Rawpocalypse

3 - Carousel

Director Yoshi Ko of CareMore Foods Incorporated stood a pillar of calmness as his insides writhed in fear of losing another investor. The fast-food burrito racing through his internal plumbing like drain cleaner only strengthened his inner turmoil.

The observation deck slowly came to a halt at the final workstation, bringing a wave of motion sickness he refused to acknowledge. A few steps to his right, Hue Winthrop peered through the forward glass with arms folded. The stuffy businessman hadn't spoken a word since the tour began.

Mrs. Ko, or Operations Manager as she had been introduced, resumed her in-depth description of the production facility. Her perfect fluency of American English made her the natural spokesperson over Yoshi himself, and her subtle beauty and seductive eyes had more than once nudged an investor in the company's favor.

"As you can see," Kimi went on, "each retail package weighs only four pounds and requires no physical exertion to handle. The height of this young lady's workstation has been ergonomically adjusted to suit her small stature, thereby requiring no movement at her waist."

A dainty woman dressed in paper coveralls lifted a plastic-wrapped steak from the end of the conveyer and gently stacked it into a crate.

"From here, each half-ton container is wheeled to the cargo bay on a motorized skid. No back-breaking labor required. Another signature of our CareMore brand."

Kimi placed her hand on the tall businessman's elbow and gestured toward the exit. "Come along. Our caterer has prepared a fabulous steak dinner grilled to your liking, medium rare, seasoned in a garlic and peppercorn rub."

Mr. Winthrop lifted a crossed arm and tugged at his clean-shaven chin. "Yes, but I do have questions before we finish here."

"Oh," she said, smiling. "Of course. Ask away."

He resumed his folded-arm posture. "I'd like to return to the inspection station."

"Certainly!" said Kimi, eyeing her husband. "We have time don't we, Yoshi?"

Ko nodded slowly, betraying his inner desire to end the meeting as expeditiously as possible.

Kimi whirled nervously toward the touchscreen control panel. "Just one moment. I'm sure this thing has a reverse option." Her fingers worked the display until the platform ground into motion. "Ah, that was it."

An instant later, a loud knock rattled the metal grating beneath their feet, and the turntable lurched to a stop, sending everyone swaying side-to-side. Yoshi groaned involuntarily as his insides sloshed with an angry gurgle.

Mr. Winthrop turned with a raised brow, and Yoshi stood stone faced in firm denial.

Kimi worked the controls. "We'll just go all the way around then. Hang on everyone."

The businessman unfolded his arms and stepped away, taking everyone by surprise.

Mrs. Ko looked up from the panel. "Sure, we'll walk."

The parade of lab coats followed Winthrop around the carousel, and within an embarrassingly short distance, the dark-suited businessman turned to face the glass window of the inspection station.

Yoshi took up a close stance next to Winthrop, prepared to defend his company's honor. Behind the glass, Ko's son-in-law, Sam Gordon, sat alone at the inspection station. Ko smiled inwardly, happy the circus they'd seen earlier hadn't resumed. "You have questions?"

"Yes," said Winthrop, distancing himself slightly. "There seems to be a bottleneck in this process. Is it necessary to have so many inspections?"

Mrs. Ko eased up close and placed an overly casual hand on his shoulder. "Oh, I agree with you completely. You're obviously an intelligent man. We're actually in the process of phasing out the daily inspection you saw earlier."

"That's fine and all, but I was thinking more of the whole inspection station in general. Judging from the speed of the conveyor belt and the time of the curing process, the throughput is nearly cut in half by the human element."

Kimi giggled like a schoolgirl. "Oh, a man after my own heart. You do know your operations. I believe with proper training we could have those workers pressing that button in a fraction of the time."

"Yes, yes," he said, his annoyance growing. "I'm sure, but I was under the impression your process for regenerative cell growth was uniform and tightly controlled."

"And you were right!" Yoshi interrupted. "I must confess; this particular job was created to placate the imbecile you see behind the glass after he so unfortunately married my daughter."

Winthrop chortled, appearing refreshed by the frankness. "Let's get right down to the matter, shall we? This facility is peanuts. I'm looking at production in the millions of tons to compete with the cattle industry. Is your facility scalable to that kind of demand?"

Kimi dropped her call-girl style to adopt a professional tone. "Absolutely! What you 're looking at here is merely a model. I'll have the blue-prints in your hands by the time you finish your meal. You will see that with the four billion dollar investment we are seeking, our production capacity will be thousand-fold."

Winthrop nodded, gazing through the glass. "And what about this facility?"

"I'm glad you asked. We intend to keep it operating as our U.S. presence, for marketing and regulatory considerations."

The man steepled his fingers. "Very savvy." He turned to Yoshi. "This is your son?"

"By marriage. Yes."

"Who the devil is he talking to?"

Sam's mouth yammered away nonstop.

Ko leaned forward and pressed the intercom button. Sam's voice burst through the speaker. "The bloody aliens are hot on our tail cap'n. Should I engage the hyper-thrust drive before they're crawlin' up our bung-hole?"

Ko released the intercom, cutting off the audio portion of the drama. Sam pressed his green button on his workstation console and immediately launched himself into the back of his chair.

"Not to worry," said Yoshi. "He is fired."

"No, no," said Winthrop. "Keep him. And keep this inspection workstation--only here at this facility mind you. It's great for P.R."

Winthrop turned to Ko and offered a hand. "You'll get all the money you need, partner."

Yoshi considered the outstretched hand, eager to latch on. "You have yet to taste the final product."

"Huh," Winthrop said, forcing his hand closer. "There's no way I'm eating this crap."

Director Yoshi Ko bowed lightly, then took the offered hand for a firm shake.