defense for improving their propulsion systems and enhanced durable materials they could use for manufacturing purposes," the robot in disguise answered as she put her hands on her lap.

Upon hearing Trina's additional work, the rich man's eyebrows lifted up, both out of excitement and being impressed. "Wow Miss Keoba, I must say you seem to have a very wide net of expertise, and coming from one so young makes it all the more incredible; I should know given that my own intern is a teenager," he tried to compliment her, but not quite hitting the mark. His statement made her give a slight scowl for the briefest of moments, but she quickly recovered and played it off by lightheartedly saying, "It's amazing how bright some stars can shine."

Krei gave a small chuckle and added, "So true." He then straightened up and inquired, "Now, I believe I know why you chose to apply to Krei Tech, but just for the novelty of it, why don't you tell me yourself?"

Trina grinned charmingly and replied, "It's a fair question to ask Mr. Krei. You see, I tend to go for the best and if it doesn't exist, then I make it so. Admittedly, some people may be deterred by the bad press that your company unfairly gets, but I know there are great things happening here and I would love to become a part of it."

Her words held a sway over Alistair as they were about stroking his ego, praising him and his company despite previous incidents. The blonde man put on a pleased smile and said, "My my, you certainly know how to win people over. Are you sure you're not in sales?" He then punctuated his sentence with a small joking laugh, prompting Trina to go along with one of her own.

The stupid things I do to get what I want, she angrily thought as she hid these emotions from her potential employer. "That's flattering, but no Mr. Krei," the young robot told him while balling her fist below the eye-line of the CEO.

"Okay, I've been asking you the questions for the most part, so do you have any for me?" Krei asked enthusiastically.

Good. This'll give me a chance to get a feel for where I can enact my own work, Trina plotted and involuntarily making herself smile again. "Well, I suppose the first thing I would like to know is where I'd be working if you hire me," she politely inquired.

"Good question. Now, we have several areas of R&D, from the commercial phone and laptop area to the weapons division to advanced robotics to the various other contracts we hold, so your options are fairly broad," Krei explained in the simplest of terms as he leaned back in his chair.

Ooo, weapons or robots would be a perfect fit for my newest design. Perhaps he won't say no to what I propose, Trina plotted evilly. "Those all sound like amazing opportunities and I'm sure I'd be able to contribute to any of those sectors…although, I must confess I'd probably go with the robotics because you see, I already had some ideas drawn up for a machine of revolutionary proportions," she pitched to the blonde man, doing her best to come off as excited and guileless.

Krei's eyebrows immediately lifted up in intrigue, clearly taking the bait. "Well, when you say something like that, I have to see it," he requested as he now leaned eagerly over his desk.

The robotic teen looked a bit aloof before she replied, "I'd be happy to, but I would hope this means that I am a part of the Krei Tech team? I'd hate to give you a taste of this only to leave you high and dry if I must take them somewhere else."

"Of course, of course. Don't want any legality trouble. I may love my lawyer, but it doesn't mean I should call him in every day," Krei said with a small chuckle and making Trina give a genuine smile when he added, "Anyway, let me officially welcome you to Krei Tech." He then stood up to walk around his desk, prompting the interviewee to stand too as the older man extended his right hand to shake. Trina took it and gave it a good squeeze, restraining herself from crushing the other's appendage with her true strength.

Krei winced slightly from the gesture, giving a small grunt and remarking, "Wow, that's some grip."

The black-suit wearing woman merely flashed a confident grin and said, "I was taught a good strong handshake demonstrates the commitment one has to the agreement."

He gave a short, slightly nervous laugh and replied, "Well, if that's the case, I'd say this is going to be a very beneficial relationship." Krei then seemed to forget about his hand pain as he rubbed both of them together eagerly and asked, "Okay, now how about those designs you promised me?"

Trina gave a sly look as she gazed at her brown portfolio leaning against her chair and which she had already brought as a precaution to help reel the CEO in. "Why, I just so happen to have them right here," she informed him before bending over to collect the desired item. Trina opened up the unassuming carrier to reveal she had a tablet inside, complete with elaborate security features lest someone else got their hands on it. She went to open it using her thumb, making it look like it was a simple fingerprint scanner, but was actually a code reader that required a specific command. The robotic teenager placed her digit on the pad and flashed the encryption key from her internal system to it. A moment later, the screen unlocked and she proceeded to click through the folders on it until she found the design she was looking for.

