Last Dispatch: Part 2

This story was made using the solo RPG Last Dispatch, by Symbolic City.

“Mr. Holss?”

The pepper-haired man looked up from his meal, setting down his knife and fork. “Yes, Ms…Yoli, was it? Have a seat.”

Yoli sat down, making sure their hand-comp was in full view of Mr. Holss. “I wondered if I could talk with you about —”

“Professor Morliss and her protests?” Holss nodded his head. “Certainly, certainly. I think she’s fear-mongering, of course. both myself personally and Fresh-Co officially denies her suppositions as baseless at best and absurd at worst.”

Yoli gave a weak smile. “Yes, I suppose you would. Actually, I’m here on a more recent matter. A source has informed me that you were officially replaced as Regional CEO of Fresh-Co at the last board-meeting. Any comments?”

Holss froze for only a heartbeat before he lay down his fork and gestured to a nearby server, drawing them closer to the table. “Have a chit to spare? What will you have?”

“I’m fine,” Yloi shook their head. “I’m trying to cut back.”

“Nonsense,” Holss pulled a ration chit out of his own pocket and handed it to the server. “It’s my treat. The least I can do, I’m sure.”

Yoli cleared their throat. “Just water.”

Holss reached out and grabbed the server’s arm before they could leave. “Come now, I just spent a whole chit. The least you can do is order something to go. I don’t mind spending rations on someone else, but I do mind waste.”

Yoli took a quick breath. “Yes…sorry. I’ll have red-noodle and mash-sauce. To go.”

The server nodded and slipped away through the surrounding tables towards the kitchens. It was something of a metaphorical name; the food of Tethys Megastation was rarely cooked in the conventional sense, excepting for delicacies or special occasions.

“Who was the source?” Holss asked.

“A little bird,” Yoli smirked. “You should know that.”

“Yes, I suppose I should.” Holss heaved a sigh. “It was going to officially reported before our next public meeting…But I guess that was a foolish assumption. Now,” Holss took another bite before wiping his mouth. “Comments. I suspect you want a little fire and brimstone, slandering Kennly as an egotist, a eugenicist, or a radical? Something to really catch the eye?”

“I’ll settle for your honest thoughts,” Yoli folded their hands in front of them, adopting the most calm and accepting air they could manage.

“Oh, spare me,” Holss smirked. “Look around you; even if I wanted to speak freely, there are plenty of people in hearing distance, to say nothing of your recording,” he gestured at the hand-comp. “I may not be regional CEO anymore, but I’m still one of the most scrutinized people on this station, and being ousted by a vote of no confidence doesn’t change that.”

“Do you wish that it had?”

“Oh, of course,” Holss sawed away at his meal with his knife. “Wouldn’t we all like to be able to say whatever we want, whenever we want, without fear of consequences? But this is a Megastation, and speaking too freely can be dangerous at the best of times. Suffice it to say that while Kennly and I disagree on the best path forward, I’m certain Tethys will flourish with him as Regional-CEO of Fresh-Co.

“What about General Layne?” Yoli leaned back slightly as a can of noodles and sauce was placed in front of them. “During the station round-table, about a month ago, You publicly accepted her demands; Kennly used that acceptance to —”

“You are a journalist, yes?” Holss eyes flickered. After a moment, he put down his utensils again, heaving a sigh as he rubbed his hands together. “You should know as well as I do: the round-table summit was public, but the bartering all happened beforehand, behind the scenes.”

Yoli brushed the can of noodles with their fingertips. “So the new ration levels, Homeland Defense taking over supply distribution, and increased access to the planet and red-wheat fields for research, were all decided upon before the Summit?” Yoli leaned forward, resting their elbows on the table. “What did the Gleaners get in return?”

Holss thought for a moment before leaning back in his chair. “You mean to ask what Fresh-co got in return, I presume? We got what the other companies got; what all of Tethys got; a stable and sustainable station which will continue to thrive an prosper for many years to come.”

Yoli nodded. They had expected an answer very similar to that. “And the science team? Any comment on the Chief Research Scientists, Professor Morliss and her protests against your new harvesting procedures?”

Holls stared at Yolis. “No comment. It’s absurd, of course. Complex behavior doen’t mean sentient, or else we’d have to call Fresh-co a living thing, and I don’t think anyone is aiming for that.”

Yoli put a thoughtful hand to their lips; “But you must at least see the merit to caution? If the Red-wheat and its ecosystem successfully map on the patterns of sapient thought, exploitation would need to be done ethically, yes?”

“Oh, certainly,” Holls smiled. “One of the worst things we could do is accidentally destroy one of our societies more vital crops. No, we certainly must be careful and ethical in our exploitation of Red-wheat, but as I said in my last Quarterly Report, we have a vast array of new proceedures and technologies that we have already implemented to make harvesting both more ethical and safe.”

Yoli smiled. “These would be the same technologies that Kennly said will make Homeland Defense superfluous to Red-wheat harvesting?”

Holls grimaced for a moment before he reached across the table, placing his hand over Yoli’s hand-comp in a theatrical display of caution. “Off the record?”

Yoli nodded.

“Kennly’s out over his skis. He’s not smart enough to understand the implications, nor is he wise enough to be cautious. He’s making big promises in the hopes that when it’s time to cash the check he’ll have enough to make good, but at the moment…” Holls leaned back, spreading his arms in a dismissive shrug.

“So,” Yoli thought carefully about how to word the question, “do you think that Kennly’s support of further research and dismissiveness of Homeland Defense is a considered tactic?”

Holls chuckled as he folded his napkin and placed it on his empty plate. “Yoli, I don’t think even Kennly knows the answer to that.”