Helen sat at her desk and reviewed the information her mole in the R&D division had smuggled out to her. As VP of Consumer Development, the R&D boys should have sent her the information months ago. But it looked like David, their VP, was looking to leapfrog to the forefront to replace their retiring CEO and was keeping it to himself.
She pushed the thin frames of her glasses up her refined nose and squinted at the small text on the screen, brushing a wandering strand of her brown hair back around her ear. The details were astonishing, an android that could fully replicate all human functions, with high level intelligence and exceptional dexterity. All wrapped up in their latest breakthrough, artificial but organic skin. It was years, maybe decades ahead of anything they or the competition had on the market.
She read through the details once more before pushing back in to her big comfortable chair and let out a deep breath she'd been holding in. She propped up her elbows on the cushioned arm rests and placed her hands in front of her, forming a peak with her fingers that rested just below her thin frown that stretched across her pale face.
Roger, the current CEO, was getting ready to hand the company over to a successor and Helen was determined that it would be her behind the desk of the CEO by this time next year when he retired. Then she'd take care of David, but for now she needed to make sure she played it smart, use the information her mole had given her in a way that would take away David's advantage and make it her own.
She smiled as a plan formed in her mind and then started typing on her computer, writing the first of several e-mails.
* * *
The conference room was quiet, there were only three people in it at the moment and they were clearly waiting for a fourth. Helen looked around, David looked nervous, 'Damn right he should be nervous.' She thought to herself as her eyes passed over him on to Terri, the CEO's personal assistant.
`Yea, real personal.` she quipped to herself as she paid little attention to the aging eye candy, her blonde hair perfectly styled, her top leaving nothing to the imagination as it exposed the tops of her amble cleavage. Roger had hired her nearly a decade ago and Helen was sure it wasn't for her business skills, but since he was CEO, Chairman of the board and majority share holder, no one made any waves about it.
In fact, the only thing that surprised Helen about the arrangement was the he hadn't replaced Terri with a younger woman. Roger was definitely 'old school' when it came to his hiring practices and the only way she'd been able to become VP was a mix of backstabbing and sheer determination.
Each new position she'd taken she'd outperformed her predecessors and peers and any time she'd managed to get dirt on her peers or her boss, she made sure it found the right ears. Of course it would never leaded directly back to her, that would look bad and she couldn't have that.
Roger caught Helen's eye as he opened the conference room door and walked in, his standard three-piece suit looking immaculate as always and his snow white hair making him look the part of the seasoned CEO that he was. He took a seat beside Terri and opening his leather bound portfolio. Real paper and all, talk about old school.
Roger let out a sigh as he read over a printed copy of the e-mail that Helen had 'arranged' to fall in to the CEO's hands and she managed to supress a smirk.
"David, you know what this is?" Roger said more as a statement than a question.
"Roger, there's a perfectly good explanation for that..."
"There is? Really? I've just come from talking to your subordinates. They've confirmed everything in it. Tell me David, what kind of explanation can you have for keeping this from Helen?"
"I..." David started and shot Helen a venomous stare. He clearly knew she'd arranged this but there wasn't anything he could say that wouldn't dig himself in deeper.
"You know Helen's team is in charge of taking the R&D output and making it ready for consumer use. You've misappropriated funds, hired staff to duplicate her team and ramped up production plans without any of her input."
"Roger, I..."
"No David, the only reason I'm not firing you right now is that Helen seems to think you deserve a second chance. She sees value in your work, even if I'm having trouble doing so myself at the moment."
Helen, finally unable to resist, let the corners of her mouth curl upwards. Letting David keep his job was the master stroke of her plan, he would be forever tainted in Rogers eyes and she didn't have to deal with whoever might replace him.
It all but ensure she'd be CEO when Roger finally stepped down.
"Roger I know you feel betrayed, so do I, but I'm sure this... lapse... in judgement was with only the best intentions on David's part." She smoothly spoke the words she had prepared and practiced the night before.
For David's part, his body language collapsed in to a dishevelled heap, a shadow of the man he was but hours ago.
"Alright David, you're going to stay as head of R&D, but you need to send over everything you have to Helen immediately."
David looked like he was going to object for only an instant before he responded, "Of course Roger, immediately."
"That includes the prototype." Roger said sternly.
David visibly winced, "Of course, the guys have it apart and are just running some tests on it now, they should have it back together by end of day. It will be in Helen's office first thing in the morning."
* * *
Helen walked in to the office, a wide smile on her face. Everything was going perfectly to her plan and she could hardly wait to put the finishing touches on David's work and take all the credit.
She'd watched the e-mails roll in yesterday after the meeting; technical details, cost projections, manufacturing specs, software versions, everything they had just like David had promised.
She opened her office door and nearly tripped over herself when she laid eyes on the android.
It was her. The android looked exactly like Helen. And not some close approximation that would only fool someone from ten feet away, it was like she was looking in a mirror. Well not quite a mirror as everything was reversed. Her small beauty spot just on her left cheek was on the "wrong" side for it to be a mirror.
Helen walked up close to the android and inspected it closely, it was amazingly detailed. She reached up and touched the hair and it felt exactly like her own. She ran a finger down the side of its face and was amazed at the perfect texture and feel of the artificial skin. They'd even put fake glasses on it that matched her own.
David's team must have spent the entire night rebuilding the android as a final f-you to her little coup that she'd executed.
She smiled and chuckled slightly, if they thought this was going to bother her, they were sorely mistaken.
She walked over to her desk and found a few pages, the quick start guide, and a small remote with a simple on/off button on it. She flipped through the guide quickly, pretty basic stuff really, the android was all voice activated and would respond to any command given by the user. Even the remote was unnecessary after the first boot.
Helen closed her office door, which really wasn't necessary as she was always the first in the office, but she did so anyway. She held up the remote and pressed the button, bringing the android to 'life'.
"Hello, I am your new android assistant. As this is the first time I have been activated, please assign me a name now please."
Helen watched the android's lips move, Helen's own voice flowing from between them. She paused for a moment to think about a name.
"I'll call you Eve." She finally said.
"Thank you, may I assume you are the primary user? How shall I address you?"
"Yes. You may call me Miss Adams."
