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.” He smiled back, but there was an edge on it.“And if we did have an ending, that’s also information I wouldn’t be eager to hand to Time as an exclusive when with one phone call I could schedule a press conference that would have every major news outlet on Earth camped out on my front lawn within four hours.But if you’ll turn around for a second—”She did.He looked back across that level of the main office suite with her, then up and down the atrium.“How many people would you say work in here?”Delia shook her head.“I read the numbers earlier, but I confess I don’t remember at the moment.Five.maybe six hundred?”“Six hundred eighteen, this week,” Dev said.“It’s close enough to ten percent of the workforce on campus here.They, and the forty thousand-odd other people I employ around the world, and their families, and their health plans, and their mortgages, would probably be somewhat upset if Omnitopia stopped making money.Don’t you think?”“I didn’t mean—”“I’m sure you didn’t,” Dev said.“It may surprise you to know that I sign off on every hire.Sooner or later—sometimes later, because as you see my schedule gets crazed without warning—I meet everybody who works for me.If for me there’s a game that never ends, and that I intend to win at all costs, it’s the game of keeping this company successful enough that my people have work for as long as they want it.Because there’ve been times when I didn’t have any, and let me tell you, when you don’t have work and you want it, you don’t feel much like playing any game at all.All our other players are contributing to a context in which we can all feel like playing.And I’m committed to making sure the players do at least as well out of the situation as my employees.Believe me, they’ll have nothing to complain about as the new game unfolds.And that’s only partly because I have my own ethics skew, which I dislike seeing impugned.”After a moment Delia nodded.“Sorry,” she said.“What time do you want to do this walkthrough?”Dev rubbed his eyes for a moment, thinking.Just for that second, something showed through that Delia hadn’t yet seen in him: weariness.But a flash later it was gone.“Could we say tomorrow about two? You can go on with doing your background research for the rest of the day, seeing the people you need to see.I have your cell phone number.I’ll text you tomorrow morning to confirm the timing, and then send somebody a little before two to find you and pick you up in a flivver.That be okay?”“Fine.Thanks, Mr.Logan.”He turned away, then paused, cocked an eyebrow at her.“Even if I half suspect you’re preparing to do a hatchet job on me,” he said, “you can call me Dev.”Delia nodded, smiled.“That’s something else I keep meaning to ask you about,” she said.“The name.Short for.?”“Dev,” he said.“That’s what the driver’s license says,” she said.“But the birth certificate?”“You planning to apply for a passport in my name?” Dev said, and grinned.She shrugged, gave him a little wave, and walked down the stairs, heading for the doors to the courtyard.Dev watched her go, then turned back to make his way again toward his local desk.Around him, this level’s soft buzz was just a little louder than usual.It would be much louder this time tomorrow, Dev was sure.And the day after tomorrow.But right now, the future thirty-six hours hence seemed like an eternity away.Got plenty of trouble to deal with first.At the desk he paused just for a moment to flip the Time magazine folder cover open and looked once more at the dummy cover.It was a restatement of the cover he’d done for Rolling Stone a couple of years back, in late ’13—which itself could be considered a comment.That cover had been a full-length portrait of a tall, lean, sandy-haired, open-collared, jeans-wearing kind of guy leaning against a white support that faded into a white background: a cover more about the person than the supposed phenomenon.The Dev in that picture looked like a guy you could imagine mowing his own lawn, or maybe even yours.The pose in the picture on this Time dummy cover was similar, but it was a head-to-waist shot, the clothes a little more formal—a business shirt with the collar unbuttoned rather than the polo shirt of the older photo shoot.The expression was more intense—the formerly-trademark glasses were missing, dumped since Dev had finally let Mirabel talk him into the laser surgery (and since Dev had finished scrutinizing to his own satisfaction the results of the long-term effects in the medical journals).The Omnitopia logo loomed large in the background, superimposed over a faded image of the Omnitopia City campus.The message seemed to be: here’s a guy who’s become a force to be reckoned with.Or it could also be: here’s a guy who’s sold out to the big buck and is in the process of forgetting his roots.Now, as Dev looked at the new Time dummy, he grimaced to himself, remembering how slickly the high-powered photographer they’d brought in for the shoot—admittedly one of the great names—had maneuvered him out of all the available polos and into the shirt.And I let him.Well, we still have approval on this cover.I can always pitch some kind of fit or find some kind of fault, and insist that I want another shoot.But then they’ll just find some kind of way to imply that I’m a publicity-crazed, hypercontrolling prima donna.Dev flipped the folder shut and looked around.As he did he saw tall gangly Frank come out of his own nearby satellite office and head toward him.Dev went to meet him.“Did Tau find you just now?”“He sure did.Looks like the big trouble’s starting.”“So I gather.He wants us to deal with our substructure business before we go help the boys stomp on the naughtiness in progress.”“A little happy-violence time, huh, Boss?”“I’d be happier if we didn’t need the violence,” Dev said, “but I need to be part of the action, because damn it, nobody screws with my worlds without me personally taking a big old kick at their butts.” He scowled.“Anyway, I’ve rescheduled Miss Harrington for two o’clock tomorrow: let’s make sure that happens this time, okay? Last thing we want is for Time to think we’re yanking their chain.Besides it just being rude to keep shuffling her around.”Frank nodded.“Got some notes from Cleolinda for you on the meeting this morning,” he said.“She’s greased lightning, that one,” Dev said.“I’ll call her after Tau and I finish up.Anything else?”“Only things that can wait until after Tau,” Frank said.He looked down at the little tablet computer he carried with him everywhere.“The PR people say they need to talk to you.Something about the timings on the European rollout.”Dev groaned and clutched his head [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]