Chapter 226

A young woman in a Tengri T-shirt was waiting for them. “Mr. Collins. Ladies. My name is Zoe. I’ll be your guide today.”

“Hello, Zoe,” Louis said. “We’d like you to show us to the work station of one of your former colleagues. Alistair Finch.”

Zoe’s smile faltered for a second. “I don’t think that’s possible, Mr. Collins. His workstation has been secured for the investigation.”

“Secured by whom? Your security team, or the Dominion Guard?” Louis asked.

“The Dominion Guard, sir,” Zoe said, her hands fidgeting.

Louis waved a hand dismissively. “Then there’s no problem. They work for me, you know. Let’s go.”

“I’m afraid I can’t, Mr. Collins. I don’t have the clearance,” Zoe said, her face pale.

“Call Mr. Cruise and ask him. He’ll authorize it.” Louis said, leaning against the wall.

Zoe took out her phone and called Claude. Gladice looked at Louis. “Pushy, aren’t you?”

“Just making sure, Gladie. I want to see what he left behind,” Louis said. “Maybe a clue.”

Zoe came back. “Mr. Cruise said it’s okay, Mr. Collins. Please follow me.”

She led them back to the electric shuttle. Cherish looked around. “Are we going to take a shuttle for a short walk?”

“The campus is huge, Cherry,” Angelique explained. “It may take an hour to walk from one end to another.”

The shuttle drove to a building labeled ‘Security’. A Dominion Guard officer was standing at the entrance. He saluted. “Mr. Collins.”

“At ease,” Louis said. “We’re here to see Finch’s workstation.”

“Right this way, sir,” the officer said. He led them into the building. They passed several labs with people working on computers. “Here we are. This is Mr. Finch’s office.”

The officer opened a door. They walked into a spacious office with an empty large desk. A window overlooked the gardens.

“It’s clean,” Willa said, looking around. “Dominion Guard must have taken everything.”

“We have, ma’am,” the officer said. “But feel free to look around. I will be outside if you need me.”

“Thank you,” Louis said. The officer left the room.

Cherish walked to the empty desk and put her hands on it. “So, Alistair Finch worked here. He had a gambling problem. And he betrayed his company.”

“People do bad things when they are desperate,” Donya said, her voice soft.

“He didn’t have to do it. He could have asked for help.”

“It’s too late for him now, Cherry,” Angelique said. “He’s going to Santa Catalina. For a long, long time.”

Maeve opened the drawers and rummaged through them. “Empty. Not even a pen. They were thorough.”

Gladice scoffed. “What did you expect, Mae-Mae? A note with the Bishop’s address pinned to the board?”

“It would have been nice,” Maeve said, closing the last drawer.

Savannah looked at the window. “It’s a nice view. He had a good life. Yet he threw it away.”

“He made a choice, Savvy,” Louis said, checking the shelves. There were a few books about self-optimization and productivity. He flipped through them. Nothing.

Willa sighed. “This is a dead end, Louis. Let’s go.”

“Just one more thing,” Louis said, kneeling down to check under the desk. He ran his fingers along the underside of the wooden surface. Still nothing.

“Do you think there’s a secret compartment, Louis?” Angelique asked, raising her eyebrows.

“I’m just being thorough, Angi,” Louis said, standing up. “Alright. Let’s go.”

“Maybe we should ask his colleagues about him,” Donya said.

“The Dominion Guard is already doing that, Donya,” Willa said. “And they are more experienced in this kind of interrogation.”

“I know,” Donya said. “But if we are friendly, maybe they will be more open with us.”

“I doubt they will talk to us,” Savannah said. “They are probably scared of losing their jobs or getting into trouble.”

“Let’s give it a try,” Louis said. “Zoe, is there a lounge or a cafeteria nearby where we can find some of Finch’s colleagues?”

“Yes, Mr. Collins. There is a nice one on the third floor of this building with a great view of the park,” Zoe said.

“Lead the way,” Louis said.

They took the elevator to the third floor. The cafeteria was bright and spacious. Several dozen employees were sitting at tables or standing by the window. They all looked at them as they entered.

“Now this is awkward,” Gladice whispered.

“It is,” Angelique agreed. “We are celebrities here.”

“Celebrities? More like invaders,” Maeve said, looking at the employees.

Louis walked to a table where a group of engineers were having a coffee break. “Hi. Do you mind if we join you?”

The engineers exchanged nervous glances. One of them, a young Asian man, forced a smile. “Not at all, Mr. Collins. Please, have a seat.”

Louis sat down. The women followed. “I’m Louis. And these are my family. Can you tell me your names?”

“I’m Ken,” the young Asian man said, gesturing to his colleagues. “And this is Raj, Brian, and Lisa.”

“Nice to meet you all,” Louis said. “We are here to have a tour of the campus. We heard you are all working on very interesting things.”

“Yes, we are,” Raj said. “We work on the core infrastructure of Tengri. It’s a challenging but rewarding job.”

