“You think he’ll go through with it?” Gavin asked me with a look of concern. He had a thin old faced creased by stress.      
            “Don’t worry,” I told my colleague, “It’ll never happen. Just as soon as the boss realizes what will happen if Medusa inc. takes over, he’ll change his mind.”     
            “Yeah but, what if he doesn’t realize?” he whispered to me, panicky, “He’s getting old. He doesn’t want to carry on working no matter what the consequences anyway. I sure as hell wouldn’t. Maybe he will sell up.”    
            “Nah,” I told him, brushing it off with a flick of my hand, “He’s put too much time and effort into this company to throw it all down the pan and sell up to some money-grabbing bastards. Relax, he’ll sort us out.”     
            “I sure hope so,” he replied, scratching his baldhead.
            “I think I might go to the toilet. Hold my drink?” he offered the glass of champagne out toward me, assuming I’d take it.     
            “Sure,” I told him, taking his glass in my hand. I watched him weave through the labyrinth of people, holding his tie against him as he sidestepped between small gaps; too polite to ask them to move. I hoped for his sake at least the company wouldn’t be sold. If he lost his job there I don’t know what might happen to him, these days only the cutthroat could fill the offices of white-collar corporations.     
            I realized that I was standing alone in a crowded hall holding two glasses of champagne. It made me feel a little self-conscious, and I looked around trying to seem nonchalant. No doubt that it only made me look like more of a fool. There were groups of people in formal dress throughout the hall sipping politely at their free drinks. It was a work occasion, and everyone was waiting for the big speech that had the power to break their careers. Everyone had turned up.     
            There was a group of men drinking heavily at the bar, and throughout the hall listening to the soft music men and women stood with their closest colleagues and muttered about nothing interesting. A woman caught my eye. She was standing talking to a group of men. She was taller than most of them with beautiful golden hair. Her skin glowed even in the dim light and she wore a small tight red dress. Her breasts were nearly falling out, and she leant over from time to time, catching the attention of the guys around her as she did so. Now that was the kind of person that got somewhere in this world, I remember thinking.     
            I looked away smiling but dropped my lips to a neutral stance as I caught a woman staring at me. This one was much less elaborate. Her black dress was low cut, but not incredibly so. The black silk draped around her honey legs, glimmering in the light. She kept on looking at me even though I’d noticed her. Most people would look away bashfully, but not this one. She stared straight at me. Clutching a little handbag before her, she began to stride toward me, stepping past people and carving a direct path until she reached me, keeping eye contact the whole way. She stopped before me and her brown eyes searched my face. She was shorter at such close range, and I found myself looking down on her even though she wore high heels. Her brown hair was big and puffy, but perfectly brushed and set around her shoulders.      
            “Hi,” she said simply, smiling at me from warm eyes rimmed with thick and curled lashes.     
            “Hi there,” I replied, subtly admiring her form while trying to watch her eyes. I felt sure she had noticed, but I couldn’t stop myself.     
            “Is this for me?” she asked as she took Gavin’s glass from my hand. I almost told her no, but thought better of it, stifling my own speech. She watched me still, even as she tilted the glass back and took a sip. Her hands were golden and smooth, as if designed for stroking.     
            “Enjoying the party?” she asked calmly.     
            “Yeah, it’s great,” I told her. Not wanting to sound rude, since I had no idea who this woman was. She laughed a little, flashing white teeth. Her red lips perfectly formed for the action.
            “Exciting, isn’t it?” she said. I just smiled back at her, still not sure what to make of the woman. I had to find out, somehow.    
            “My name’s David, David Grey,” I presented my hand to her.     
            “I know who you are,” she told me nonchalantly, ignoring my attempt at a handshake and taking another sip from her glass. Thrown off for a moment, I smiled a little nervously and stood there silent. She only watched me, not saying anything. Who was she? What did she want? Then again, I couldn’t complain. At least I was talking to someone, and she was beautiful.     
            “Are you going to ask how?” she questioned with a mysterious smile.     
            “How what?” I retorted.   
            “How I know your name…” she was still smiling away at me with a sparkle in her eyes. It was unnerving.      
            “Oh… How?” I asked her with a false lack of curiosity, not really wanting to break the air of mystery between us.    
            “I asked someone,” she took another sip, wrapping her smile around the glass.     
            “Really?”  I inquired.   
            “Mm-hm,” her reply didn’t offer any easy way to respond, so for a while, I couldn’t.  I didn’t really have anything to say. There were only two obvious questions to ask, so I chose one.     
