Jack Splinter enjoyed his Friday night pint of bitter alone, with only the fruit machine for company. He drank in the Frog and Fir Tree which was a short walk from his companies head quarters on Hampstead Road and close to Euston where he would take the tube home. The fruit machine was Star Wars themed and he wondered if anyone ever did pull three Darth Vader’s to win the one hundred pound jackpot. The best Jack had achieved was thirty pounds for three Princess Leah’s. Jack found this solitary pursuit a perfect antidote to the harsh media world in which he worked.
Oliver sat in the corner drinking his third beer. He read that mornings copy of The Guardian and had waited for Jack to arrive. Oliver had shared a celebratory pint with Jack in this pub some months earlier. It had been the week before Oliver would crash and burn in front of the Board of Emap. The paper had been accepted by the CEO and she had given Jack strong signals that Oliver’s CarTalk proposal would be supported by several of the Board. It had every chance of success and having learned nothing from Neil Kinnock, Jack had taken Oliver for a beer in anticipation of their joint success. They had formed a strong trusting business relationship developing Oliver’s unique proposition. Oliver felt sure Jack had some core faith in his ‘inventiveness’ and remembered he had expressed respect and admiration for his medical qualifications and research capability.
Oliver looked like shit. He had grown a beard during several tireless weeks developing the Tempus Genesis serum and now viewed it as a fledgling technology. He had spent equal measures of time developing a regression inhibitor, which he would soon offer Jenny as a trial treatment (in the form of an intramuscular injection). He had ignored the minor changes in his brain scan and had become irritable with Jamie when challenged on this.
He had become adept at mastering the regression experiences, asserting more and more control over his ‘traveling’ techniques. Increasingly he researched alone, occasionally involving Jenny to screen her bloods and measure her brain and heart function. She looked weaker and paler he thought and worried his quest to help her was in part making her worse. Oliver had rejected Jenny’s suggestion that the unexplainable incident on the tube was a threat linked to his work. He buried this within the now accumulated pile of warnings.
Oliver stood up and walked over to Jack.
“You kept your job then Jack?” Oliver said placing a hand on Jack’s shoulder.
Jack Splinter turned at first recognising the voice but not the face. After a seconds pause he computed who the tired and disheveled looking young man was.
“Oliver?”
“Bit of a mad professor beard going on, can I buy you a pint?”
Jack saw no reason to say no and accepted Oliver’s offer. They sat down together and Oliver opened a grab bag of salt and vinegar crisps for them to share.
“I’m sorry I didn’t phone you after that Board,” Jack said.
“I understand, after that experience I thought you might be too busy getting a rough ride.”
“I did, two of the non-execs in particular have had it in for me,” Jack sipped at his pint, “have you taken it anywhere else?”
“Nope, canned it, couldn’t face anymore dressing downs like that.” Oliver smiled.
“I really thought we had it in the bag Oliver, you should try some other companies, I could e-mail you some contacts I have.”
“I’ve been working on something else, something really big Jack and I want you to see it.”
“What is it? I can’t imagine ever bringing you into Emap again if I’m honest,” Jack said.
“You’d need to see it,” Oliver said.
“When? I’ve got a very full diary for months.” Jack tried to ease Oliver away from him. He liked the kid but he’d generated only bad news around his standing in the company.
“Now, tonight Jack, I have it set up in a research lab. You won’t believe what you will see, you’ll be witnessing history Jack, not an idea for a product, history,” Oliver stared at Jack with a madness in his eyes that unsettled him.