Two

"They're gonna fire us all," Charles repeated his grim prediction for the umpteenth time, his voice filled with resignation as he sat on the small desk in his cubicle, his headset dangling around his neck and a Styrofoam cup in his hand.

"You don't know that," Lainy protested, glancing at her phone. "Who knows, maybe it will be better. Maybe we can get real supplies now instead of coming out of pocket."

The large room of Buzz Media was more abuzz than usual, with most of the staff engaged in discussions about the merger, which they viewed more as a hostile takeover. Buzz was a company of about two hundred employees dedicated to providing buzzy internet quizzes and games. Their core comprised programmers, software engineers, graphic artists, and writers, with support staff assisting the core. They were hyper-local and looking to expand globally, so the owners saw selling as an opportunity.

Everyone else was upset. It felt like all their hard work was about to be swallowed by this monolithic company that didn't care about them as people. It just didn't seem fair.

Charles sucked down the contents of his cup, then sat down with a grunt and put his headset on. "Guess I better pretend to at least work," he grumbled. "Where the hell is everyone anyway?"

Lana, a tall brunette who sat on the other side of his cubicle, looked up. "Big meeting. The brass called them up there about an hour ago… I guess to give them the bad news." Her eyes focused on the door. "Oh, here they come."

They all turned as the doors to the front of the support center opened, and a group of managers filed in, ranging from support manager Ray to lead programmer Susie. All of them looked really grim. The last one in was Tori Vega, who leaned back against the closed door for a minute before she straightened her shoulders and nodded for everyone to move ahead of her.

At twenty-seven, Tori looked just old enough to be out of college, let alone to be a manager. She was of average height and had a slender build, with tan skin and long brown hair. Her brown eyes were like molten pools, and if you had to say it, the woman was attractive, if not a little emaciated. But that was by design. The self-imposed caloric restrictions made her look even younger than she was. But don't let her innocent-looking face fool you. She had years of experience in video game coding. She liked to do that nerd shit for fun. Plus, she had a keen knowledge of business and true skill at handling interpersonal conflict.

Right now, she carefully got up onto a desk at the end of the open playroom and held up a hand. Since everyone there was looking at her anyway, it got its intended effect, and everything went on hold immediately.

"Alright," she started, her voice clear and crisp, though belied by a slight tremble. Silence fell, and she looked around. "I'm sure you all know by now that as of last night, we were officially bought out." She paused and took a breath. "Some of the people who belong to that company are going to be around here starting this afternoon, and I think we all know that we're going to see some changes."

A low murmur rose up, and Tori put a hand up to still it. "I don't know what kind of changes, or what they're going to do, or what this really means for any of us. We'll just have to wait and see. What I'm going to ask you to do is just go on and do your jobs until we know if the projects are scrapped. I don't think they bought our assets to completely throw out your work."

"Get your resume ready," a voice uttered in a disgusted tone.

"Bet they find some way not to give us benefits," came another. "If they do bother to keep anyone."

"Come on, people," Tori interrupted. "Let's just wait to see what happens. That's all I have. If someone from their company comes in here, be nice, answer what they ask, and just keep it cool." Then she got off the desk gingerly.

She moved on toward the end of the big room, passing through the small labyrinth of cubicles until she reached her own, buried in the back corner. Most of the managers had trailed her there, obviously wanting a private word with her, but she put a hand up as she entered her sanctum. "Give me a few minutes, guys, okay? Go get some coffee or check your email or something."

"Call my headhunter," Susie said, snorting and shaking her raven head. The short, stocky Asian programmer stalked over to her tiny office, which was piled to the ceiling with printouts, sitting down in her chair and putting her head in her hands.

What a mess. And it had all been going so well too. With a sigh, she leaned back, letting her hands fall on her denim-covered thighs, the fabric reminding her of yet one more change they'd have to face. As the previous owners had warned her that morning, the new owner was a stickler for certain things.

"I didn't think we'd done that badly," she muttered to herself in shock upon hearing the news. "I thought it was just rumors."