“I’m sure it is,” Louis said. “How much do you earn a year?”

Ken blinked. “Sir?”

“I want to know my citizens’ salary.” Louis said. “It’s a survey. A personal interest.”

Ken hesitated. “I’m not sure if I’m allowed to talk about it. It’s against the company policy.”

“I’m sure your company’s policy is flexible for me,” Louis said, smiling. “Don’t worry. I won’t tell your boss or your colleagues.”

The engineers looked at each other again. Brian sighed. “It’s around five hundred thousand dollars with stocks and bonuses. And there are other benefits like free meals and health insurance.”

“Five hundred thousand dollars? I only have four hundred thousand,” Raj said, looking surprised. “Aren’t we supposed to have the same salary? We have the same level.”

“I joined six months before you,” Brian said. “It makes a difference.”

“It’s not fair.” Raj frowned.

Louis looked at them, then at Willa. “See, Willa? Not all engineers are equally paid.”

Willa sighed. “It’s a common practice in the tech industry, Louis. They want to use salary as a negotiation tool.”

“It’s a stupid practice,” Louis said, looking at the engineers. “You should have the same salary for the same work.”

“It’s not up to us, Mr. Collins,” Ken said.

“It is, I’m going to have a word with Mr. Cruise about this,” Louis said, looking at Ken. “How much do you make?”

Ken swallowed. “I’m a senior engineer. I make one point two million.”

“Damn. I should have taken that job offer from Athena last year,” Raj muttered.

Louis shook his head. “And you, Lisa? How much do you make?”

“I’m a UX designer. I make three hundred and fifty thousand dollars,” Lisa said. “It’s lower than the engineers. But I have a better work-life balance.”

Louis looked at Willa. “UX designer? What is that?”

“User experience designer, Louis. They are responsible for making sure the platform is easy and pleasant to use,” Willa explained. “A very important job.”

“It is,” Louis said, looking at Lisa. “So you are underpaid compared to them.”

“It’s a different skill set, Mr. Collins,” Lisa said. “And a different job. I’m happy with my salary.”

“If you say so,” Louis said. “But still, if you are doing the same job, you should have the same pay. That’s my policy.”

“It’s a good policy, Mr. Collins. But it’s not the company’s policy,” Ken said. “And it’s not my place to question it.”

“Then we will have a new law in the Dominion. All the companies will have to be transparent about their salary structure. And they will have to justify the differences with facts. Not with negotiation skills,” Louis said.

“I think that will make the HR departments very busy,” Willa said.

“Good,” Louis said. “They need to be busy. It’s their job.”

The engineers looked at each other. Ken cleared his throat. “Mr. Collins, can I ask you a question?”

“Of course,” Louis said.

“Are you going to set an average wage floor for each job position? Or a maximum wage ceiling? Or both?” Ken asked. “And will it apply to all companies, including Athena and Tengri?”

“No,” Louis said. “I’m only going to make it transparent. And you should be allowed to discuss your wages with your colleagues, so you know if you are being paid fairly or not.”

“I think that’s a good idea, Mr. Collins,” Lisa said.

“Me too,” Raj agreed.

“I don’t,” Ken said. “It will create a lot of drama. People will focus more on the money than on the work.”

“Then maybe the company should pay people more fairly in the first place,” Louis said.

Ken sighed. “It’s not that simple, Mr. Collins. There are many factors to consider. Performance, experience, negotiation skills, and market rates. It’s a complex system.”

“If a system cannot bear transparency, then it is a bad system,” Louis said. “And it should be changed.” He looked at Willa. “Don’t you think?”

“I do, Louis,” Willa said. “And I think the EU is moving in that direction. For some jobs.”

“Then we will be ahead of them,” Louis said. “Their bureaucracy is too slow anyway.”

Ken looked at him. “You are not what I expected, Mr. Collins.”

“What did you expect then?” Louis asked.

“I don’t know. Maybe someone more reckless. And less thoughtful,” Ken said.

“I can be reckless when I want to, Ken,” Louis said, smiling. “But I also like to think. And I like to solve problems.”

“You are solving a lot of problems today, Mr. Collins,” Raj said.

“I’m just getting started,” Louis said. He leaned back. “Now, let’s talk about Alistair Finch.”

The engineers’ faces tensed. Brian spoke up. “We already talked to the Dominion Guard, Mr. Collins. We told them everything we know.”

“I know,” Louis said. “But I want to hear it from you. What’s your impression of him?”

Ken sighed. “He was a good engineer. Very skilled. But he loves gambling. He won a million three years ago in Honolulu and he threw a huge party for us.”

“A party for you? That’s nice,” Gladice said.

“It was,” Ken said. “He was generous. He rented a yacht and he invited all of us with our family. It was a great day.”

Louis nodded. “When did he start to have a problem?”

