"...and in international news, hopes for peace were shattered today as the Kalishnikov Cell launched insurrections across three regions in the South-East sector. Taking advantage of the ongoing Titan Mechanics Schism, the rebels scored massive victories over the course of hours as several-"
"Hold it!"
The holographic news image froze, the photons sizzling in the artificial sunset projected from the windows. Getting up from her chair with a grunt, a heavyset figure strode up to the image on the news, her rotund figure silhouetted against a band of rebels storming into a city. She placed her hand on the image and zoomed in on the man leading the charge, holding his gun aloft in triumph.
"The biggest insurrection since the Robot Wars," the woman mused to herself. "And their guns have my name on it." Chuckling, she stepped away from the image into the light, her long white hair shimmering in the artificial sunlight, contrasting against her darker skin and the dark midnight blue of her suit, tightly stretched across her heavy figure. "In the twenty four hours since this news report aired," Estelle Morraine announced to the room, "We've received no less then twelve new orders, six expansions on existing contracts, and Titan Mechanics has offered us a lucrative deal to renew our development of heavy weapons."
She paused as a cyborg servant stepped forward with a tray containing a single champagne glass and an expensive bubbly. "And that of course is on top of what Kalishnivok has paid, and promised, for our assistance," she continued, taking the glass and letting the servant fill it. "After ten years, Morraine Inc is finally on the map, ladies and gentlemen."
She raised the glass to the suits gathered in the room with her. "We've won."
The men and women cheered, downing their own champagne glasses as Morraine watched them all with nothing but sheer contempt behind her honeyed smile. 'We've' won, she thought dismissively, taking another drink. Horseshit. This was HER victory, not theirs. She put in the work, she built this damn company, all they did was smile and nod their heads, pretending that they were something more then political appointees, wastrel children of wealthy elites kept around in those early days when she needed their backing.
"Three cheers for Morraine!" one executive slurred, already three glasses into the revelry. Basking in their empty praise, she only kept smiling by thinking about the satisfaction she would get from throwing them out on their skinny little asses. Parasites, each and every one of them, pretending they had a damn thing to do with HER success. Seething, she led one more cheer, then turned to leave into her office, her smile dropping faster then the glass as she tossed it aside, letting out a growl as she raised her hands and clenched them around imaginary necks.
"That's quite a spike in blood pressure," the artificial voice echoed off the walls as a figure flickered into being near her desk, forming into a short anthropomorphic rabbit woman made of purple polygons. "I hope you controlled your killing instinct, Ms. Morraine."
"I HATE them..." she muttered through gritted teeth. "I hate them SO much, L." She heard the door opening behind her and heavy footsteps as her shadow stomped into the office; a seven foot tall behemoth of a woman, brimming with muscles and sporting a mop of black hair that perpetually hid her eyes as she picked at her teeth with a bayonet. She didn't even flinch as her longtime friend and boss turned around and screamed into her leather-clad torso like a pillow, only her black-colored lips parting in a mildly annoyed sigh.
"Thank you for that Polina," Morraine said after a few seconds of this, taking a deep breath and straightening her tie. "It's okay...they'll be gone soon, back to whatever those twiggy little fucks do in their spare time..."
"Well if it will calm you down, I've gone ahead and placed your lunch order for you," the hologram said, materializing closer to the door. "Of course my program is obliged to inform you that your weight has reached a high point of approximately three hundred and thirty one-"
"Damn right it has," Morraine said, striding to her desk overlooking the bay, plopping down in her comfortably large chair. "And why? Because unlike those little toothpicks, I actually WORK for my company."
L shared a look with Polina, who merely shrugged and took her usual spot in the chair next to her, pulling out her phone to scroll. "Forgive me for asking, but-"
"Ho boy, it's some kinda party out there!"
The three turned as the pink-haired delivery girl barged in to the office, holding two heavy sacks and chewing a massive wad of gum. "Anyway, they said you were in here!" She set down her bags and pulled out her own trackpad, tugging her shirt down over her chubby stomach. "Yup, a family spread here for a Ms.-"
"See, this is what I mean!"
The girl jumped at the sudden outburst from Morraine as the heavyset woman rushed over and placed a meaty arm around her shoulders. "This girl, as lowly and modest as she is, has done more work today then a single one of those leeches out there have done in their whole lives!"
"...lady I'm gonna start getting offended real quick."
"And do you know why? Look!" The girl yelped as Morraine patted her firmly on her chubby belly. "Look at all of this! She doesn't embrace empty so-called cultural norms, she works hard to get what she wants, damn the consequences! She doesn't hide from it in shame, she displays it proudly!"
She let go of the delivery girl after pressing an expensive credit chip into her hand for a tip and watched her scurry away in a panic as an idea dawned on her. "That is the ethos that built this company! And damn it all, it's the ethos that's going to keep this company on top! And not just from me either."
Taking the bag, she tossed it into Polina's lap and extracted a fatty grease-covered cheeseburger.
"Ladies," she declared, scarfing down the burger. "It's time we had a little change in our company culture..."
And the only question now was how it was to be done.
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