The company's old owner had laid his hands on his desk and said, "Girlie, you did nothing wrong, okay?" His brown eyes had been sad. "It came down to money, that's all. They made me an offer I couldn't refuse," he said, imitating the godfather. "I've got kids, and I need to spend time with them. They are all getting so big, and I feel like I am missing everything."

She sighed. "I don't blame you, I just… we're like family here."

"Believe me, I know. That's how I intended it to be." He placed a hand on Tori's shoulder. "I told them how great all of you are every chance I got. You did a fantastic job with everything, really turned Buzz around this past year. Give them an opportunity to see it."

"I don't care about me," Tori said, looking out of the glass window of his office toward the playroom. "Eric… these people work really hard… I don't think those guys are going to care about that. I think they're just going to come in here and tear us apart…"

Tori sighed as she played with her coffee mug on her desk, glancing around her little office. It wasn't much, a few file cabinets, one plant in each corner which she took obsessive care of, a picture of Connecticut in winter on one wall, and her wraparound desk with its recessed computer well.

It was hers, though—earned by dogged determination and her own skills—not bought by her mother or given to her for some favor. She was proud of that, and proud of being in charge of this diverse group of people, even if they were sometimes infuriating, and the programmers could never meet their deadlines, and she had to keep nagging the supervisors to keep their response times down.

She'd felt like she was accomplishing something, especially when they'd begun their trending news quizzes. It had been her idea—people love to challenge how much they know.

That had felt great. She'd gone out with a few friends that night and celebrated for the first time in a few months. To Dave and Busters and had ended up winning enough tickets to get herself a stuffed panda.

Now she was just one of the hundred thousand employees in a new company. Nothing special. In fact, they'd probably laugh at her credentials or find something in what she had done here that was not to their standards and take her out of her position. And then what? Mom was only letting her stay out west because she could show her that her career was growing.

Any slip-ups, and she will be on a plane right back to New England.

She took a breath and rubbed her eyes. "Come on now… Think positive," she reminded herself.

The phone rang, and she pushed the speaker button. "Tori here."

"Tor, it's Alex," her security chief said. "I've got some bitch demanding I give her access."

Tori closed her eyes. "If the call is from West Trek Media, just give them access. They probably can get it anyway. We don't want to be obstructionist."

"You got it, boss," he said. "I gave them the mail server transfer and created an admin account for them. Is that it?"

"That should keep them busy for a while," Tori sighed. "I'll try to get some ground rules set whenever whoever is coming here after lunch arrives. Maybe they will be reasonable."

"Shit…" Alex muttered.

"Tell me about it," Tori muttered back.

She spent the next few hours putting things in order, studying the latest stats in their analytics, and clearing her inbox. She had her head bent over the last performance review when a light knock came at the door. She looked up to see Ray standing there holding up a Wahoo Punch in one hand. "Hey."

"Lunch?" he asked with an inquiring eyebrow. "I hear they have Mexican at the café today."

"No thanks, I have had my fill of Mexican… I couldn't stop eating it when I first got here… it's so much better here than any other state I've been in," Tori answered. "Besides, I brought," she said, pulling out a baby carrot from her bag in the drawer.

"Keep eating that rabbit food, you'll grow buck teeth and floppy ears," he said with a chuckle.

Tori smirked. "Go on, enjoy your lunch," she said fondly. "I'll need you when those guys show up."

He nodded. "Back soon," he promised and walked off.

Tori gazed pensively at the door, then sighed and tossed her pen down to the desk. Her eyes found the evaluation again, and she propped her head up on one hand. She frowned—none of this would be worth anything to the newcomers.

A soft, quick knock interrupted her again. "Ray, I told you…" she looked up and trailed off. There was a stranger in her doorway, in a posture of confident arrogance. Tori blinked and looked again, captured by the bluest, clearest eyes she'd ever seen. They drilled right through her with a blast of cool intensity and a strange, almost magnetic pull.

