Between the Lanterns(40)
Joshua smiled and pointed to a little sign on the checkout counter, which read:
Bayuss Tech is proudly sponsored by Montek
August couldn’t believe what he was seeing. “Are you tellin’ me that this ain’t really a local small business? It’s just an arm of Montek?”
Joshua Stevens folded his arms over his chest, looked down his nose at August, and said, “Maybe that talk at the home office about how smart you are isn’t all made up. Yes, we have thousands of small businesses around the world. With everyone’s new fascination with trendy, retro tech, Montek couldn’t pass up an opportunity to control that market, too.”
Samantha reached her boiling point, and said, “Y’all have got to be fucking kidding me. You control the whole damn planet, own every damn thing there is to own… even the government of the United States of Earth. Couldn’t you let my husband have this one thing? What the hell is wrong with y’all?”
“Mrs. Lurie, I’m sure you’re too simple to understand this,” Joshua said, “but we believe your husband invented and created all of this tech while he was an employee with Montek.Automaton. Since I’m now the best they have, they gave me the job of figuring out how all of it works and making versions for Montek... and their many small businesses all over the globe to sell. What you see here is just the beginning.”
August was well past angry. Hope was pouring out of his body, and being quickly replaced with the desire just to give up. He couldn’t compete with Montek, and would never be able to. They were too big and too powerful.
“Why here, Mr. Stevens?” August asked. “Jamaica City is not exactly known for having a big tech scene.”
Joshua walked around and straightened an end cap display, much like he had seen Woodrow do at Sweets, Inc., and replied, “It’s close enough yet far enough away. I can drop into your shop and be back here in no time. But management also figured you would never come here. They were apparently wrong about that. We were hoping you’d never see this shop or any like it. We don’t want you to be unhappy. Montek would never have opened a store in your little town. Think about it:; why should we pay you for what we can just take?”
Samantha started to lead her husband towards the front door. She decided it was time to go, to; get the hell out of this shop and Jamaica City.
“Sweets, it’s been terrible to meet you. Drop dead, you hear?” she said, opening the front door to Bayuss Tech.
Joshua Stevens, Lead Developer of New Tech for Montek, wasn’t quite done with them just yet.
“I do apologize for all of this, Mr. Lurie,” he said coldly. “It is just business. But before you go, I have a proposition for you. You see, the thing my bosses want more than,” he gestured around at August’s ideas that he had stolen, “all of this inane tech here, is your automaton. Montek wants it. We need it, and we’ll pay anything for it.”
August stopped moving towards the exit and turned slowly to face this thieving bastard.
“I told you before, Mr. Stevens,” he said to Joshua in a dark tone. “Woodrow is like a part of our family. Sam and I made him together. It was… a difficult time in our lives. Buildin’ that automaton helped us heal. It made us whole again. So there is no way in hell that I would ever sell him,” August said, then raised his voice and yelled, “Much less to fuckin’ Montek with their dirty, disgustin’ hearts!”
Samantha, in a very unladylike moment, gave Joshua Stevens the finger.
“I understand,” Mr. Stevens said, “but we’ll be in contact after you’ve had time to think about it. We’re willing to offer you enough Credit so that you never have to work again. You two could travel the entire world for the rest of your lives, staying at the most luxurious resorts. You would live the life of the truly wealthy. All you have to do is sell us Woodrow.”
August and Samantha left Bayuss Tech without a word. They packed their suitcases and left Jamaica City a few days early.
Chapter 17
NOT A CHANCE
“Patient Lurie, Dr. Granger will see you now.”
The same two awful nurses were on duty at the front desk. As soon as they said to go in, the two idiots began laughing and placing bets on something inaudible.
The clinic still looked the same; it had only been a month since the last visit, but it felt less ominous and dark this time. Patient Lurie was happy. Today was a follow-up exam to determine if the prescriptions Dr. Granger had prescribed were completely successful.
While sitting in the exam room waiting for the doctor, there wasn’t much to do. Some magazines lay on a side table, so Patient Lurie picked one up and thumbed through it. In the middle of the periodical, there was an advertisement for Montek.Home’s newest product – Love.Lanterns.
FILL YOUR HOME WITH THE LIGHT OF LOVE. MONTEK.HOME INTRODUCES THE LOVE.LANTERNS; THE PERFECT ADDITION TO ANY HOME. LET OUR LIGHTS GUIDE YOUR LOVE.
Patient Lurie threw the magazine into the trash bin while muttering profanities, just as Dr. Granger strode confidently into the room and sat down on a little stool.
“I see here that you’re no longer experiencing headaches, trouble with your bowels, or panic attacks,” he said in his typical monotone. “That’s promising. Today, we’d like to do some more blood work and scans, just to verify that everything is fine. Would you like to add anything before we start? Any new symptoms or changes to tell me about?”