Annex 34 to the Zabba Corporation Standard Terms and Conditions: Zabba Corporation of course gives debtors ample warning to pay the balance before enacting measures (as per the "Treating Consumers' Fairly" requirements as set out by the Galactic Ombudsman Service). All sums should be received by Zabba Corporation within two Galactic Standard Weeks of a final demand. Zabba Corporation or its authorised agents may contact debtors directly if payment is not received and, if appropriate, may remove items of real property to be held as collateral against the balance.
Location:
Corporate Headquarters Planet Undina II, Zabba Corporation Headqarters
Stardate:
1552
The three suns of Undina II, not having any alternative, went down as the day drew to a close. Of course Undina II, being the official corporate headquarters planet of Zabba Corporation, didn't pay any attention to the suns' disappearance. Life went on under the occasionally soft but more often harsh glow of electronic lights. Zabba Corporation, the Galaxy's leading all-purpose corporation, had moved beyond such outdated things as being bound by a day/night cycle.
There were always products to sell, research to conduct, reports to compile, legal details to be argued over, profit/loss accounts to be drawn up. If there were not enough hours in the day for the billions of worker ants who made up Zabba Corporation, picked from the brightest and best of the galaxy's residents, then Zabba Corporation would simply extend the day. The fact that hubris such as this was not only allowed but actively encouraged among the personal demonstrated as much as anything the power of Zabba Corporation.
For a moment I would like you to consider the very idea of a Corporate Headquarters planet. We all know that planets are often designated for a purpose. There are the agri-worlds like Davis IV, a world dedicated to agriculture, to growing and nurturing the food that fed the galaxy. There were industi-worlds like Bobon V, a world where every spare inch of land (and at times sea and air) was given over to factories. There were fortress-worlds like Cadan II, defensive strongholds positioned at the key parts of the galaxy. There were even junk-world's like Praton, where the galaxy dumped its debris.
But a Corporate Headquarters planet? This was an entire planet where everything was dedicated to the furtherance of Zabba Corporation. One couldn't purchase a product that wasn't imagined, developed, produced and sold Zabba Corporation. There was no competition, no other options, no other employers. From the towering space-scrapers where the executives decided the fate of millions to the squat blocks where legions of nameless, faceless operators manned the holo-phones, fired off emails, responding to Zwitter posts and made sure that across the galaxy consumers were happy with their service, everything was dedicated to Zabba and its success. An entire planet, billions of souls, all with one purpose, one mind.
Yes they lived their own lives, yes they had their own dreams and desires, yes they sometimes worked against each other, the inevitable issue of office politics and petty jealousy but when push came to shove it was an entire planet who worked to make a single organisation great. Everyone had a purpose, even if just as a lesson to others of the price of crossing Zabba Corporation. For when an organisation had as much power as Zabba no-one was safe and no-one was allowed to get in the way of progress.
"It's time Bitchy."
The room high up in one of the space-scrapers showed all the signs of success one would expect from one of Zabba Corporation's leading lights. It was huge, expansive beyond a level that was even practical. Clean lines filled it, minimalist even, white and sleek. Art work hung from the walls, expensive pieces from across the Galaxy, the windwail paintings of Xenok V, a sculpture uncovered during a xenocoligy expidition to Marcias X. A window took up one entire side, a view out over and across Zabba City. The biggest single item however was the bed, a vast structure that dominated the centre of the room.
That said it was not the bed that first drew the eye. That instead was a cage, incongruously made from pink synthsteel, a thin pink mattress inside. A closer look would reveal that the cage wasn't a single whole but was instead comprised of separate sections with barriers that could be moved in and out of position, expanding and contracting the space allowed within, exploiting the near unlimited flexibility of synthsteel. It was clear that whoever did occupy the cage was at the mercy of whoever controlled the steel.
The owner of the room and the voice stood just in front of the edge of the bed. Cornelius Fisk was not a huge man, standing just over 6 feet tall, but what he did have was a presence, an aura so tangible one would swear it was almost physical. His mind and body had been honed by years of military service and while his time in the civilian ranks of Zabba Corporation may have taken the slightest of edges off it did now show on his lean, sculpted muscled body. His eyes, a piercing blue, could seemingly see into the very soul. If he wished he could be utterly unnerving to those around him... but likewise he could also be a welcoming, friendly presence. In a galaxy of trillions and trillions of people it was near impossible for someone to be special. But Cornelius Fisk was special. Truly special.