EPISODE 4: Out Of Wits

[OFFICE OF THE CHAIRMAN, DWC]

"Miss Leila, In all honesty, I am quite overturned with all the kerfuffle that has been happening around the office lately. But I am afraid that this meeting might just crush the spirits of our employees in an attempt to contain the chaos."

"Well, I won't deny that the state of emergency, we are about to launch will lead to some extent of disappointment and anguish within the company staff, Mr. Welsley. But this was inevitable. We cannot disappoint our Vice President by neglecting our duties, now can we?"

(knocking on the door)...

"It's Victor. All the employees have started settling in the meeting hall. we are ready to begin now, sir! Should I prepare some coffee for the attendants?"

"Thank you, Victor. It'll be great if you can send in some of your coffee. Alright, it's time for us to go, Madam."

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[CRITICAL MEETING OF DEPARTMENTS, DWC CONFERENCE HALL]

"Good morning to all esteemed members of staff and heads of all respective departments. I am Mr. N Welsley, Board Council Chairman, and shall take up the duty of addressing you all at this urgent meeting upon myself. It's 10th Aug today. 11 days now since the special team left for Wuhan and still, we have not heard any promising news from our VP. It's quite clear that Vloom isn't here to fool around anymore now that they have started targetting us directly."

A report is passed to every attendee at the meeting...

(pointing at the document) "This contains all the contracts of the Beijing branch that Mr. Raquel has managed to walk away with. I'd like to invite Mr. Juno, Head of the Human Resource Department to shed light on the matter furthermore with his presentation."

The projector starts displaying slides with all relevant information as Mr. Juno prepares himself to lead the meeting.

"Thank you Mr. Welsley for a crisp introduction! (looking towards the presentation). Vloom has begun acquiring our dealerships starting last Monday. If we look closely at the list of these contracts, we can easily observe a common pattern. All of them are among the old ones that were signed by our former President, Mr. Naiver, may he rest in peace. We suspect there could be 2 reasons behind this heinous act of Mr. Raquel. First, to trigger us by hurting our sentiments and the second is to stir our stability by creating commotion within all departments. It is quite obvious that he aims to instigate us. He is desperate for our response. I now request Miss Leila to come up and enlighten us with a piece of her mind."

Leila, visibly uncomfortable with the conclusion of Juno's presentation decides to take charge of delivering the most feasible orders to all the company members. Juno slightly smiles at her as he leaves for his seat in order to comfort her.

"It's a crucial time for us, everyone. An ordeal to test our unity and teamwork. Being in the position of a CEO, I am responsible for each one of you here. I cannot act rashly based on what deems fit for me. Following orders of the V.P, I hereby declare a 'Zero-Response' policy at the company."

*The crowd starts jeering in a state of shock and disapproval*

"Madam, it is our time to fight them. So, why must we stay silent like cowards? Besides, you are in charge of all our takeover operations. Why do you wait for V.P's presence to summon the TSF team?"

*All members in the audience start banging desks in agreement*

(mumbling to himself)..."Huh, Now you bastards turn against her.

(loudly) Silent! Have you all left your manners at home?

Let her at least complete first."

The uproars settle in an instant after one among the HODs loses his cool.

"Thank you, Mr. Olaf. Starting from where I left, I understand the intention behind your revolt but we are not in a position to take down Vloom at the moment. Even with their limited staff, their techniques of marketing are beyond our reach. We need more training till we are prepared. As for needing the V.P to make any decision, You all must reconsider his importance in this company. He has been managing this conglomeration for 20 years now. Starting as a secretary for my father and solidifying his position, he has proven his worth to everyone here. For me, he is more than a supervisor. He is my family. Go against him and you challenge me directly."

"Consider my sincere apologies, Madam. How are we supposed to deal with this 'zero-response' policy, then?"

"You all are required to maintain the status quo till the time of this emergency. Handle all departments just as you do normally and leave the contracts Vloom acquires, aside. Focus on building internal strategies by learning from the competitors themselves. And most importantly, stay dormant to their provocation! Ms. Tracy will provide you with resources to improve the skills of staff members working in your departments. You can report to Olaf as soon as you come across any contract that has been revoked. The TSF team will not be summoned till Mr. Seiya returns and that's an order.

*meeting is dismissed*

The hall is only occupied by workers who are clearing up files from the tables, Victor who has returned to collect his coffee kettle, and Leila. Before leaving, he offers to bring her anything that she might need at the company but she declines him humbly. Now left alone in complete solitude, she makes a private phone call.

"Hey, I saw your message. Is everything, okay?"

"No Leila. We have yet another problem."