Day 291 - The War Corp. - Review 2 (1590 Words)

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THE WAR CORP.

By Wayne Webb

REVIEW 2

Corporation: Blue

Post Engagement Review: Alpha

Team Designation: A.C.E.

Chair: Denis Smiley.

Board: Pryce, E – Roberts, B – Hardy, C

Manager: Simmons, Carter (15, 7)

Minutes: Lisa Four Two

Result Summary: A.C.E. completed their first engagement with both objectives intact. The superior numbers of the opposing team and the presence of veterans on the Red Corp Team did not adversely affect the outcome of the match. The decision to draw the enemy to the trap devised by the Team Leader was the dividend the board was looking for in the first match.

Pre Match commentary had marked this match as one to keep and eye on, once the trap phase of the match had engaged the ratings quadrupled in Live Mode and the post match DVR statistics are also showing a stronger than expected match review request.

The bookings for future matches for the team have increased and the odds on the A.C.E. Team making their next match have plummeted. The increased focus and attention on the Team has lead to a five fold increase in advertising and revenue for this match.

Objectives Failed: Zero

Manager: Simmons, Carter.

Review Summary: The controversy regarding the choice of the Liam Zero Six designation in Team Leadership has been settled with the result shown in the first match. The unorthodox style and the willingness to take risks for rewards have paid off in an attention-grabbing match.

Combining the objectives met and the zero losses in the first match the pay off for the Red Corporation has been well worth the investment in the team and the ROI will be 2 matches even if the second match is a loss at this stage.

Bonuses for the Board and Management should reflect the positive attitude of the Red Corp executive team with this stellar beginning to this season, possibly the best starting position Red Corp has had since the War Corp’s inception.

The flip side of the success is that all future engagements will be weighted against the success of the A.C.E. Team’s performance. The imbalance in the Teams in this initial match was a reflection of the betting odds created by the marketing campaign set on the “Pod Baby” phenomenon. The Board has advised caution in future campaigns, and will allow the audience market to set the agenda for the next campaign so as to not adversely overbalance the second match.

Bonus Summary:

Credit Schedule A:

a) Membership Bonus: 1,300

b) Survival Rate Weighting: +/- 1,000 (per percentage point above/below League average)

c) League Win Bonus: 25,000

d) Objective Bonus: +/- 10,000 (per objective)

e) Compound x2: 20,000 (additional)

f) Compound x3: 30,000 (additional)

Achievement Bonuses:

g) Streak Bonus (x100% per streak point)

h) Ratings Bonus (+/- 15% per ratings shift exceeding 25%)

League Match 1: A.C.E. Team.

Credit Bonus: Simmons, Carter:

a) x 17                        22,100

b) x 7                          7,000

c)                                 25,000

d)                                20,000

e)                                40,000

Subtotal                      $114,100

Achievement:

g)                                0 (first match, sorry J )

h)                                17,115

i) Ex Gratia Bonus     50,000

Subtotal                      $67,115

           

Grand Total                $181,215

Payment Summary: To reflect the satisfaction with the Red Corp performance the A.C.E. Board all receive a $50,000 bonus on top of the scheduled payment with a $100,000 bonus for the Chair.

With a CBT Winnings $244,200 (double or nothing on CBT win) and the total cash payout for the Team Manager stands at $425,415.

Congratulations.

Carter’s hands were shaking, the pay slip on his e-paper in front of him was the largest single payment he could have expected, and the kind of bonus he would assume would only go to season winners, and then be hampered by serious losses. He still had seventeen Team Members at the end of the first Match; this was unprecedented, at least in recent years.

He had not told his wife about the bet; he had skirted the issue and avoided contact and claimed secrecy around the first match for the break in communication and delay in payment. He would be in serious trouble with her for lying, even by omission, but the payout that shook and wobbled on the liquid screen in his hand would go a long way to salving that hurt.

Unless he bet it all again? That was a possibility, there was a triple payout in store for anyone mad enough to wager three wins in a row, with now losses that would be a major, major payout and would ensure his retirement. He could never, ever hope to save that kind of money and the time it would take to even earn that before expenses was much longer than he wanted to be in the high stress and high stakes world of League Management.

He had already managed five small successes, not top of the ladder types like this one had the potential to be. The pressure on him would be enormous, but the payouts would make this look like chicken feed.

If they could keep the success going that was.

A chill rant through him as the warmth of money was suddenly dwarfed by the scary reality of the last eight hours he had been through. His heart had been pounding like a drum and he was screaming his questions at a non-responsive screen as he watched Liam do things that no sane Team Leader would have tried to do. Restricted to the stock phrases only to draw on he realized that he was one hundred percent in the hands of a mad man in charge of eighteen lives.

Well, one life really and that was Carter Simmons, the recruits were not really alive like he was. They were machines; machines with human parts and a human think process but soulless killing and fighting machines. Occasionally they would go mad, which is why veterans were sent back to CBT for assessment when the team lowered to critical mass.

This Liam unit took risks and did things that made no sense, and Carter was sure that it was luck only that the objectives were met. The plan was both brilliant and inspired or it was sheer bastard luck.

These recruits were grown, clones of warriors from the decades past and they had no real emotional intelligence or experience. They were babies in one way, the Pod Baby of a recruit only worked on instinct and the muscle memory that was forcefully injected into their brains.  They were not capable of rational thought, not really until they had a few dozen matches under their belt.

That was when the madness, despair or problems all began. Then it was a kindness to send them back to CBT or have them zero out in the match and end the potential suffering they may have encountered. It was more humane this way, no one with real feelings would be hurt and the wars could continue.

War was a decider, it was a necessary part of a peaceful existence, this was established through millennia of blood and needless suffering.  Now they had the War Corp and the harmless, mostly, League matches that settled all disputes and decided all treaties and agreements between the Corporations that were the new nations of humanity in the stars.

They were not capable of rational thought and feelings, they did not have them.

So he was mad. Insane. Unbalanced.

“Congratulations. You must be feeling richer than god!” Denis Smiley clapped an extended hand on Carter’s shoulder and shook him like he was ready to fall down drunk. “Oh my god man! Harden up! There’s much, much more to come like this payday! We’re on to a good thing! Aren’t we Roberts?”

Bryce too was smiling broadly and even he was happy enough to share in the riches being showered down on everyone in the team. The decision to promote Liam was controversially on him, and it had paid off big time. His payout was inordinately larger than whatever number Carter was looking at. He had won the argument and been proven right once more and he was feeling on top of the world.

He could not pass up an opportunity to have one last dig at the Manager who argued against his advice. “All in?” he said and rubbed his hands together gleefully, as if it were he that would be gambling and getting the payday at the end of the next match, which was a week away.

“Oh don’t be such a prick Roberts!” Denis was smiling and playfully dismissing the suggestion from the Board Adviser. “Managers can’t really afford a triple bet, he still has bills to pay in the next seven days and he’s not given any money to his wife from the last match.” He turned to Carter. “How did she take that?”

Carter blanched and both men laughed uproariously and then Bryce poked him in the chest with a hard jab, harder than it needed to be. “You didn’t tell her? Oh my god, you didn’t, did you? You cheeky little bastard! What the hell is she going to say when you tell her? I’d pay to see that, I would.”

Carter composed himself and stood a little straighter. “Thank you.” He said, suggesting that would be the response before following it up with a small codicil “I hope.”

“You’d better send that money straight on to her now then, and I’d be less worried about your next match and be more worried about your next conversation with her!”

The three men all laughed together and Carter started the routing process for the winnings while they were still celebrating the win.