LANGSTROM FISCHLER

This is outrageous!

I thought International Rescue was supposed to spend their time helping old ladies across the road and rescuing stray cats from tall trees! I have just received a call from my lawyer telling me that International Rescue are issuing me an ultimatum!

I am told I have to make a choice.

International Rescue are intending to pursue a private prosecution, and my lawyer is assuring me that they have video evidence as well as eyewitness testimony to back up every charge. If I am found guilty, and my lawyer is certain that I will be, I will be ruined! He thinks there could even be jail time involved, for several charges of gross negligence and reckless endangerment! On top of that, he says the GDF have already been in touch to let him know they are seriously considering issuing me a lifetime ban from owning or running any company "in the interests of public safety"!

I ask you, what the...what have I done to deserve this treatment!? I am the victim here!

Apparently IR are saying that they are willing to hold off from any prosecution for the time being, if, either, Tracy Industries becomes the majority stock-holder, and takes over product development, or I accept a GDF and World-Government appointed safety officer to make sure that every single safety precaution is followed on every project from this moment on, regardless of time and expense. One of those interfering Tracy boys, apparently. I've not been told which one.

Huh! The cheek!

I have been given three days to decide. If I haven't made my decision by then, or if I refuse to cooperate, the prosecution will go ahead, and Tracy Industries will buy me out, and make me some kind of puppet within my own company.

All I ever wanted was to make life better for the public, and this is what I get?

I have just had a visit from two ladies and a man. Lady Penelope Creighton-something or other, and an old lady in a purple track-suit. Mrs. Tracy, the granny of the Tracy boys, she said. The third was professor Hiram Hackenbacker, Brains. I'd heard of, but never met the ladies before. I've known Brains since university.

I have to say, I did not expect their visit to happen the way it did.

When they were announced, I was expecting to be dictated to and given ultimatums and all of that rot, but it was nothing like that. They talked to me, like a human being. They let me speak first, and then explained everything to me.

I was shocked.

I had no idea that my attitude towards International Rescue could have attracted the attention of a master criminal like that. Truly, I had nothing like that in my head at all! I wouldn't deliberately hurt anyone. That's what I've been saying all along, what my company is all about,. Helping people.

Between them, Brains, Mrs. Tracy and Lady P explained that my enthusiasm to make a difference, coupled with too much haste and insufficient funding was what led to the various...incidents...that resulted in International Rescue attending. They showed me video evidence of the destruction my inventions wreaked, and medical documents of the hospital treatment that many people have had in the aftermath of these...incidents.

It was hard to hear, but they were so kind the way they explained it to me, that I couldn't take offence, even though I admit I did try at first.

Then Brains went over each of my inventions, the ones that went wrong. He had studied them thoroughly, and showed me how with a few tweaks, a few dollars extra, and just a bit more care and attention, what could have been achieved.

You know, I always dismissed all the safety precautions as a waste of time. If I had to spend so much time worrying about extra safety precautions, nothing would ever get done. But I was wrong. It turned out, the safety precautions Brains talked about would have only added a few thousand to the budget, and a few months to the time-frame. Compared to the profit I would have been making by now from the sales, it would have been well worth taking the extra time.

It seems I am an idea man, but I am in too much of a hurry to develop my ideas.

As well as being the creator of the thunderbirds and all their equipment, Brains is apparently in charge of the Research and Development Department at Tracy Industries. They have recently brought in several well-known inventors and researchers into the company and they have asked me to join.

I said "No way!" at first. Then they told me that that amazing inventor-guy Tycho Reeves was working with them. Actually, Brains said that Mister Reeves has moved his workshop into Tracy Industries, and is working in collaboration with T.I. He still works on his own projects, but he gets assistance and funding from Tracy Industries, plus other techies checking that he's not missed anything important. On top of that he gets the chance to collaborate on T.I projects, and together they've already made billions.

I could do that couldn't I?

I thought going in with another company would be like being taken over. Being make to do what I am told, but according to those three, I would be treated like a fellow inventor. I still come up with ideas for inventions that could help the world, but I get to discuss them with other inventors, and we work together to get it working. I help them, they help me. Together we change the world.

I love that idea. Mrs. Tracy assured me that any innovation I came up with that eventually went into production successfully, I would be the named inventor, with T.I named as "working with me" to produce it. I would get a very reasonable percent of the profit from every sale.

Win win!

So then, the ultimatum I have been given still stands theoretically, but I have made my choice.

After my very enlightening conversation with my three visitors, and due consideration, I have decided to sell my personal shares of my company to Tracy Industries on the condition they make me a creative consultant (In-house Inventor) like Whatsizname Reeves, with all of the privileges we have talked about in our conversation.

I have visited the TI building in New York. It is huge! I have been given a massive office of my own, with my own personal assistant, and the workrooms attached are massive, and are being used by other creative consultants already, so everything is already in place. My people at Fischler Industries are all being offered a job at Tracy Industries with similar duties and higher rate of pay. As far as I know, they have all accepted.

I have only one thing I think I ought to do before I start my new job. It will be hard...and awkward probably. Visit John Tracy in hospital to apologize in person. I will be consulting with him a lot in my new role, since he is in charge of the financials at T.I. Get on the wrong side of John and he could, in theory, cut all funding for any project in the offing.

Mrs. Tracy is trying right now to convince me that John will be fine. He's a nice guy, I've spoken with him before, but this is different.

I was brought over here by Mrs. Tracy and Lady Penelope in her flying pink car, and Lady Penelope has just gone in to see John and explain to him about me.

I have never been nervous before, but now I am. It's my fault he was hurt, after all. What if he...

The door opens, and Lady Penelope is standing smiling at me.

"Go on Mister Fischler. John is awake, and he would like to see you."

I gulp and walk forward. Someone closes the door behind me. The tall, slender young man with the strange eyes and ginger hair is sitting up in bed, looking very washed out. He gives me a rather searching look, and I feel my mouth go dry.

"Hello again Mister Fischler."