McMillan Tech Industries Lake Point branch, upper floor, hall outside the meeting room
Dr. Rachel McLewis did not want to help Martin Stragey in his mad plan. But she did not have a choice. The man was threatening her with a Random Gun, the most unpredictable of all the Transformation Guns. And he demanded that she break past the keypad lock on the doors leading to the meeting room where Mr. McMillan and members of the Board were currently meeting.
Rachel thought perhaps she should make a break for it and risk getting zapped by the Random Gun anyway. But would that save Mr. McMillan and the others? The possibility existed that the Random Gun would give her the personality of someone more criminally inclined, or someone more likely to willingly assist Stragey in his plan. There was also the possibility that Stragey would find someone else to help him, or find another way to break in.
There was no easy way out of this situation. She realized she would just have to do what Stragey asked, and hope things wouldn't end up as horrible as she was dreading.
She turned to the keypad. She knew the doors were locked with a seven-digit combination. Clearly Stragey was expecting her to do some kind of tech geek trickery and get the lock open. But perhaps he was overthinking it?
Maybe Mr. McMillan used an obvious combination. A cipher, perhaps? Rachel thought of it, and soon inputted the numbers she had in mind.
There was a click, indicating the door was now unlocked. Rachel shuddered and stood back.
McMillan Tech Industries Lake Point branch upper floor, meeting room
Richard McMillan, CEO of McMillan Tech Industries, was holed up in the meeting room along with a number of others on the Board of Directors. Not all of the directors had been able to show up. Many were not in the building, and of those who were, two of them were no-shows, one of them being the new Head of the Marketing Department, Darby Adaway.
Only four others on the Board were physically present in the room with Mr. McMillan, and of them, only three were inside directors. These were Chief Operating Officer (COO) Clay Dankworth, Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Nicholson Quarterson, and Accounting Department Head Elinor Stallsworth. The one outside director present was the president of Lake Point Mutual Bank, Roman Coakley.
Richard McMillan, age 52, was the CEO of McMillan Tech Industries. The company had grown big enough to have buildings in three towns: One in Pittsburgh, one in Omaha, and one in Lake Point. Richard preferred to spend most of his time at the Lake Point branch because he and his family lived in Lake Point, in one of the nicest houses in the area.
Through inherited wealth, and help from other financial backers, McMillan had founded McMillan Tech Industries by combining together a few small struggling tech firms. Though he had started the company, he left the actual technical work to people who had a better grasp on technological advances than he did. MTI helped maintain his wealth and status, but he was more of a business person than a tech person. He provided the financial backing, they imagined and designed the products, and he made more than enough to maintain his wealth off of it.
The COO of MTI, Clay Dankworth, age 43, was more up to date and in touch with the tech side than Richard was. Clay regularly spoke with the Head of Research and Development, Doug Sallow, though the two did not get along. Clay was bigger, more muscled, and taller than Sallow, and could certainly intimidate Sallow into not asking for more money than McMillan or Dankworth felt he was owed. Clay also was skilled at talking to people, and lulling them into a sense of security, and before they knew it, they were willing to compromise where they hadn't before.
Nicholson Quarterson, 57, was the Chief Financial Officer of MTI. A pudgy, balding man, he still was just as sharp at finance as he was the day he helped Mr. McMillan found MTI all those years ago. Perhaps it came with the name. With a name like that, he seemed destined to be good with monetary matters.
Elinor Stallsworth, 47, was head of Accounting. A tall brunette with glasses, she and Mr. Quarterson frequently consulted on how much money the company made, and how much they had to pay in taxes. She wasn't really much of a tech person, either.
The only outside director present at this meeting was Roman Coakley, 61, President of the Lake Point Mutual bank chain. His bank had several branches throughout Lake Point. As an outside director, it was his job to make sure that the inside directors did not indulge in shady dealings.
Today, however, the members of the Board weren't there to hold a meeting so much as to hide from the chaos happening all over the building. So naturally, said chaos dominated any topic of discussion.
"The fact is, it's everywhere, Mr. McMillan." Clay was saying. "It's going to take a lot of damage control to even attempt to cover this up."
"It WAS contained within this building for a while." Mr. Coakley said. "But then there was this ... explosion? in your basement. And now guns all over have been transformed into these ... whatever they are. These ray guns that change people."
"I'll admit this has saved lives." Mr. Coakley continued. "The police were able to stop a hostage situation at my bank's west branch without any injuries or fatalities. But people are scared, and they're worried. And when they find out that McMillan Tech Industries is the source of all these transformations and strange ray guns, things could get very ugly."
"We'd better talk with the legal department." Ms. Stallsworth said. "We're going to be facing some major lawsuits. It's only a matter of time."
"It's possible we could get Research and Development to pay the plaintiffs the larger share of the money." Nicholson suggested. "They appear to be the ones truly at fault."
"The thing is, we can't throw Research and Development under the bus." Clay Dankworth said. "But we can make some changes. I propose firing Doug Sallow, and anyone who might have had anything to do with the explosion, or these so-called Transformation Guns."
Mr. McMillan grumbled. "The problem is, we don't know what the hell is going on down there! Research and Development hasn't been heard from since before these things showed up all over the building, and no one's been down to the basement since before the explosion. How are we to know who's really responsible? We can't just fire the whole department and start it over from scratch!"
"Sir, two people from R&D have been sighted upstairs since." Elinor Stallsworth said. "Mycroft Brewer and Rachel McLewis."
"Fine! Call them and send them in. They've got a LOT of explaining to do!" Mr. McMillan said.
"Mycroft Brewer has left the building." Elinor said. "He left just as lockdown was beginning. Rachel McLewis was last seen in the company of Martin Stragey from Marketing. They appeared to be having some sort of argument."
"Furthermore," Elinor said. "Someone appears to have sealed off the main lab complex in the basement. The doors won't open without the proper passcode, and the elevators have been disabled somehow. Only people from R&D have the passcode, and it will take a while to override the system."
"I suppose the quickest thing to do is just to find Ms. McLewis and summon her here." Mr. McMillan said.
"Dr. McLewis, sir." Elinor corrected. "She's received her doctorate in a few sciences."
"Whatever." Mr. McMillan said. "Just find her and bring her here."
As it turned out, no one had to go very far. For at that moment, the north door to the board room opened, and beyond stood Martin Stragey. Behind him was a fearful and nervous-looking Rachel McLewis, who was backing away from the door.
Martin Stragey marched into the room, carrying the Random Gun. "I was supposed to be part of these meetings. The Department Head position should have been mine, but you gave it to that miserable little toady Adaway instead!"
"Mr. Stragey, this is highly improper! If you have any complaints, address them to me privately!" Mr. McMillan retorted, trying to sound brave. But he had heard about the Transformation Guns, and it was clear Stragey was considering using the one he had.
"Oh, it's too late for that!" Stragey said. "But with a little help from my new friend, I can change your minds."
With a dark smile, Stragey aimed the Random Gun at members of the Board.
