RE: RE: Corporate Team Building Retreat [ end]

John Smith? wrote:

P. P. P. Co.

John Smith is not a good person.

A lock is undone.

John Smith is sitting at his desk.

John Smith is sitting at his desk, hands tied behind his back.

John Smith is sitting at his desk, hands tied behind his back and a towel in his mouth. The janitor’s hands are shaky as he finishes up the knot, before sliding back into the darkness from which he came.

Out from the shadows walks an employee with a bowtie and slicked back hair, sparkling eyes and a winning smile. He approaches the desk, as he has for the last few years, dutifully climbing the ranks as a good employee of P. P. P. Co. He has extolled the company’s values and is the absolute meaning of teamwork. He and John Smith are a team.

Were a team.

From under his suit, the employee pulls out a handgun.

“… I reckon the name Sam don’t mean anything to you, Mr. Smith?” the employee whispers. “Sam? Worked with you in Ore-gone. You two were wood buddies. Loved the smell of oak in the morning. You took him in like he was your brother.”

John Smith doesn’t respond. Furious, the employee grabs a paperweight and throws it against the motivational poster, shattering the glass of the frame.

“Don’t mess with me, old man! I know what you’re thinkin’, I know what kind of devil you are. You know what Sam is doing now? You really want to know?”
He kicks the table.

“You let him down, old man. The devil’s in your soul, and you know it. You let him down, and he’s a husk of what he once was. And I’m here – I’ve always been here waitin’. I came here to wait.”

John Smith doesn’t respond.

“I came here to wait for the right time. You see, Mr. John Smith, I’mma gonna send you to your maker. I’d think the folks up there would have a word for someone like you.”

There is no response.

John Smith says nothing to death.

It comes.

---

LEUTERS – Stocks rose as P. P. P. Co. announced the installation of its newest CEO, Jacob Carter, last Tuesday in a press release sent out to shareholders. This announcement comes after the untimely passing of John Smith, the previous CEO, last Tuesday.

Jacob Carter, 30, is one of the youngest CEOs ever named to head a conglomerate like P. P. P. Co., and his appointment comes after a wave of employee turnovers at the Oregon-based company after several quarters of low profits. Employees who worked with Carter describe him as a passionate individual close to John Smith who acted as his right-hand man, with a good sense of discipline and a knack for interpersonal negotiations.

In the press release, Carter states the following:

“My plan is to continue the innovation that I know John Smith would have wanted. While we all miss him dearly, we must move on from the troubles of the past and strike out our own new future. As John Smith stated during the last event he chartered for our company – the first ever Corporate Team Building Retreat – we must be transformative, expect the unexpected, and go back to basics to overcome the challenges that face us. One of our top priorities is to restructure our company such that we discover new aims and streamline our services to better meet our consumers.

Effective immediately, the headquarters of P. P. P. Co. will also be moved to Louisiana.”

---

Somewhere in an old dusty storage room, full of old office equipment destined for the garbage and taped underneath a folded table are eleven fortunes.

1. Synergistic Marketing
   Miss Sahara
   Ninfia
   katagi
   Mr. Gerbear
   high seraph
   dracoon
   vale
   Dr. Andahl from R&D
   Tiki the Temp
   Melissa from HR
   

1. The sweet smell of roses can be alluring and familiar. Take note of the cordial before you drink it, for you may soon regret it. Wills are easily bent.
2. Too confident to see beyond yourself, you place your faith in baseless assertions of your perceived skill. Your overconfidence blinds you to the darkness. Be humbler.
3. You are on the right track! Keep pushing through, and you will undoubtedly reach your goals. You're doing great already.
4. Others have much to offer you, and you shouldn’t push them away. Indulge and be open to experiences other than your own, instead of always being distrustful of that which isn’t familiar to you.
5. You put too much faith in those you shouldn’t trust. Naivety can be dangerous. Be watchful.
6. You are at your most vulnerable – the only one vulnerable – when death is unlikeliest. Listen to yourself and don’t let anyone know the truth. You know what you’re here for. You know how dangerous they are.
7. Do not let the future crush your spirit from within. Your erratic behavior will only lead to disaster.
8. New perspectives are good, but so is staying on the well-trodden road. Perhaps it is time to flip your expectations.  
9. Empathy for an individual does nothing when you are complicit in the act. You may regret it, but your cowardice prevents you from doing the honorable thing.   
10. Intention is often lost when not talking face to face. Words can be twisted to be opposite of their meaning. Be conscious of context, always.
11. One can wallow in their failures indefinitely, blind to the suns that shine in front of them.

Mafia win.

Promotions: Tiki the Temp, Synergistic Marketing, Dr. Andahl
Recordings of previous hours have been updated.

*Mafia had already won due to the results of the last vote. Mafia requested I continue with this phase for a brief time before ending the game instead of ending the game there.