            “Who told you my name, then?” I asked after a moment, sipping from my own glass.     
            “I didn’t ask him his name,” she told me. So she only wanted to talk to me, obviously, I realized slowly. It was a good feeling, but I could feel myself beginning to blush nervously.
            “You okay?” she asked, head tilted, after a few moments of silence.     
            “So who are you?” I asked without thinking as my head whipped up in response to her interrupting my thoughts. Immediately I realized how rude it sounded, and now I really was embarrassed.     
            “Euryale,” she told me simply. I didn’t think it suited her, and I even thought it might have been made up, I’d never heard it before, but even I wouldn’t be stupid enough to tell her that. At least now she wasn’t so much of an enigma, I knew nothing about her yet for some reason it felt like I did. Amazing what a name can do. I asked myself just how bored she must have been to have approached me, amongst all the other, more interesting, men here. That meant I had to entertain her, make her laugh, if she wasn’t going to get bored and walk off.     
            “Euryale…” I repeated, “That’s a nice name.”    
            “Thanks,” she said, brazenly smiling. She didn’t seem genuinely impressed, but I wasn’t sure how to go about things. It was so much simpler in my mind.     
            “So, are you here alone?” I asked her.     
            “No, my husband is at the bar,” she stated. I felt my stomach tighten. Get out! My mind screamed.     
            “Your face!” she blurted out in between giggles covered up by one hand, “No, no, I’m here alone.” Suddenly the panic faded and I felt my face relax from that obviously terrified look of raised eyebrows, wide eyes and tensed jaw. For some reason it didn’t feel like she was laughing at me, and I found myself joining in.     
            “A man who can laugh at himself, I like that,” she said, and I just smiled with her.
             “Well, tell your friend I enjoyed his champagne,” she bid me, handing back the empty glass. I felt a little lost that she had gone so soon. She walked away without looking back and I was left to observe her swaying hips, and quickly forgot my qualms about her leaving.     
            “I think I’m in love,” I said to Gavin as he returned.     
            “Who is it this time?” he asked tiredly, rolling his eyes in that dreary way he did and implying that nothing would come of it.     
            “Black dress,” I told him, nodding in her direction where she arrived at the bar, “Euryale.”     
            “Euryale? Euryale Gooding?” he asked disbelieving. I shrugged, “She didn’t say. Who’s that?”     
            “The woman who’s buying the company,” he replied, mouth agape.    
            “I told you, Boss ain’t gonna sell,” I said, confidently, but then it hit me. Why would she be here, if she was who Gavin thought?      
            “Actually…” Gavin told me dismally, but was cut off. There was a strange high pitch static as someone tapped a microphone. Unanimously everyone turned to the small stage and the short stocky man standing there.
            “Uh, hello?” he spoke tentatively into the device, and adjusted his glasses. He ran a shaky hand through thin gray hair and I noticed the tuft sticking out at the back.    
            “Um, I have an announcement,” he continued. The hall fell silent, and we waited. He muttered low noises nervously for a second before beginning. There was a whisper in my ear.
            “The boss told me just a few moments ago that he has signed the contract and sold the company over to Medusa Inc,” one of my colleagues. I didn’t need to hear the speech now. I swallowed my champagne in one fell swig. I turned to the bar where Euryale Gooding leant and sipped a fresh glass of champagne. She was looking at me and smiling, and did not look away when I caught her gaze. She stood, extravagantly beautiful smiling at me and with a look in her eye as if she knew exactly what was about to happen.     
            “Hey, what happened to my drink?” Gavin asked as I stepped away, handing him both our empty glasses. I made my way over to her, and despite myself I was smiling as well. It seemed an eternity of footsteps before I got there, each step trying to be more silent than the last as every face in the hall stared up at the old man who stammered over the beginning of his speech.    
            “Can I get you a drink?” she asked as I came to a grateful stop, speaking softly in the near silence of the hall, as everyone else was intent on the boss giving his speech, or at least, the man who was boss.
            “I think I owe you one, don’t I?” she said asked, rhetorically. In a moment she had turned and grasped a glass from a brimming tower, which I had not even noticed. She took my glass from my hand and replaced it with the full one. It was cold to the touch, but her fingers were warm and teasing as they brushed mine.     
            “I know who you are,” I told her a little awkwardly.      
            “Oh, How?” she smiled.     
            “I asked someone,” I smiled back       
            “Ah, that old trick,” she bemused. There was a moment’s silence.
            “So?” she carried on when I didn’t answer again, shaking her head a little and smiling, “Who am I?”     