"Here you go," she simply said as a satisfied smile crept onto her face.

Krei accepted the tablet and together they gazed at the machine diagrams. He let out an audible whistle as he read the keywords like "thrusters," "heat resistant" and "laser emitter" before remarking, "My my, these are impressive, and so intimidating too." The blonde man then raised an eyebrow in curiosity and asked, "So, can you really deliver on all of this?"

"I believe I can Mr. Krei. I've done some tinkering in between jobs and have had success with the individual components. Now, it just needs the additional resources to complete assembly; but think, if it works like I know it will, mass production could start practically overnight and you have a robot worth clamoring for," Trina answered while luring him further into her plans.

The rich man stroked his chin in intrigue at the sound of this. "Good, very good. I'll see that we get you set up with your own team and facility to begin right away," he informed her.

Trina internally winced at hearing this, anxiously thinking, But I already have everything ready to start at my warehouse; plus, those stupid humans being around means I'll have to be careful about how much I show or they might actually put two and two together. "Uh Mr. Krei," she interjected, making him turn to her as he slipped out of his own thoughts. "Far be it from me to question you, but I'd like to enlighten you with the fact that I have the facility problem well at hand. You see, I wanted to hedge my bets before going into this interview and figured if I couldn't convince you with the designs and my impressive résumé, I'd find my own way to bring my creation to life. So, with your permission of course, could my perfectly available building serve as the production plant? I'd hate to think of all that time and money invested into a property that no longer has a purpose," the scheming android sweetly proposed to Krei, trying to coerce him into letting her at least have this.

He paused for a few seconds as he debated what to do. "Alright, it'll save me a step anyway, but I need to know the location so I can check-in…and in case something goes awry," Krei answered, whispering the last part more to himself.

Trina nodded in acceptance of this arrangement, although she still wanted there to be no humans there. I've already voiced my opinion about the factory and too many requests will likely shut him down. Ugh. Just one more hurdle I'll have to deal with I guess. She then felt a jolt as a new thought occurred to her, keeping all her focus on not showing her new boss. When my plans come to fruition, that know-it-all brat Hamada will likely catch onto it, so I guess I better be ready for that visit. But in the meantime…, she plotted as she gave a small cough to get Krei's attention. "I'd say we've got ourselves a beneficial arrangement here and I look forward to seeing this through. I feel I must say though that it might be in everyone's best interest that this project is kept on a need-to-know basis; you don't want some peon to blab about this and tip off your competitors or if in the unlikely event something goes wrong and Krei Tech gets bad publicity again?" she imparted onto the older man.

The color practically drained from his face as Krei heard her suggestion, making him quickly nod and reply with, "Good call. Yes! This will be the next big thing for Krei Tech and I won't let anyone spoil that." He then flashed a charming smile and said, "See, you're brilliant! I knew there was a reason I liked you. Now, how soon do you think you can start?"

Trina merely grinned and answered, "Why, immediately Mr. Krei."

That appeared to be the response he was looking for as the blonde man rubbed his hands together in satisfaction. "Great! Now my assistant will have the necessary paperwork you need to fill out. So, go right on ahead Miss Keoba," Krei told her, making a small shooing gesture that the calculating robot was only too happy to obey.

As she stepped through Krei's office doors, she finally let herself revel in her victory as a devious look crossed her face. One step closer father. Just a little bit longer and then this city will finally know your greatness.

NOTES

I figured that although we know that Alistair Krei is not the brightest person on the show, Trina certainly would have been a master manipulator, especially considering how well she got under Hiro's skin in "The Bot-Fighter." O_O I'm sure you also could easily tell where I got "Keoba" from, but Trina would be both cocky and smart when it came to getting into Krei Tech as well as would do her best to hide her hostility towards any comments about robots being subservient to humans.

The next story will be a HoneyGoGo one with Honey Lemon getting to ride Go Go motorcycle for the first time. ^_^ 333