THE MOMENT
"That's 'Warden' Givens," he was already in a bad mood and didn't hesitate to inform his guest of the proper etiquette. He was an older man with a silver buzzcut, and he wasn't as mentally agile as he used to be. Being set in his ways made it easy to try and correct her, all while forgetting she was already sitting on what was his side of the desk. Warden Givens was relegated to a guest seat in his own office, next to an inmate.
"That may have been true previously," Celestrix nodded from behind the large oak desk. "Now that Solarion Incorporated has taken ownership of this prison, your position as 'Warden' isn't quite as guaranteed," she smirked at him. "Which is why this gentleman has joined us. If they already don't respect you, it'll only complicate our plans." The blow to his ego was worsened by the man giggling next to him.
"Shut it, Zeke," Adam Givens tried the same voice of authority he'd used on the Zeke dozens of times before. Zeke was the defacto representative of the population, everyone liked him to a degree. The wiry prisoner was known to be generally fair-minded and neutral, but completely insane when given permission. He was always honest, and a man of his word. Even if that word happened to be 'bloody murder' sometimes. When he was the warden, Adam Givens and Zeke had an understanding; and, at his insistence, Zeke instantly went silent with a nod. It was his subtle way of informing Adam they were still on the same team. That actually bolstered his courage. If Zeke was going to cover for him, the job was likely still his.
"So, what does a corporation want with a prison?" Adam asked. "More specifically, what are you planning to do with my prisoners?"
"They're not 'your' prisoners, Mr. Givens," Celestrix smiled. "Even if you do keep on as Warden, that sort of possessive terminology is frowned upon by my organization. I don't for a second believe you're concerned about their well-being, however, you're not the only one in the room," she turned and smiled at Zeke. "So, I'll answer the question anyway."
"Solarion Inc. is in the process of rapidly expanding. We've sat on the sidelines for far too long, and it's time to get the company established as soon as possible. The inmate worker program implemented by your government seemed promising at first; but, it's been rotted away by selfish corruption over the years. We liked the idea, but it was, surprisingly, much easier to just buy the entire prison to start from scratch. We paid enough that every bureaucrat involved got their share and now we own a sizeable workforce ready to learn.
"Workforce?" Adam asked. "I understood you're not allowed to free them," he said.
"Solarion Incorporated is owned by fairies," Celestrix nodded with a broad smile. "Your understanding is limited to your interpretation of words, while we operate on the interpretation of contracts. Such as the ones all employees sign upon joining Solarion Inc. They may gain certain freedoms they've been lacking up to this point, however, due to the nature of the contract they're not considered 'Free'."
"Doing what?" Zeke asked.
"Anything they have a talent for or interest in," Celestrix replied. "Our company has a variety of divisions covering everything from farming, food service, logistics, to design firms, banking, and high-end luxury services. We're bulking up the force we do have, so everything is open to try out.
"What kind of pay?" Zeke asked.
"You're not going to pay them, right!?" Adam was appalled at the idea. These people were criminals.
"There is no set pay, as it were," Celestrix shook her head and Adam laughed. "I told you we were owned by Fairies, but we're also a multiversal corporation. When you're able to visit alternate realities as trivially as we do, money itself has little meaning. Instead, those who work for Solarion Inc. are entitled to certain perks within the company. It's silly to give you a number, but I can promise that those who participate will have all the necessities of a comfortable, happy lifestyle."
"Multiverse and fairies, huh?" Zeke asked with a chuckle. He was comfortable with not knowing everything, though Adam Givens was not. The former warden had gone quiet trying to make sense of everything. "Are you a fairy?" Zeke met Celestrix's golden eyes.
"No, I am a dragon," Celestrix replied.
"Whoa, nice," he chuckled.
"I think Mr. Givens is still processing things," she giggled. The older man only partially heard the comment, and he was too in his thoughts to realize she was talking about him. He gave a dumb nod while he tried to determine how feasible it was for everything to be an elaborate prank. Zeke would be in on it for sure; but, he was given official directives. He attended a board meeting where the sale of the prison was discussed and eventually agreed to. Maybe he was dreaming? Fairies and dragons and alternate universes all seemed to point to that.
"How do the inmates feel about him? Is there any respect?" Zeke glanced over and Adam was still thinking silently. He waited the briefest of moments to try and catch the older man's eye; but, it didn't happen. Finally, he sighed and shrugged.
"There is some respect; but, he thinks there's more than there is," he said it tentatively, but Adam didn't register the comment. "It's mostly fear; they're nice to his face, but they'll take any chance to undermine him," he shook his head. "If your goal is to build up a good workforce form scratch, you're going to need different leadership," he said.
"That's a fair assessment, thank you," Celestrix nodded at him with a smile. "We did of course, do our own research. It matches the conclusion we came to, I was merely curious where your allegiance was."
"You shouldn't trust him!" Adam spoke up suddenly as he finally had a solid thought to cut through the confusion. "I don't trust him!" he added when he hoped was some credibility.
"Yes, I know. I assure you, you won't be working anywhere near him, or this building," Celestrix smirked. "Honestly, it just takes you too long to adapt to new ideas."