Common Sense
Posted on 16 Feb 2025 @ 6:22am by Brek - Timeless Treasures Art Gallery
Mission:
M4 - Falling Out
Location: Timeless Treasures Art Gallery
Timeline: MD27
893 words - 1.8 OF Standard Post Measure
Ms Xeri’s art exhibition was ready. He had spotlights casting a soft light (the purple shade that Ms Xeri had selected), along with the sound of a gentle sea breeze and Interactive displays too. Labels and brochures had been printed. Refreshments had been ordered: nonalcoholic coconut-lime water - the general idea being to keep everything low key, and not turn the exhibition into a tacky beach party. This is why he had rejected several offers from businesses that wanted to bring too much life to the event. Adding sand, plants and greenery would ruin the mood and be unrealistic. Sobriety was the word of the day. Which was really great because sobriety doesn’t cost much at all.
“I think everything looks as it should, Mister Brek,” Nyasha said with her usual sympathetic smile. “And we should, maybe, turn our attention to other issues.”
“We have issues?”
He made sure to show his surprise. With his holo-assistant always looking so perfectly content, it was easy to be fooled into believing that life was a picnic and all the stars were beautifully aligned. After all, it was usually within her power to solve every difficulty so that he could carry on counting his latinum in perfect peace.
“There have been numerous attempts at buying the rights to film the Forsaken Shore event and interview Ms Xeri. I have dismissed all of them, obviously, but you may want to hire more security.”
Brek mumbled something inaudible. He loathed the media. They were like backstabbing friends - and who doesn’t have a few of those in their proverbial closet? They lured you in with beautiful sums of money only to twist reality and tarnish your image. “You think the press will send a team to Timeless Treasure?” He grew suspicious. “Maybe to record images of this gallery and find something damaging about the way we do... things in here?”
“I don’t think this would be very productive,” Nyasha remarked. “Even if, admittedly, your discussions can be quite... colourful. In the end they just state the obvious: your aim is to run this gallery as efficiently as possible. This implies shouting and cursing regularly, which aligns with your temperament. I see very little appeal in this sort of footage.”
At the reminder that Nyasha was keeping a record of all his conversations (so as to protect him against false accusations), he grumbled some more. “Yeah, the good news is that I have nothing to hide, or to show, really.”
A truly empathic holo assistant would have taken the hint and said a few words about his numerous qualities and achievements, although the best ones were now in the rather distant past. It didn’t happen for the good reason that Nyasha had not been programmed to prattle. Efficiency mattered more, so she went back to her initial intention.
“I do think we need to make more efforts to ward off the press and better protect this event. The sort of protection which, unlike Glutik, blends in.”
He sighed. “Security costs money, Nyasha. And Gultik is worth ten of them. As for the media, we’ve already covered them with press credentials, a designated press area and media briefings, what more do they want?”
“We both know what they want, Mister Brek. The more enigmatic Ms Xeri appears to be, the more they will seek an exclusive interview with her. Since this won’t be happening, they might try different tactics. And few of them will be fair.”
This puzzled him, and he scratched his neck. “How far do you think they might go?”
“This is not so different from Ferengi endeavours. Is it possible to put a limit to greed?”
“Obviously, yes. It’s called common sense.”
“Which is in very short supply in this galaxy, and not only among Ferengis, as we all know.”
Here Nyasha didn’t forget to look smug. Her little smile, which translated as ‘ask stupid questions, receive stupid answers' got on his nerves. “So what? Are they going to stalk Ms Xeri? Follow her everywhere until she gives in and talks to them? She is also a CPO. Surely, if they were to pester her that way, those media would lose their licence to operate on this station, real fast.”
“What is the price of an exclusive interview with a unique survivor? Can it be quantified?”
“You and your tedious questions. Of course everything can be quantified. Especially when you bring in legal actions for harassment or breach of privacy.”
“Every solution has its problem, Mr Brek.”
“And vice versa. So where are you going with all that? I’ve known you to be more direct.”
“You might want to convince Ms Xeri to give one strategic and exclusive interview.”
“By all that shines, you are asking for a miracle. It would be easier to reverse a temporal anomaly with a faulty tricorder, and you know it very well.” Brek headed towards his office. “I had better hire more security, then. Darn it. The type that looks invisible.”
“You could also perform this interview yourself, and sell it to the media, Mr Brek.”
“I don't even want to think about it. Tell Glutik I need to talk to him. One of his dreams is going to come true: I'm giving him a staff to boss around.”
