Chapter 2 - The Architecture of a Coup
The boardroom on the 40th floor was a masterpiece of cold, clinical architecture—all polished chrome, tinted glass, and faces that had been bought and paid for long ago.
When Claire rolled into the room, she didn't wait for the greeting. She took her place at the head of the long mahogany table, her custom chair locking into the built-in recess with a distinct, metallic click.
"You're late, Claire," said Richard Sterling, the senior board member whose family had funded the initial seed rounds of Northstar Robotics. He sat with his hands folded over a thick, blue folder, his expression dripping with a calculated, corporate sort of concern.
"I was having lunch, Richard," Claire said, her voice dropping into the low, resonant register that had terrified lesser executives for a decade. "I understand you've called an emergency session without my authorization. I assume you have a multi-billion-dollar explanation."
Richard sighed, a performative gesture directed at the other seven board members. "We have an efficiency problem, Claire. Over the last two quarters, our commercial drone division has dropped twelve percent in production speed. The institutional investors are nervous. They believe the current leadership is too focused on... long-term research rather than immediate market capitalization."
"By long-term research, you mean our pediatric mobility project," Claire countered, her gaze locking onto him. "The prosthetic limbs we're developing for children who can't afford standard medical markups."
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"We are a robotics corporation, not a charity, Claire," another board member, Evelyn Vance, chimed in. "The market demands growth. Richard has proposed an executive restructuring. A co-CEO model to handle the daily operational stress. Someone who can travel internationally without... logistical constraints."
The phrase logistical constraints hung in the air like a foul odor. They were using her legs as a corporate liability.
