The factory (OP line)

As the taxi pulls over you once again admire the decision to hold the meeting in the offices above the production unit itself. Your job did not involve direct knowledge of manufacturing but you nonetheless felt the setting added a degree of sincerity and goodwill. The car pulling into the parking lot in front of your taxi is familiar and a moment later you realise it is that of your boss. Sure enough, as you are paying the driver, Mr Turnbull (even though he insist to go by "Chris") and Diana exit it and head to the building. Moments later you hail after them and they stop to wait for you to join.

The factory and the offices have a common reception where a young woman with a beaming smile takes Mr Turnbull's name and company and immediately makes a call to the manager you are meeting and then summons a colleague to replace her while she is taking the three of you to the meeting room. In those brief moments you feast your eyes on what is definitely the largest collection of spanking items you have seen in one place. Your future partners are proud of their centuries-long history and their goods both... and rightly so. The walls are covered with implements with each type having a section dedicated to it. Paddles range from cumbersome wooden affairs to lethal-looking things of clear plastic. The oldest canes look like they will start to fossilise soon but the newest are gleaming and make your cheeks clench by their sight alone. The first spanking machines (these have a section of the floor roped off for their presentation) are massive pedal-operated contraptions with worn leather straps attached and you can see their slow evolution towards devices rather resembling the AutoSpankers you have encountered before. Their own brand of Discipline-Bots is less-known but you are hopefully about to change that.

The last object on display is a bit different; it is a mannequin of a man sitting on a chair with a "NEW AND EXCITING" sign pinned across its chest. Arms somewhat unnaturally stay down a small distance away from his sides and the fingers a partially curled. New and exciting indeed, this must be the humanoid-shape spanking bot your future partners have mentioned at the very last stage of negotiations in strictest confidence. You want to come closer and explore, but your sightseeing is cut short by the receptionist who has finished the arrangements and now walks around from behind the desk to take you to the meeting room. You are quite sure your companions are giving her shape the same look from behind as you are as she leads on but unfortunately her impeccable business attire is not missing any vital parts. Still, you are quite certain that kind of fun is coming very soon.

In contrast to the reception area (and doubtlessly the factory itself even though you are yet to see it), the office part of the building looks very mundane but you reach the meeting room quickly enough. The young woman opens the door for the three of you and steps aside with a polite goodbye. Your hosts are also numbering three and also a male and two females. Only one of the latter is of a spanking age, though. She introduces herself as Lydia Maitland, product designer, after her colleagues' introductions (George Pryce, head engineer and Beatrice Wright, sales director) are complete. After everyone is seated, Ms Wright proposes that Diana should start with a recap of her market research results and then the meeting will proceed to confirming strategies and signing the agreements. Diana, looking more incredible than ever (and you have seen her in most situations and from many angles), proceeds to connect her device to presentation hardware and moments later the first slide with graphs and numbers of many appears. She elaborates on a few techniques less commonly used but found useful by her but keeps a brisk pace other than that. Overall her results are cautiously optimistic, as you knew they would be.

It is your turn next and you hook up your own presentation. You spend the next twenty minutes or so talking about how you intend to promote the new line and pay special attention to elaborating on how you will overcome obstacles identified by Diana earlier. While you feel calm and collected, you notice with surprise you have drained the entire bottle of water placed in front of you in the few pauses you made to allow the audience to make notes and exchange quick remarks. You must be somewhat nervous after all. Finally you approach your part's end... or almost do, as there is still something to add, not planned or scripted. Maybe that was the most scary factor, not preparing to secure the deal of your career.

“There is something I would like to add to the strategy outline” you begin. “This did not make it into the main part of the presentation, because for reasons we entirely understand and agree with, we only learnt about the humanoid bot at the last moment and I can only offer preliminary suggestions at this point. If I may, however, I first would like to propose that before we actively begin our work, we should see the other products in action. Also... we have a unique opportunity today so I would like to volunteer for the testing. We can combine a demonstration of product use with a demonstration of commitment to workplace discipline.”

You stop, trying to read the faces of your small audience.