            “You’re the woman who bought this company,” I said a little too loudly into a stumbled pause in the old boss’s speech. Every head whipped round to me, eyes searching. I felt my cheeks burn foolishly. There were murmurs throughout the hall as people either wondered what would happen to their jobs or passed on the message. It seemed the boss hadn’t heard, though, and he went back into his speech as brokenly as when he had stopped, eyes peering through thick glasses at his notes, never once looking at anyone else. The polite audience instantly turned back to the old man up in front of them, and I noticed for the first time his tie was slightly lopsided.     
            “Are you trying to steal his final job?” Euryale smiled teasingly.    
            “I just, uh…” I had nothing to say again. I could only speak when I shouldn’t, apparently. This woman was too far above my head. I shouldn’t have even come over to her.
            “David Grey,” a sudden voice interrupted my train of thought. I turned in time to see Christian Anglethorn approaching me from a group of men who all seemed to be wearing glasses.
            “Chris,” I said somewhat surprised to see him.
            “Who’s the lovely girl?” he asked eyeing our future boss.
            “Euryale Gooding, meet Chris…uh… Christian Anglethorn,” I said. They shook hands.
            “Christian is the director of the science division at the Osiris Complex in Canada,” I went on.
            “What brings you all the way here?” Euryale asked
            “A plane,” he joked dryly. Euryale smiled as if allowing the joke to be funny.
            “David, is there somewhere I can talk to you, that’s a little less…” he looked at Euryale, “…uh, crowded?”
            “Sure, we can step out into the corridor,” I replied, “If that’s alright with miss Gooding?”
            “Don’t be too long, I would hate for you two to miss my speech,” Euryale nodded curtly and walked away from us.
            “This better be important,” I said. Christian remained silent. In the corridor were several leather couches with small groups of people milling about, sipping champagne, and talking about business related nonsense. Christian looked around nervously tapping his right hand pocket.
            “Perhaps we could go to your office,” he suggested. I shrugged and we headed toward the elevators.
            “So what’s going on exactly?” I asked once the doors had closed behind us.
            “I would rather wait till we are in your office,” he said glancing briefly up at the camera. We rode the elevator in silence for a moment.
            “It’s not aliens?” I asked trying to lighten the mood.
            “No, not this time,” he responded and fell back into silence. I couldn’t help but feel annoyed at his behavior, but I wondered what business could have brought him here. Once in my office, with the door closed, Christian walked over to my computer and placed a small round disk in front of it.
           “This should answer your questions,” he said. I logged on and placed the disk in my computer. One of the four-dimensional design programs self-activated and began loading schematics and material charts.
            “Wow,” I mused, “This material has almost no degeneration quality.”
            “Forget all that,” Christian said, “Run the simulation and test subject analysis.” A logo appeared “PR35-N34-1LE-S19H.” Then a 3-d graphic showing a long tube filled with tiny capsules. Each capsule contained a small twisted mechanism. A generic human body formed on the screen. The skin and various tissues were transparent enough to detail the nervous system. The long tube snaked around the outside of the body holding it immobile and attaching itself at the back of the neck, just below the skull. It released a capsule into the subjects’ body which instantly dissolved releasing the mechanism inside. The small twist of wires and metal stretched out to form something like a spider with an elongated body. It crawled up into the brain and released a pinkish chemical. Within minutes the chemical spread throughout the entire body.
            “What am I looking at?” I asked finally.
            “As you know the Osiris Complex monitors all scientific development in the world, including top secret stuff that we shouldn’t know about. About a month ago we intercepted this disk from Medusa Inc,” he said.
            “What is it?” I asked
            “We believe it is some sort of mind control device that creates alternate personalities in its subjects,” he replied.
            “If I hadn’t known you for so long I’d think this was a joke,” I said, “but who would want or even use something like this?”
            “We have reason to believe that Medusa inc. has been using it for years on their employees. Some are reprogrammed, so to speak, within their own lives and others are sent off to other parts of the world to begin lives as completely different people. Believing, all the while, that’s who they’ve always been,” his response shocked me. This was all too much to take in.
            “Shouldn’t the old man be told about this?” I asked.
            “He was,” Christian replied, “Almost as soon as we found out.”
            “Then why would He sell the company to Medusa inc.?” I said. Christian was silent for a moment.
            “We were under the impression that He was coming here tonight to announce that there would be no sale of the company,” he said. My mind raced back to the Boss’s disheveled appearance. Then I looked at Christian as realization finally settled in. I punched a few keys and a small video of the hall appeared. The Boss was just finishing his speech and was introducing Euryale.
