The Devil in the Details - Prt 05

Zone 21

The Body Shop

Day 03 - 0000L

The total count of the new employee's came to just under 300 with more to follow it seemed. These in turn agood number of which where married with one or more children so there was also an additional 400 to 500 more bodies to be addressed.

While the hospital complex itself took up the upper three levels there was room to spare in the lower two as the elder gentlemen named Clarke explained. Those two levels had been designed to not only serve as additional space for the hospital complex but also as residential space containing some 400+ single residential units that while cramped were a marked improvement over where the the majority of her newly aquired employees had been living until coming here.

Clarke was also nice enough to promise that at least on of the direct access cargo lifts would be restored to a working state before tomorrow evening as well as the hospital complex lifts as well given a bit more time.

The issue of pay came up next and this as it happened had already been addressed as well. As Mrs Wallace explained.

Most of her new employee's as it happened did not have the funds nor the means to move themselves or their families so the Body Shop itself had covered the costs via a line of credit vs. the new employee's future pay.

Given that it might take months for the majority of employee's to pay off the debt. A credit system had also been extend to address the employee's food and cost of living expenses as well.

The Mom & Pop stores Nagoya had seen earlier where in fact owned and supplied by the Body Shop itself and thus employee credit was used to address purchases made there.

...

The meeting ran until almost midnight with everyone there seemingly happy with progress they had made all in agreement that another meeting of department heads would be take place in two days time.

Mentally exhausted Nagoya from the whole encounter she nodded her approval and thanked them all for their hard work before allowing Edger to guide her from the conference room to their next destination.

"How much ?" she finally inquired as they were walking down the corridor that lead she was told to her new office.

"Honestly, Not as much as you might think." Edger frowned as they walked. " This little operation has not even burned through a tenth of the credit the boss extended you to get this place up and running."

" How is that even possible ? " She pressed.

Edger sighed. " Because Luv, In your bid to live a life apart in your very own little Ivory tower. You never took stock of what was left behind by the former tenants. Honestly, best we can figure is that the original hospital appears to have been abandon before they had even had a chance to get the place up and running. Everything we needed to get things started was already here on site and most of it still in its original packaging waiting to be put to use."

He sighed than glancing in her direction as he spoke. " Before I had even pitched this idea to the boss. I had already ran the numbers a couple dozen times in my head and figured that the cost of equipment and materials as well as the cost to have it all hauled up here would eat half the budget... It didn't even touch it in this case."

He continued than after pausing briefly. " After that I had figured that another sizable chunk of the budget would be go into locating and hiring the bodies we needed to do the work at the Body Shop but the Boss being the wizard that she is already had the answer for that little problem at her finger tips."

" The Corporate blacklists." Nagoya answered.

" Exactly... " Edger nearly sounded loud enough to suprise her. "Can you Frakk'n believe it. Most of these sods were already on their last legs begging the Boss for work legal or illegal ... Jobs of any kind just so they could feed themselves and their families. The Boss just pointed them in our direction and within an hour we already had your department heads onsite taking charge with more bodies arriving by the Frakk'n bus load every hour after that."

Nagoya nodded. " Don't you think the Corporations might be just a little pissed at me for hiring people they effectively flushed down the toilet? "

Edger could help but laugh. " Luv, a little pissed would not even begin to describe how pissed the Corps are at you right now. In fact Tyler telling me that the multiple bounties on your head now the total payout sitting at five times what the Boss loaned you to get this shit hole up and running."

Nagoya frowned. " Oh great, Just what I needed ... More people who want my ass dead."

Edger it seemed couldn't help himself it seemed as he continued to laughing to himself.

" So whats to stop your Boss from just killing my ass and collecting the money ? " Nagoya hissed.

" Easy answer Luv. In the end it comes down to just three things ... The first is money. The Boss is convinced that she is gonna make a more off this little venture than some corporate payout for your head no matter how sizable it might be."

"Second, because she hates the Corporations more than you do Luv and enjoys the idea of pissing them off whenever and where ever she can."

" And third? " She inquired.

"She likes you, but you already knew that... And then there is Four..." He began.

"I thought there was just three reasons ... " She sounded annoyed.

" Four actually ..." Edger smirked at her. " You see we have this little bet going in the PITS on how long you'll manage to survive all this and as it happens the longer you live the more money the Boss is gonna make and while honestly its not alot in and of itself. Its the game that amuses the Boss the most not the payout."

" I'm gonna kill you Edger..." Nagoya stated matter of fact thinking seriously about shooting the jackass in the head there and than.

"Funny thing you mentioning that because they're also a side bet on just how long it will be until you actually do kill my ass..."

"Frakk me ..." She cursed rolling her eyes as she pushed past him heading for the Office doors just ahead shouting at the ceiling. " You are dead Edger, you are so frakk'n dead... "

Edger nodded. " We all are Luv, all soon enough ... "