The acceptance letter from the top university on Corneria sat on the lemur's desk, staring back at him constantly. It was something that he dreaded arriving; he knew he had the grades, the skills, and the determination to be at the top of his class – not to mention the financial wherewithal. The house he lived in was certainly a testament to that – the yards spanned as far as the eye could see, the mansion playing host to many who wanted a taste of what his family had to offer.

"Do you need anything, Master Algernon?" asked one of the butlers wandering around the hallway.

"Not at the moment," the lemur respectfully smiled back.

Algy, as the lemur preferred to be called, picked up the acceptance letter and shook his head. In reality, he had nothing to complain about; his whole life, he was surrounded by wealth and had access to just about anything he could dream of. The pharmaceutical company his grandfather created and his father kept going made sure that money would not be an issue growing up. At the very least, he'd have a guaranteed place inside the company. His father would surely make sure of that.

But something just didn't sit right with him.

He saw a large limo drive up to the front of his house out of the corner of his eye, the large vehicle looming large over Algy's presence. Algy sighed as he held the letter in his hand, collecting his thoughts as he prepared to talk with him.

Algy adjusted his collared shirt as he walked down the main hallway where the front door and the limo was. All around him, he was constantly reminded of how lucky he was; lucky to be born in the right family, lucky to be given the opportunities he had, lucky for all the material wealth he seemed to be surrounded by.

But for all that, he was then interrupted by his father talking to a few associates of his, some of whom he had seen before, the sight of which immediately sickened him. The associates talked a lot of nonsense about wanting to improve the company, wanting to make their impact within the company, when all that Algy really saw in them was the desire for their wealth. It wasn't that he was worried about losing his money to them – it was more that the associates only seemed to care about his father because of his money. It also didn't help that his father never hesitated to play that to his advantage, moving the dangling carrot around to ensure that the associates would keep running, doing nothing but expand the wealth of their medicinal empire.

"I shall look forward to our meal tonight," Algy's father spoke to the associates. "It will be a pleasure to hear your proposal over dinner."

"Yes, sir," said one of the salarymen, wearing a suit so tight it looked like it was going to burst.

As the associates moved onward to the dining room, Algy's father finally noticed his child, standing about an inch taller than himself. His face barely moved in reaction, not giving any emotion away on whether he appreciated his son's appearance.

"I have something to tell you," Said Algy.

"Oh?"

"I got this in the mail today," Algy continued, handing the letter over to his father.

His father took a quick glance at it, scanning over the details nonchalantly and not focusing too much on the details. "Good. I'll inform the tutor, he'll adjust your schedules accordingly."

Thanks, thought Algy in reply. At least give a 'good job' or something. Most parents would be ecstatic to have their child be in this place.

"Perhaps it's time for you to get acquainted with the business that goes on around here," his father continued. "I have a few businessmen who have proposed that we invest in their company. We'll have you join up with them for dinner. You'll see what I do for a living."

"Yes, father…" Algy sighed, pretending to have an interest in the plans. Just a few more months of this nonsense, he kept thinking to himself. Then I'll be out of here…

The dinner was prepared for in quick order. Naturally, the finest foods were put out in place; the best meats, the best wine, even though Algy wasn't of drinking age yet, and most of all, his father's favourite – fresh imported caviar, no doubt fished out at the expense of the dwindling sturgeon population on Corneria, the unpaid slave workers brought over from the slums and the penal colonies, and everything else in between. On top of all that, it didn't even taste good. It was far too salty for his tastes.

Still, he ate the provisions given to him. He wasn't in a position to refuse the food, given the associates surrounding him. They were talking a lot on the technology they had developed for the industry, but it was all a bunch of gobbledygook that he didn't even care to understand. For all he knew, it was all a bunch of language used to impress people who didn't know better.

Algy took a good look around at the associates. One of them, a monkey, was obviously overweight, his face swollen and round. It reminded him a lot about his uncle, who was known to be the black sheep of the family – he also took no interest in running the company, but was far more direct in that regards, instead spending his time binging on alcohol and decadent foods that no sane being should consume on a regular basis. His uncle died a young man within the last year; being three years younger than his father, his uncle died from indulging in his riches too much, not caring at all about the outside world or the people around him.

Algy vowed from that day onward that he wouldn't allow himself to fall into the same trap his uncle fell into.