            “Good evening,” She began, her brown eyes glittering, “I know a lot of you are worried about corporate restructuring. But don’t be it’ll be over before you know it.”    
            And, with that she nodded to some unseen person in the back of the hall. Suddenly hundreds of metal tendrils descended upon the crowd. There were screams as people were lifted, injected with capsules, and dropped back to the floor. Tables were overturned as people scrambled for the doors. The tendrils seemed to be everywhere.   
            I awoke from my garish dream with a strange feeling of dysphoria, almost a feeling of displaced time or space. It quite was a few moments before he realized that he was at home in his luxurious bed next to his beautiful wife.
            “Euryale…” I mused. I never grew tired of watching her sleep. She was so gentle, so peaceful, and still somehow fierce. I remembered how long I had watched her from afar, trying to find just the right words to say. I remembered courting her, taking her on simple dates to dinner, to the movies, the long walks on Shell Beach. I remembered how enchanted I felt the first time he met her. It seemed like only yesterday. I got up and went downstairs to the kitchen of their very large house. Our butler had just finished cleaning the dishes from his breakfast. All in all he wasn’t the very best at what he did, but he kept good company.
            “Christian, could you fix me some eggs?” I asked politely.
            “Sure thing, Dave,” he replied. I had asked Christian numerous times to keep things casual between them. Christian was the type of guy that even when first met, felt like a lifelong friend.
             Back at the office worked carried on without missing a beat. No one would’ve ever known that this company had just changed hands the previous night. Some of the staff had been replaced, but must of the oldies were still there, right where they had always been. I felt the change probably more than anyone else, namely because of my new title. When I had first learned that his boss was thinking of selling the Isis Corporation, I immediately suggested the idea of buying to Euryale. She was so pleased with how smoothly the deal went through that she ended up appointing me president and CEO of the whole company I used to work for. Many people speculated it to be nepotism at its best. I knew his wife well enough to know better. She must have been very impressed, not only with my overall performance with the company, but especially with the amount of work I put into closing the deal.
            “Dave,” Gavin called, “If you have a sec I’d like you to go over these TPS reports for me. Every time I add up the numbers something keeps coming up short.”
            “Sure thing, buddy,” I replied. Gavin had always been my wingman. My wife and I both agreed he’d be best suited retaining that position and he readily accepted the new job as second in command. I walked downstairs with Gavin, CD in hand. Gavin’s only request when he got promoted was to allow him to keep his old office. He felt more comfortable working amidst the hustle and bustle. Just as we approached his office some new intern kid ran into me and almost knocking me to the ground.
            “Whoa, slow down, ten speed,” Gavin chuckled. He always had a way of lightening the mood.
            “Sorry, sirs,” the kid responded.
            “What’s your name kid?” Gavin asked bluntly
            “Uh, Percy, Percy Watkins,” he replied.
            “Well, Uh-Percy, you must be working hard… or hardly working,” Gavin said.
            “Yeah, sure am,” said Percy.
            “Well don’t let us hold you up,” Gavin said. I reached down and scooped up the disk and we headed into Gavin’s office.
            “Alright,” I said, “let’s see what we got.”
            Upon inserting the disk, a lot of variables and unrecognizable computer code flashed across the screen. Finally, the words “WASP EXECUTED” appeared. Within seconds it all flooded back into my mind, and by the look on Gavin’s face I could tell his, as well. For a moment we both just stood there stunned.
            “This isn’t my disk,” Gavin joked, dryly.
            “It must be that kid’s,” I stated.
            “We gotta get this in the main frame,” Gavin said.
            “With all of the witnesses in this building alone, the police would have to believe us,” I concurred.
            “Meanwhile, I’ll contact Osiris and Horus and see if I can dig anything up,” Gavin continued the train of thought.
           When it was all said and done Euryale was being held for questioning, Medusa and all her assets were frozen, and Isis carried on under my and Gavin’s careful guidance. Yet, there was still one thing left unresolved. I wanted to thank the man who had saved us all. Sitting in my office I paged my secretary.
            “Donna, can you search the employee register for a Percy Watkins?” I asked.
            “I’m not finding anyone, sir,” she replied.
            “Hm, try looking just by the last name,” I requested.
            “Ah, here we are, sir, one Watkins, Perseus C.,” she stated.
            “Well, there you have it Gavin,” I said, “it would only be fair to say that the hero who saved the day, and slew Medusa is the man named Perseus.”