"Um, sorry… I thought you were someone else," she managed to get to her feet. She wiped her now-moist hands on her jeans and extended her hand to the woman dressed in black in the door frame. She looked like a gamer, completely hardcore; Tori had been expecting a suit. "Jade West," the woman said, taking the outstretched hand.

The voice was low and pleasant, rumbling in her ears and moving to her chest. She shook the woman's hand, a soft scent of musky perfume mixed with leather reaching her nostrils, becoming the essence she would associate with this woman. It didn't matter how many bad things she heard. "Tori Vega," she said, her voice trembling. The strength in the other woman's grip made her feel like she shouldn't be scared of this takeover. "You're… I thought you would send an acquisition team. I was expecting them after lunch."

Jade took her hand back and looked around. "It is after lunch. I suppose my lunch doesn't quite match yours," she answered coolly. "Sorry."

"Oh… Right," Tori answered awkwardly, realizing she was talking to THE big boss. "Can I get you some coffee or something?" she asked, trying to keep herself from talking too much.

"No thanks," Jade said, bringing her eyes back to the Latina. "I've got other things scheduled. Let's just get started. It won't take long." She motioned to the desk. "Have a seat." Tori stepped backward and into her chair. Jade's eyes never left her as she leaned forward, not knowing what to do with her arms, and placed her forearms gingerly on the desk surface, looking back at the woman in black with morbid curiosity, because Jade is known to be quite a slasher. But Tori didn't feel that energy.

Jade had paused to look at her, and Tori wondered if Jade had her sit down so that she was towering over her. But then she moved to the visitor's chair. "You know why I am here, right?" Jade asked.

Tori's fingers twisted a piece of binding tie. "I know you people are taking over, but they didn't tell us much about what was going to happen, no."

Jade sighed, seeming to be debating something, and looked back at Tori. "Look, I'm not going to play games or beat around the bush. The bottom line is, what we purchased was your business."

Tori took a breath. "Okay… but what does that mean? Do we report to different people? Or do you want things done differently? I have—"

Jade raised a hand that silenced her. "It means we're interested in the services you are providing, not in how you provide them or who does it. There is nothing you do here we can't do better and cheaper, which is the whole point."

Tori stared at her. "You're saying you don't need us…." Tori's guard came up, wondering where that feeling of safety had come from in the first place. This is not safe. "You can't come in here and fire everyone. We've been doing this for years. You can't just replace us like that."

"Yes, I can," Jade replied. "It's what we do." She gestured toward the door. "I have a programming group, graphic designers, and scriptwriters that can take your place. And they all already work for me." She stood now and walked around the back of her chair. Tori watched her; if she thought this was over, she was sorely mistaken. "You are inefficient, take two sick days apiece every three weeks. Half of them are late every day, and your programmers never meet deadlines."

Tori just looked at the surface of her desk. She couldn't argue with that. Her chest hurt from the sudden, unexpected attack when she realized she had no answer for the charges. She knew they were true, but it was a good staff… They were good people… just a little lazy sometimes like everyone was. Her eyes traveled up to the hawklike stare watching her. She felt a quiet despair. Not everyone, not anymore.

"Charles was right…" she whispered in quiet defeat.

Jade eyed her, tilting her head slightly. Tori noted it as if she wasn't expecting that reaction. Tori wondered what Jade was expecting. The truth was the truth; she couldn't fault her for coming to that conclusion. "Right about what?" Jade asked curiously.

Tori looked at her. "You're here to rape us."

The blue-eyed woman flinched at such an ugly word. "That's not… an appropriate way to refer to it," she said. "It's just business."

Tori shrugged. "What are you going to do, fire me?" She took a breath. "Is there something else I can do for you, Ms. West?" Tori said, just not wanting to have this stifling and energizing presence. "You seem to have all the information you need. And I've got a ton of paperwork I need to get started on."

Jade blinked, never having been dismissed before. And Tori, for her part, didn't want the woman to see her cry, her eyes stinging badly. "Ms. Vega…"

"They're not that bad, you know," Tori said softly. "Our audience enjoys us. We do a good job. I don't see why we need to be thrown away like garbage."