“Not sure,” Ken said. “He had a vacation last month. When he came back, he looked stressed. He was asking for a lot of sick leaves. He told us he was seeing a therapist.”

“I see,” Louis said. “Did he talk about his debts with any of you?”

“No,” Raj said. “We had no idea. Not until the Dominion Guard came to our doors. We were shocked.”

“What did you do when the hack happened five days ago? Were you in your office?” Willa asked.

“We were,” Lisa said. “We saw the home page. And we were horrified. We immediately started to work on the fix. We managed to restore it as quickly as possible.”

“We’ve also lost a lot of stock value that day. We were all very busy,” Raj said.

“I’m sure you were,” Gladice said.

Louis looked at them. “So Finch was here that day? In the office?”

Ken hesitated. “Yes, sir. He was at his desk. We saw him. He seemed normal. Or at least, as normal as he had been lately.”

“He didn’t try to run? Or to hide?” Maeve asked.

“No,” Brian said. “He just sat there, and we worked with him to fix the hack. He even talked to the Dominion Guard after they came. He denied everything, of course.”

“So he played it cool,” Savannah said. “Right until the end.”

“He did,” Lisa said. “I still can’t believe it. Our security team notified us that he was arrested this morning before he came to work.”

Louis stood up. “Thank you for your time. And for your honesty. You’ve been very helpful.”

“It’s our pleasure, Mr. Collins,” Ken said.

“You have my word that your salaries will be more transparent from now on,” Louis said. “I will make sure of it.”

“Thank you, Mr. Collins,” Raj said.

Louis and the women left the cafeteria. Zoe was waiting for them. “Did you get what you needed?”

“Yes, thank you, Zoe,” Louis looked at the women. “Is there anything else you’d like to see?”

“Let’s go outside. I want to see the gardens,” Donya said.

“Me too,” Cherish agreed.

They went outside and walked on a path through the gardens. The sun was bright and the air was warm. The flowers were in full bloom. Butterflies were fluttering around.

“This is beautiful,” Donya said, looking at the flowers. “I wish we had a garden like this at Pax Pacifica.”

“We will, Donya,” Louis said. “We can have one at the rooftop. And we can buy a botanical garden too.”

“I’d like that,” Donya said, smiling.

A young man in a Tengri T-shirt was sitting on a bench, looking at his phone. He looked up as they passed by.

Cherish looked at him. “Hi.”

The young man blushed. “Hi. I… I’m a big fan of your journey. You are all very brave.”

“Thank you,” Angelique said, smiling.

“Can I take a selfie with you? My girlfriend will be so jealous,” the young man asked.

“Of course,” Angelique said.

The young man stood up and took a photo with them. He thanked them and ran away, looking very happy.

“It’s fun being famous, isn’t it?” Gladice said, grinning. “Let’s go home.”

“Which home? Sacramento or LA? I’m getting confused with our schedule,” Maeve said.

“LA,” Louis said. “We’ve got enough public events for one day.”

They returned to the shuttle and rode back to the helipad. The Olympus P26 took off. The pilot’s voice came through the intercom. “Mr. Collins, we will go to San Jose International Airport, where your jet is waiting for you.”

“Copy that,” Louis said.

Gladice stretched. “That was a productive day. We found nothing. But at least we scared the CEO.”

“And we pushed for salary transparency,” Willa added. “That’s a nice surprise. I didn’t expect that.”

“I’m just doing my part, Willa,” Louis said, smiling. “And making the Dominion a better place for my subjects.”

Donya raised an eyebrow. “Your subjects?”

“All Dominion citizens are basically my subjects,” Louis said. “I want them to be happy and well-paid, as long as they pay their taxes and don’t cause trouble.”

“A tyrant with a heart of gold,” Gladice said, laughing.

“I’m just Louis the Kind,” Louis said, looking at Cherish.

Cherish giggled. “And Louis the Horny.”

Gladice raised an eyebrow. “Cherry! You’ve learned a new word!”

“He taught me,” Cherish said, her cheeks flushed.

“She’s a fast learner,” Louis said, winking at her.

Savannah rolled her eyes. “Can we talk about something else, please? Like how we are going to find the Bishop in Quebec?”

“We will cross that bridge when we get to it, Savvy,” Louis said. “Now, let’s enjoy the flight.”

The helicopter landed at the airport a few minutes later. A sleek jet with the Dominion’s crest on its tail was waiting for them on the tarmac. A Dominion Guard officer opened the door. “Mr. Collins. Ladies.”

Louis led the women into the jet and took a seat in the main lounge. The flight attendant brought them a tray of drinks and snacks. Louis poured himself a glass of water and leaned back. The jet took off smoothly and climbed into the sky. Louis looked out the window, watching Silicon Valley shrink beneath them.

His phone buzzed. It was Robin.

“Yes?” Louis said.

“Louis. I have bad news.” Robin’s voice was cold.

Louis sat up. “What is it?”

“Alistair Finch is found dead in Santa Catalina.”