Administrator Minerva Chambers

The office is quiet around this time of day, most of the interns have gone home, the complainers and squeaky wheels, they’ve all clocked out, all that’s left in the office are the real workers, those that have ambition, have something to prove, people like Minerva Chambers.

“Minnie..? Mr Mendez wishes to see you in your office” Fucking Sadie, she knows good and well that it’s Minerva, that’s the name on the paperwork, the name on the desk, and it’s gonna be the name on the corner office door once she gets that promoted to HR manager.

Philips finally died of heart disease or some such but more importantly he gave up his office and with no clear successor that means anyone could get that cushy office, anyone with the determination and dedication to the company could get that promotion.

Minerva is already a shoe in for the job, she’s already a superstar in the HR department which has saved the company thousands of dollars in employee turnover and lawsuits. She’s never missed a day of work in the 8 years of work she’s given the company.

Adam Mendez, Minerva’s boss holds in his hands the keys to the kingdom, if she can impress him then it will skyrocket her career, what would have been 20 years becomes 8 and from there she could rise even higher.

Minerva approaches the office, heels clicking against the tiled floors, her arms held behind her back as she approaches Mendez’s door, with a few polite knocks she’s welcomed in.

The office of Adam Mendez looks better than most apartments, divided into two half’s by a long fish tank that holds fish the kind Minerva has never seen anywhere else. The furniture is luxurious, REAL LEATHER and a dark mahogany desk! The height of luxury!

The man himself is not behind the desk at present, right now he paces back and forth across the room, phone held to his ear, other hand cradling the receiver like a baby as the cord trails along behind him as he talks.

Adam Mendez isn’t a handsome man, balding, overweight and with awful fashion sense and yet somehow he’s managed to seduce not only his wife but his receptionist as well, on both accounts likely thanks to the same tool; money.

Working in HR, Minerva has heard the stories, sexual harassment, overloading work on individuals that don’t play ball. He's a snake in a suit, unfortunately that’s not a point of distinction amongst the middle management of the corporate world.

“Of course… yes sir… I’ll have my best people on this… of course…” he’s absorbed in his conversation as he walks bidding Minerva to wait until he’s finished.

“Understood, you’ll have my report as soon as it’s done…” and with that he presses the phone to the receiver, ending the call before he sets the set back on the desk.

“Minerva, please take a seat…” He says, his voice not holding the present tone with which he spoke to his superiors as he sets down in his chair, prompting Minerva to take a seat as well in one of those luxurious chairs.

“I was just on the phone with my superiors… as it turns out, Calvin in IT has been selling information to Seegson on the side…” he was laid off weeks ago, he could be anywhere by now, even Weyland-Yutani has its limits.

“Listen… it’s my ass if I don’t give them someone… they gotta punish SOMEBODY… but look… I can protect you a little… they already know that he worked alone…” He says leaning forward in his chair.

“If I can tell them that he told you what he was doing in confidence and tried to talk him out of it without reporting him, we can both win..!”

“You have a good record, they won’t can you, but… chances are good you’re gonna get transferred… we can’t avoid that…” he says, his words tinged with feigned emotion.

“Why… on earth… would I agree to be thrown under the bus..?” Minerva is having trouble comprehending this, she has no great love for Mendez, if he gets shitcanned cause he hired the wrong guy then so what? Maybe she could skip Philips corner office and get the big chair instead.

“For 2 reasons… firstly I can make your life here hell in the meantime before I get shown the door, and I assure you, you will not have much of a future in this company…. “ he says, his tone leaving no room for doubt in his threats credibility.

“Secondly, if you DO agree I could talk myself into being the one who decides what to do with you, after all who knows what you’re capable of better than your former supervisor..?” He says, his lips raising in a small grin as though preparing to deliver a punchline.

“I could set you up with a REAL management position… wouldn’t be a nice one… wouldn’t be in the core systems… but I know FOR A FACT that there’s always frontier colonies that need real management… who knows? If you do a good job, maybe you’ll go farther then be an administrator for a colony, maybe you’ll control a planet? Maybe you’ll control a system? Skies the limit out there..!”

It’s not much of a choice, either buy into his bullshit or get run out of the company, 8 years of blood sweat and tears washed away by one vindictive middle manager.

“Can I take some time to think about this..?” Asks Minerva, maybe if she can track down Calvin herself maybe she can side step this whole scenario, maybe she could secure that cozy corner office after all?

“I’m sorry… but that won’t be possible… I’ve got til the end of the week to find him, and you know as well as I, that isn’t gonna happen… but it IS enough time to for me to ‘discover’ your incidental involvement.” He says trying to drive the sale home.

This is it, no way out, Minerva’s back is against the wall, the bag is over her head, there’s no avoiding the firing squad now… but at least with Mendez pulling the trigger he might miss. “Shit.. alright… yeah… ok, I’m in… I’ll be your scapegoat…”

“That’s good… your making the right choice Minerva, you’ll see that once you settle down in your new posting, look, take the day off, get your affairs in order, pack your bags, I’ll cover for you until the time comes!” He says, rising from his seat, placing a hand on Minerva’s shoulder.

Minerva can say nothing, honestly she’s a little bit in shock, a mental stasis that plagues her well after she arrives back at her apartment to begin packing her things.

The only thing that’s clear is that going forward Minerva’s life will never be the same after this week comes to a close.