Standard Plot Thickenings

Imogene went up the elevator alone. She walked down the hallway alone. She found Arthur's cubicle completely alone. It was somewhat nerve-wracking, being alone. Imogene would have to get used to it.

When she arrived on the fifth floor, Arthur was sitting in his swivel chair, munching a bagel and sporting a suit covered in splotches of cream cheese. He was watching YouTube videos and loudly laughing to himself. Imogene cleared her throat once, twice, but he made no move to acknowledge her. Blood boiling, Imogene pursed her lips and moved to stand in front of his computer.

"I'm Imogene from IT. What seems to be the problem?"

Arthur squinted up at her, straining to see the screen. "Where's Roy?"

"Busy."

He looked her up and down. "You're from IT? You look like a ruddy toilet cleaner."

Her normally joyous brown eyes flared with the fire of Satan. "I'll have you know I have a B.S.E. in Computer Engineering from UPenn, and an M.S. in Computer Science from Carnegie Mellon. When it comes to toilet cleaning, I'd say I'm a bit overqualified."

"Ain't never heard of Carnegie whatnot. Do you mean Cambridge?"

"No. Do you need help or not?"

The man reached beneath him on the chair and plucked his flash drive out from under his butt. Imogene rolled her eyes and snatched the device from his hands.

He was kind enough to decline her the use of his swivel chair, so she had to stand in front of his desk and tilt his monitor to the ceiling in order to see the screen. She rebooted the computer much to his chagrin—thankfully his login was sticky-noted to the desk—before inserting the USB. As she waited for File Explorer to appear, her eyes moved along his screen and caught on something.

In a new window, Arthur had a tab open to BBC News. It was the featured article that had Imogene's attention.

Eklund: Sale to Connect is 'the right direction' for Prophecy.

Imogene bit her lip and, without worrying about Arthur over her shoulder or the USB that still wouldn't load, clicked on the article and began to read.

Prophecy Electronics, creators of what has been dubbed as "the world's most innovative and dependable desktop monitor in the age of iPads" is selling out to Connect, Inc. for $500 billion this week.

According to Prophecy CEO Weston Eklund, this sale has been in development for the past three years.

"I built this place from the ground up, with my bare hands. But there comes a time when a creator must let go of his creation."

Imogene scoffed and shook her head. She was living, breathing evidence of this philosophy. Moving on.

Prophecy has been third in line to larger companies Microsoft and Apple for the past ten years. Where Apple's strength is security and Microsoft's is accessibility, Prophecy has always been known for its consistency. When Apple removed the headphone jack from iPhone 7 and Microsoft released Windows Vista, Prophecy continued to build consumer-centered products with a conservative yet innovative approach.

"For me, it was always about keeping the things that people liked," Weston continued. "There are just a few major staples that a device needs to be successful, and it's our job to make sure they're always there. We never took away the headphone jack and we always shoot for quality over cash."

There has been some criticism over this statement, as Prophecy devices are not known for their affordability. This has been one of the major setbacks for the company over the past ten years, and major tech reviewers often state that the company's biggest weakness is that it has no desire to compete for the lowest price tag.

Blah blah blah. Imogene hated things like this. Analysis filled with faux insight, meaningless sentences that would show up on BrainyQuote by the end of the day. It was all bullshit. There was nothing about her family. Nothing about her. No mention whatsoever of the promise her father made to her all those years ago. Someday, Imogene, this will all be yours. It was as though he had the intention all along of breaking it.

Yet even in her anger, her heart pounding with rage and her face growing hotter by the second, Imogene's heart stopped dead when she read the final sentence. Her skin went ice cold.

The fateful handshake will take place tomorrow afternoon at Prophecy Electronics headquarters.