An Eighty Percent Solution (CorpGov) Read Online Free

lived in a one-bedroom slum apartment . T he reek of cooked cabbage and raw salmon pervaded all of Sonya’s recollections . They were the smells of home , however revolting to most . She could remember helping her mother simmer sauerkraut for use as a poultice against baldness . The day before the Metros murdered her , she said to her daughter , "Girl, you are equal parts empathy, knowledge , and magic . You ’ll be a formidable witch one day."
    * * *
 
    The dreary little man swayed back and forth from one foot to another in front of the big obsidian desk . He held his hands together so tightly that his skin broke into a pattern of blanched white and angry red .
    “So we discovered the books didn’t balance if we did them on independent machines . They did balance when we did it on the network ,” he said , trying hard not to back away.
    Nanogate sneered . A small bit of his mind enjoyed his subordinate’s discomfort . The staff psychologist designed his office for the purpose of intimidation . The slanted floor and huge desk made people feel small . The slate - gr a y walls chilled the entire room with an untouchable distance . Even the faux waterfall in the corner added an icy mist reaching far across the visitor’s area .
    “How much?”
    “Fourteen point six million over the last two years.” The little man couldn’t help it this time , and back ed up almost ten centimeters as he reported .
    “These books include our combined conglomerate dealings?”
    “Yes, sir.” The accountant’s shoulders slumped . Nanogate could read his vassal’s eyes . His employee felt two pieces of bad news might finish him . “Without it you get an incomplete picture .”
    “Who could be responsible?”
    “I’m sorry, sir, but for that breadth and the areas it doesn’t touch it can only be Kensington, VP of accounting.”
    “Thank you for bringing this to my attention, u h…”
    “Rupert Wingley . Accounting grade four .”
    Nanogate didn’t feel like shooting the messenger today — but only today . “You are promoted to grade six, Rupert . I thank you for your diligence.”
    “Thank you . Thank you, sir ! ” 
    Nanogate nodded and waved his hand in dismissal . The accountant beat speed records out the massive granite doors in spite of his great fortune . Nanogate pushed a hidden button under the surface of his black stone desk .
    The rush of the waterfall provided the only sound as a slight man glided in. He stood barely 140 centimeters tall , with Nordic features of blonde hair and blue, s leepy eyes . His muscles always drew attention. They didn’t bulge on his body , but protruded unexpectedly, because places where fat should pad the flesh to fill the hollows, it didn’t . He looked like an old - fashioned medical dummy with only bones, muscles and a coating of skin .
    He wore a pair of body tights so formfitting they looked more like toe-socks poured from yellow vinyl up to the waist , with nothing covering his hairless chest . Everything about the man screamed KILLER , even without a visible weapon or body modification .
    “Mr. Marks, I have a job for you,” Nanogate said from behind the darkness of his desk.
    “Of course, sir,” h is visitor offered in a quiet, calm voice.
    * * *
 
    From a distance, Tony’s condominium looked i ndistinguishable from the seven thousand other upper-middle-class dwellings in his building . Against the condo’s covenants, a small metal plaque , “ Valhalla , ” forced his door to stand out amongst the multitudes that appeared otherwise identical , save the oversized silver numbers on each.
    Tony entered and tossed the large box onto his dining room table . “I really feel great about saving that old crone, ” he remarked to himself, “ but what if she sues me? What if I lose everything? I’d hate to have to move . ”
    He needed something to sooth e his mind and murmered, “Music —  mellow c la ssic r ock .” Strains of “ Hotel California ” by the Eagles