"Look," Jade said with a sigh, shaking her head. "It's business—there's nothing personal, understand?"

Tori nodded, her face closed and her eyes darkened with quiet anger.

Jade swallowed. "You have a week. I need a list of your senior people so we can arrange sessions with them to start going over exactly what you do, and when and how you do it."

Tori glared at her. "You want us to train your people?" she laughed bitterly.

"Well, yeah."

"Fine…" Tori said, nearly breaking the pen she was holding. "I'll see what I can arrange."

"You want to tell me to go to hell," the dark-haired woman remarked. "Don't you?"

"No, I don't. I wasn't raised that way," Tori said, licking her lower lip.

Jade sighed and sat down in the chair again, leaning forward and tilting her head to gaze into Tori's lowered face. "Sure you do," Jade agreed. "I did when they tried to buy me out of my own company. Now on the other side, I kind of understand the process. I know it was nothing personal."

"These are people whose livelihoods you're about to take away. It's not funny."

"And any one of them would gladly wave you goodbye if the guy down the street offered them a buck more an hour," Jade replied. "This is a business, Ms. Vega… It's not a charity."

Tori's chin lifted. "Your people won't be able to do half the job mine do," Tori said.

Jade leaned back, studying her. She hadn't had this kind of challenge in a while. Most of her acquired companies were startups. This was a little bit more established. And the owners were fresh-faced upstarts like herself…and were constantly sucking up to her.

The other thing Jade loved about acquiring companies was sourcing new talent. Sometimes, she reflected, she found potential in the weirdest places. She regarded the Latina for a moment, allowing her mind to formulate a plan. "Prove it," she finally said.

Tori looked up at Jade, shocked. "What?"

"I can do this for half the budget you are currently using. Come up with a plan to cut the budget down to 50% in a week, and I'll look at it," Jade said.

"Fifty percent? It's impossible!" Tori said.

Jade shrugged. "Your choice. See, we can leverage out the costs because we use less overhead per account. If we've got someone who needs support, for instance, we just add them to the current load at corporate, and we don't have to pay for rent, or phone lines, or desks, or computers. You can't do that."

Jade paused, looking at the brunette. Would she take the bait?

"No… but that means…" Tori stopped and exhaled. People would have to go. It was the biggest cost factor, and she knew it too. But maybe she could save some of them. It was worth a try. "All right… you'll be hearing from me," she told Jade coldly.

Jade smirked. Well, that was a rocky start. Too bad, she was cute, she thought. "All right, you can send it over by email. You should be added to our post office by now," she said, picking up her phone and dialing a single code, holding it to her ear, and Sinjin answered. "Sinj… you all done?"

A short laugh came through the line. "Yup, piece of cake," he said. "Mail's up, servers are locked down… anything else?"

"Thanks," Jade said, hanging up on Sinjin. "You're up on mail; tell our people not to do any admin changes to your servers, and you can expect a team here tomorrow to start going over procedures."

Tori folded her hands over her desk. "How did you know all about our personnel stats?"

Pale blue eyes lanced into the Latina. "We broke into your server database this morning and extracted it," Jade smiled. "Your security sucks; you might want to start your review there." She felt a sense of quiet triumph, which faded as Tori returned her look with one of stony dislike. "Nothing personal."

"No," the Latina stated quietly. "I can see that," she stood. "Would you like to look around?"

The last thing Jade needed was the nickel tour. She reminded herself she had six or seven conference calls to take care of back at the office, so she was very surprised when she heard herself say, "Sure."

Tori just nodded and stepped around her desk, running a hand through her long brown locks and pushing it back off her face. Jade looked at the other woman now. She was wearing a pair of skinny jeans and a short-sleeved white lace shirt, kind of like the black lace she was wearing under her hoodie. "All right, follow me," the Latina said, and Jade followed, trying not to notice the other woman's form.