10. Chapter 10

There was something Sid found irresistible about the feel of paper and the scent of newsprint. He had a half-dozen screens at his disposal, but he chose to prepare for the day by leafing through the pages of his Artisanal Gazette. He imagined reading the broadsheet with his coffee each morning made him look like a Gilded Age industrialist, only without the heavy mustache and thick cigar.

He sat down at the small dining table in his hotel suite and flipped open the paper to find a full-spread image of Jayna gracefully leaping from the water beneath the headline "Bionic Mermaids to Invade Manutai." He stared at the photo, surprised to see it on the front page of his paper. The Artisanal Gazette used proprietary artificial intelligence to curate a collection of stories specifically for him, and having an image of Jayna smack in the middle of his custom-printed broadsheet both delighted and concerned him.

He scanned the article, hoping to find some unpleasant detail that would put an end to his growing infatuation. But before he could get past the introduction, the door to his suite opened, creating a breeze that ruffled the corners of his paper.

Emmaline and Hazel had arrived for the breakfast meeting. Sid's heart raced, and he quickly closed the paper, folding it over several times and tucking it under his arm. His face flushed as though he'd been caught doing something wrong.

But why wouldn't there be a biopic about Jayna in his paper? She was the star of the Sirens of Atlantis show, which was part of the company he'd just purchased.

Emmaline approached the table with an armful of paper bags. Her hair was pulled up on top of her head in a tight bun that started pink at her scalp and transitioned to a deep violet—what she called her "flying unicorn" style.

"Still picking up the Artisanal Gazette, I see," she said, nodding towards the paper clamped tightly under his arm. She set the bags on the table and took the seat to his left.

"I like starting my day with a newspaper. It's more relaxing than any of the morning streams. And usually a lot more relevant." Best to leave out the "Gilded Age Industrialist" part.

Hazel picked up a pastry and took a bite as she sat in the chair directly across from him. "Rosalind would be pleased."

Rosalind Aria was the mercurial genius behind an array of artificial intelligence networks, one of which was at least partially responsible for the modern newsprint revival. "Her AI nets are good, but it's our distribution model that's made the newspaper business profitable again."

"Her AI nets are more than good," Emmaline said. "They're amazing. That's why none of the papers copying our distribution model have come close to matching Artisanal's success."

"We should have bought her lab when we had the chance," Hazel said. "That way we'd own the AI net outright and wouldn't have to keep paying royalties."

"No," Sid replied, a little louder than he meant. "For every good algorithm Rosalind has, there are a dozen bad ones. I'd rather pay extra for the AI nets we use and not have to worry about getting sued when one of her recipe generators sends someone into anaphylaxis. Now, let's focus on the project at hand. We've all had some time to process everything we saw on our tour of Realms yesterday, and I'd like to revisit the transition plan."

Hazel unrolled her tablet. "Before we do that, I thought you might like to review the information the ‘gators collected about the employee's plan to buy the park."

Sid"s brow furrowed. "They already have a plan in place?"

Hazel nodded. "They do. And I have to admit, it's impressive."

"But how? I only agreed to this deal last night."

Hazel scowled and gave him a disappointed look. "You said it yourself—if the Realms employees were going to buy the place, they'd have already tried. Turns out they did try. As soon as Carter Sterling inherited the park, a group of them put together a holding company so they could raise the money to buy it from him." She shrugged. "They've managed to raise well over a million dollars so far."

Emmaline added, "If Jayna wins the Manutai Merathlon, they'll be close to two million."

This revelation surprised him, but he quickly put it into perspective. "Two million down, 298 million to go. We don"t need to worry."

Hazel shrugged again. "They also have access to $100 million in guaranteed loans from the SAPP and various government programs."

Sid's mouth went dry. The employees were still far short of the required capital, but the idea no longer seemed so outlandish.

"But you're right," Emmaline said. "You don't need to worry. If they somehow do manage to raise the money, you get your entire investment back. And your reputation score will see a significant boost."

Sid's concern eased just a little. Emmaline was right. He wouldn't make any money off the sale, but he wouldn't lose any either. And rebuilding his reputation was far more important than making a profit.

"Either way, I put this plan together assuming the park will be part of Hayes Corp for the long term."

For the next hour, they hammered out a strategy to transition from the temporary executive team and current compensation structure to one that more closely matched Sid's vision.

When they'd worked through most of the logistical details, Hazel said, "There's one more thing. It has to do with your good friend, Mermaid Aaramere."

Sid felt a little thrill when he realized she was talking about Jayna. "Go on," he said, trying to hide the mix of curiosity and alarm that shot through him.

Hazel pressed her lips into a thin line and shook her head. "As much as I hate to admit it, I think she might be one of the park's greatest assets. For some reason, Carter seemed to be actively suppressing publicity around her. We might want to change that. Not only is she beautiful and talented, but she was head of the park's community outreach volunteers before the program got cut. Now she's the face of the employee's effort to buy the park. Combined with this Manutai Merathlon thing, I think we can spin the situation into a publicity boost for us."

Emmaline added, "Hazel asked me to use Artisanal's video service to draft a piece we can send to the streams."

She rolled out her tablet, made a pinching motion over the display like she was picking up a speck of dust, then flicked it towards the oversized painting of migrating ducks that dominated the wall.

The ducks immediately disappeared, replaced by a video of Jayna swimming under the water, her bionic mermaid tail propelling her towards the camera at incredible speed. At the last minute she veered up, and the shot changed to one of her leaping high out of the water while the crowd in the aquatic theater cheered loudly.

It was the same shot he'd seen in the newspaper.

As images of Jayna swimming and jumping filled the wall, a rich baritone voice said, "This is Jayna Cooper: Singer, actress, and bionic mermaid."

The video presented a brief biopic of Jayna, with interviews of her explaining why she wanted to be a mermaid, of her laughing with children and teaching them to swim. Always smiling, always tender, always absolutely stunning.

The video was much more entertaining than a newspaper story could ever be. Unfortunately, Sid didn't learn anything about her that diminished his infatuation.

The video ended with a scene from the reception the night before, where Sid had conditionally agreed to sell the park to the employees. He watched himself make the announcement and then he turned to face Jayna. The smitten expression on his face made him cringe.

He glanced around the room at the others, hoping they hadn't noticed. He could have sworn Emmaline was avoiding his gaze and fighting a smile.

Sid cursed himself for being so transparent.

The ducks reappeared on the wall, and Hazel said, "We're updating the query to generate video that shows how you are helping the park's employees, but we weren't sure if you wanted us to include the part about you flying her to Manutai and putting her up at the Whakapaipai."

Sid turned to Emmaline, concerned. "She's staying with us at the Whakapaipai Hotel?"

Emmaline shrugged. "Of course. Where else would she stay?"

"I had assumed the Manutai SAPP house. As a member of the Performer's Guild, she's entitled to stay at any of their locations, right?"

Emmaline scowled. "She is. But it will make for poor visuals if we are at the Whakapaipai while she is at the SAPP house, especially since she's traveling with us and representing the park. But I can change the arrangements if you want me to."

Sid liked the idea of Jayna staying at their hotel, even though he knew it would make keeping his distance from her nearly impossible. "Keep things the way they are. It wouldn't look right for us to book her a room at the Whakapaipai and then cancel it."