He took another look at the associates; one in particular looked like a shell of a being, someone who stared blankly into the warm soup that was being handed out by the help. He knew firsthand what it looked like to see someone destroy themselves for the pursuit of money. Working long hours, being berated by their colleagues, going through God-knows-what just to move up the corporate ladder, only to be rewarded with more troubles and being made to kiss more arses to keep their position. Even at his young age, Algy knew he was surrounded by sycophants, dealing with topics that he held no interest in.

After the food had settled down a little, one of the associates stood near the front of the giant fireplace that decorated the dining room, giving an overly enthusiastic speech to Algy's father.

"We really think that our technology would really benefit your company," the associate insisted. "We can develop more medicine more efficiently with this."

Algy leaned over to his father, not wanting to speak over the associate who was speaking. "Does this mean that the price of the medicine produced in there would be lowered?"

"Nonsense," scoffed his father, giving a dirty look at his son. "Why would we do that? This is how we make money, son."

It was a situation he was all too familiar with. The whole empire of his parents' pharmaceutical company was built off the backs of poor people. First they developed life-saving medicine for the populace, tease it so that the population would eagerly accept it, then slowly trickle the price of the medicine up, all while keeping the profits for themselves. His parents had tried to shelter Algy from the outside world, but he still managed to wrestle his way toward the internet and view the perspectives of those who had to give up everything just to purchase the life-saving medicine. It wasn't just the caviar that made Algy sick to his stomach.

The presentation continued. A powerpoint was set up in the lounge where the whole group stayed, with indecipherable details whizzing by Algy as everyone else nodded in reply. Algy had checked out some time ago, and was quietly grumbling to himself, wanting to do anything else but sit through a boring lecture on medicine.

Mercifully, it had gotten past eight in the evening, and the parties bid their farewell. Soon Algy and his father were left alone, the night sky settling in the distance.

"So," started Algy's father, "what did you make of all this?"

Algy sighed, as he briefly shrugged. "What do you want me to say? I had a hard time understanding everything."

"You will need to understand this eventually. This is your destiny, to become a leader in this corporation."

"Corporation? Is that what I'm worth to you? You don't even care about me getting into university!"

"Oh, I do," his father reassured Algy. "Believe me, this will be the first step into becoming a true leader, one in which you can truly get what you want in this world. You should be thankful for this opportunity."

"I am, believe me," sighed Algy. "It's just that I don't want to make money for the sake of making money, you know? And not just to keep it for ourselves, but to use it for good as well!"

Algy's father gently placed his hand onto Algy's opposite soldier, bringing him close by. "You know, son, I used to think the same way when I was younger. But the more I got older, the more I realized that all that effort into 'making the world a better place' really never amounted to much, even for someone like us. I've seen people sink in millions of dollars, chunks of their wealth to try to better the society, but it all amounted to nothing."

"Are you suggesting that I should just give up?"

"No… I am telling you to focus your energy on something more productive. Because there's just as many people wanting to ruin this world as there is people wanting to make it better. Take your mother, for instance…"

"Wait a minute!"

"I know, she's probably pampered you up with her side of the story, but the fact remains that there's some people out there that get in your way. Besides, who's to say exactly what they claim is their perfect society? You could have two people contradict each other this way. All I can say is this; you don't need to make things too complicated. You just need to tale advantage of the things you have at the moment."

Algy gave a silent nod as the night slowly dragged on. There was no winning this argument, much like all the other discussions he had in the past.

Only this time, he had an action plan in place for the future.

In a matter of weeks, he would finally be ready to pack up and leave for the university, far away from his parents' watchful gaze.

Before he left, though, he needed to check one final detail to ensure the success of his plan.

"You're sure there's enough money in the bank account?" Algy asked enthusiastically to his mother.

"Of course," his mother purred in reply. "You know that we always take care of you."

Normally such coddling drove Algy insane, being pampered all the time. Some days he just wanted to be left alone. But he was willing to play along for one more day before he headed out into the real world. "I know, mom…"

His mother couldn't help but be a little teary-eyed as Algy grabbed his backpack before heading out the door. "We'll miss you so much, dear…"

"I will too," Algy sighed. There was a bit of truth to that, having been comfortable with his living conditions. Then again, he also wanted to break free from the comforts of his own home, wanting to establish a reputation of his own rather than being just another addition to the family's pharmaceutical business.

As soon as he stepped out of the house and into the taxi taking him to the airport, Algy breathed a sigh of relief, smiling wide for the first time in what felt like years.

"Finally," Algy whispered to himself. "I can finally take control of my own life."