She paused to pick up her tablet, making a few taps, only for the tablet in front of me to come to life. I focused down at it, picking it up to look at the massive wall of text displayed on the screen.
She continued. “Now, Mr. Archer, media censorship and classifying your information are inconsequential, so if you would, please sign at the bottom and we’ll move on to discussing your other requests.”
I scoffed. “You can’t really expect me to just sign this without reading it first.”
Surprisingly, she gave me an understanding and patient look. “Yes, well none of these documents will be fully valid until you sign the actual CDS Hire Contract. However, we’ll have you sign what you can as we go over the topics, mostly just to indicate an agreement has been reached, and you’ll be supplied with the final documentation once negotiations have been finalized, prior to your confirmation signature.” She paused. “You may also write ‘contingent upon hire’ next to your signature, if you so desire. Is that acceptable?”
I nodded with a sigh, still trying to quickly skim the information before me, prior to signing it.
However, it appeared to be just as she said. The displayed document, as well as the following one, were entirely regarding the media censorship and classification of my personal information. I still signed both with ‘contingent upon hire,’ as she recommended, but it didn’t appear they were trying to scam me into signing something I didn’t truly want to agree to.
“Perfect,” she said, making a few taps on her tablet, before setting it down. She then interlaced her fingers and rested her chin on them. “Now, Mr. Archer, you requested the capacity to reject missions as desired. We’d like to know the reason.”
I nodded, glancing at the other people in the room, all eyes on me. “Yes, well, I don’t actually plan on rejecting missions. However, if an emergency came up, especially one that involved the immediate safety of my family, then I’d like the ability to attend to that first.”
Moulton and Burnham both immediately scoffed on my left, with the General speaking up first.
“So you want to prioritize the wellbeing of a handful of people over possibly millions of innocents,” he grumbled in a harsh tone, brushing off the shoulder of his immaculate military uniform with a look of disgust. “That’s no hero. And in war, that kind of narcissistic behavior is a felony.”
Moulton didn’t miss a beat, his dark skin heavily furrowed at the brow, his eyes narrowed. “Naïve and reckless,” he agreed. “We need soldiers on the battlefield, not an unreliable POG who lacks commitment.”
Okay, I didn’t like the way this was going at all. They needed me more than I needed them, and that fact needed to be crystal clear.
My tone was hard. “Let me rephrase. I don’t care about being a hero. I didn’t come to you guys because I wanted to be a hero. You came to me, offering me a job, and I’m telling you right now that the safety and wellbeing of my family will always come first. Whether you decide to accept my request or not.”
“So then, it’s an ultimatum,” Connolly sneered, her pink eyes narrow, her arms crossed.
My tone was sarcastic, my comment poised as a question. “That I’ll do my job, but in the rare instance when my family’s life might be in immediate danger, I’ll prioritize that? Yeah, it’s going to happen. And if you can’t deal with that, then feel free to retract your offer.”
The room was completely silent.
Jackie finally cleared her throat, picking up her tablet again. “We can offer a security team to be assigned whenever you’re deployed on a mission. However, the risk of you leaving in the middle of an operation is highly problematic.” She met my gaze. “When strategizing for an undertaking, each super fills an essential role in the plan. Eliminating even one piece last-minute can jeopardize the safety of everyone involved, and we can’t risk losing our personnel because one of our incumbents lacks commitment.”
I took a deep breath, interlacing my fingers on the table. “Look, I’m not going to just leave because I feel like it. And I’m not even talking about leaving in the middle of a mission to begin with. I’m asking for the ability to reject a mission in the event that I have personal concerns about my family’s safety – ones in which a typical security force might be unqualified to handle.”
I got a round of scoffs from everyone at that, but no one spoke up this time.
Jackie looked around the room for a moment, as if searching for opposition, before tapping on her tablet again. “We’ll include a rider to the original hire contract that allows for you to opt-out of non-apocalyptic level missions. However…” She paused to look up at me again. “If we are dealing with a threat of that magnitude then rejecting the mission is going to put your family in danger either way.” She glanced down to make a few more taps, causing my tablet to light up again. “That is our offer. You can either sign, and we will move on, or you can choose to refuse, and our meeting ends here.”
Damn, she wasn’t playing around. But I supposed I was fine with that compromise. Not to mention, I intended to have a lawyer go over the final contract before I signed anyway, so worrying about further details at this point didn’t seem as
