Page 81 of Crocodile Tears

The sound of raised voices coming from his father’s office interrupted their conversation.

“I can’t believe you’re doing this.” The office door was suddenly yanked open. Alex exchanged a startled glance with Spencer.

“Please, Isaiah, don’t leave like this. Just hear me out.” His father’s voice carried through the open door. “We value you and your contribution to the business; that’s why we want to keep you.”

“I’ve worked here for fifteen years. Fifteen! I’m a good, hard worker?—”

“Nobody is disputing that.” Noah’s voice again. “But we have a new policy now.”

“It’s a bad policy.”

“Look, times are tough; I have to do what’s best for the business and for all the workers – not just the select few.”

“By making us all your indentured servants? Damn it, sir, some of us still have our pride.”

“Isaiah, this won’t change anything. You’ll still have your pride – and I’ll be prouder still, seeing you wearing the Lytton livery. It’s a minor detail, really – your life won’t have to change much. I’ll see that you and your family get one of the best houses in Lytton Village, and you’re sure to become an important part of the community there.”

“I work with these people; I don’t want to live with them, too.”

“Look, Isaiah – the world is changing, and we’re facing stiff competition. I have to streamline the business, or we might as well give up.”

“And it’s cheaper for you to employ indentured servants?”

“Yes, it is. I won’t deny that, but we treat our indentured servants well, and there’s no indignity in it. We’ll draw up an IS contract for you and take good care of you and your family. You’ll get a decent signing fee and our standard end-of-contract fee at retirement.”

“It’s short-term thinking. Yes, labour is cheap, and IS labour isextremely cheap, but you should be investing in tech. Tyler Tech uses robots and AI for many of the jobs you have indies doing.”

“People need jobs. I’m proud to be able to help out.”

“By making us all servants? I’d rather lose my job to a robot,” Isaiah said scornfully.

“We do invest in tech,” Noah protested feebly.

“Not enough. Lytton AV is lagging further and further behind. I’d rather not pin my future to a company that can’t keep up. I resign.”

Alex glanced at Spencer in shock.

“Now, Isaiah, there’s no need to do that. Take your time – we’d be sorry to lose an experienced worker like you.”

“You should have thought about that before you brought in this idiotic new policy.”

“We did.” Noah’s voice sounded regretful. “We did think about it, long and hard, and we accepted there would be some who felt as you do. We’ll be sad to lose you, but the hard truth is we can train someone else to do your job. I was thinking about you – it won’t be easy for you to walk into another job, and I’d hate for you to end up in one of the government’s work camps – or, worse, in the Quarterlands.”

“The hard truth? You want to hear the hard truth, Lytton? It’s this – if your company isn’t competing well, it’s because your plant is old, your business model tired, and your designers keep turning out the same stale old crap.”

“The Lytton AV Classic model is?—”

“Ancient! You have to do more than tinkering with that utilitarian old jeep design.”

“It’s a timeless classic. And it’s still one of the best-selling AVs in the UK market.”

“Because until recently the foreign imports have been so expensive. But they’re coming down in price now, and UK companies like Tyler’s Aquacruise range are providing what people want, not Lytton AV.”

Alex winced. “He won’t like that,” he murmured to Spencer.

“George Tyler is a chancer, and Aquacruise is a tiny part of his business interests. He doesn’t care about the AV market – he’s only in it because of some old grudge he has against me. He doesn’t have what it takes to produce an AV to rival the Lytton Classic.”

“Maybe not once, but Tyler Tech is one of the biggest companies in the country now – times are changing, old man, and you’d better change with them or go under.”

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